The potential for black comedy is extremely great in Dexter, which had a number of funny moments for fans to enjoy. However, the series is, at its heart, a horror-thriller about the titular character’s run-ins with other serial killers that brought in plenty of terrifying scenes.
On occasion, though, Dexter didn’t land the scary element as well as it hoped, resulting in situations that ended up being funny instead. These ranged from characters like James Doakes’ sardonic attitude to Dexter’s own dry personality, and sudden turn of events that sucked the horror away with a hilarious quality. It’s worth taking a recap of these times before the Dexter revival, which will most likely contain its own scenes of unintentional humor.
Doakes' Attempted Assault On Dexter
The last few episodes of the first season contained tense confrontations and an overall scary feel as Debra was abducted by the Ice Truck Killer. However, James Doakes’s questioning of Dexter ended up being funnier than intimidating as intended.
Here, Dexter was worried he would find Debra’s body in a container but was wrong before Doakes arrived cursing out a surprise, which in itself was hilarious for the way he popped out of nowhere. He and Dexter then came to blows, but the fight lost all intensity due to Doakes and Dexter’s threats at each other being on the hammy side.
Discovery Of The Blood-Filled Room
Both Doakes and Brian Moser are characters who were gone too soon from Dexter, as they had the ability to defuse the tension at any moment. In this scene, Doakes and Debra found a room that was covered completely in the blood of his victims, with the sight meant to be truly revolting.
Unfortunately for the horror aspect of things, the moment became a funny one due to Doakes’ well-timed jab at Dexter’s expense. Amidst the brutality in view, Doakes made reference to Dexter’s bloodlust by claiming the room was his “wet dream,” which was an instant laugh-out-loud moment that took away the shock of seeing all that blood.
Trinity Killer's Expletive Rant To Get Assaulted
As part of his ritual, Arthur Mitchell got himself beaten up by a man to mimic how his father used to abuse him. While this scene was meant to portray Arthur’s trauma, it became so repetitive that it ended up looking like a parody.
Arthur approached a large man and insulted him, with the man then attacking him. Rather than back down, Arthur continued hurling expletives and was then beat down. His expression also contributed to the unintentional humor, as it almost seemed as if he was trying to prevent himself from cracking a smile and was having fun trolling the recipient of his insults.
Sirko's Attempt To Threaten Dexter
Against any other character, Isaak Sirko’s monologuing would’ve been as devilish as it was supposed to be. However, Dexter’s total lack of fear made Sirko look like a chump. Sirko attempted to intimidate Dexter with talk of raining down his wrath on him for killing Viktor, and viewers knew what Sirko was capable of due to how coldly he had ended Louis earlier.
And yet, Dexter’s expressions served to have the reverse effect on the scene, as he appeared extremely bored of Sirko and kept attempting to eat his lunch as if he wanted to change the channel. Sirko paying $100 to Dexter for eating one chip from his plate also contributed to the unintentional humor.
Dexter Realizing Why Louis Was Blackmailing Him
The setup for this confrontation hinted that Dexter was going to dole major pain toward Louis for blackmailing him. That, and the fact that Louis was hinted to be a copycat if the Ice Truck Killer had many believe that this was going to be a battle between serial killers.
However, Louis instantly faltered under Dexter’s questioning, to the point where he started crying and admitted he blackmailed Dexter for criticizing his video game. Although Dexter’s intimidating aura was felt, it was equally funny to see him scream at Louis’ face about his disbelief that the latter was pathetic enough to trouble him over a video game.
Joe's Blabbing When Dexter Was About To Kill Him
Dexter set up a horrifying kill room to end his high school classmate Joe’s life by stuffing a football in his mouth and planning to bludgeon him to death with a hammer. Somehow, it became a funny scene due to Joe’s reactions fitting a sitcom more than a gritty show like Dexter.
In frantic worry for his life, Joe started ranting about how God would protect him, only for Dexter to point out that Joe had sinned by killing his own wife. Even the hammer scene was unintentionally funny due to Dexter hitting Joe in the middle of his rant, along with the fact that the two had earlier joked about “hammer time” during their class reunion.
Brian Complimenting The Man He Killed For Lending Him His Car
After proposing to Debra, Brian committed one of Dexter’s first betrayals by revealing he was the Ice Truck Killer. Knowing that this was the man who dismembered his victims and drained all their blood was definitely scary, especially since Debra’s life was on the line.
However, the show’s attempt to make Brian look deranged backfired when Brian silenced Debra in the car and told her she was being ungrateful for the generosity of the man who owned it. While Brian claimed the man had lent the vehicle, the shot panned to reveal his corpse, making it all look like the punchline to a skit found in shows like Saturday Night Live.
Dexter Being Chased After Ray Speltzer In The Maze
Ray Speltzer’s maze was the stuff of nightmares, as he lured victims into an extended trap and hunted them down while wearing a devil’s mask. While Dexter’s entrapment was supposed to be scary, it was his narration of the events that made it funny.
This was in striking contrast to the image of Speltzer bearing down upon Dexter with bad intentions, as Dexter’s dry humor instead turned the scene reminiscent of an actual game of Hide and Seek between children. The scary layout of the maze wasn’t enough for this moment to redeem its horror aspect either.
Dexter Calling Out To God Right After He Tells Travis He Doesn't Believe In Him
Dexter finally got Travis Marshall on his kill table in the Season 6 finale by trapping him in a church. The deluded Travis claimed he was killing people to do God’s work, to which Dexter claimed he had no belief in, and ended Travis.
At that moment, Debra entered the church to find out Dexter’s secret as a killer, prompting the latter to say “Oh God!” out loud. While the setting of the kill was brutal and the ending was supposed to be dramatic irony, Dexter’s complete U-turn from not believing in God to then asking him for help was a hilarious shot to end the season on.
Doakes' Accusation Toward Knowing That Dexter Is Hiding Something
James Doakes was easily among the smartest characters in Dexter, seeing as he saw through Dexter’s mask. When Doakes called Dexter out for knowing details about a killer he shouldn’t have, he then got in Dexter’s face and claimed he would find out his secret.
This scene was shown from Dexter’s point of view as a way to show how scared he got that Doakes realized he was putting on an act. However, it became a highly amusing moment when Doakes called Dexter a “Lizard on ice,” and proceeded to even paint this picture out in detailed words. Dexter then hightailing out of there but making sure to take his box of donuts with him completed this turn from scary to funny.