I had seen a couple of episodes of Dexter from season 2, casually, at a friends house. I thought it was okay and thought I should watch the rest of it at some point. I figured if the first few episodes sucked I wouldn't bother watching the rest.

So I got season 1 (it's 11 episodes) and have been watching the occasional episode here and there. Tonight I sat down to watch one before bed. Instead I watched all 5 remaining episodes at once. So now that I've seen all of season 1, some thoughts:

Watch all of season 1, in order. It takes a few episodes for you to get to know Dexter, and then after episode 3 things start to get interesting.

Leave yourself a big block of time, because after episode 6 you won't want to stop until the end.

Don't watch any of season 2 until you've finished season 1. (Although even knowing how season 1 ends up, it's still a work of art. But the less you know about the Ice Truck Killer, the better.)

Yes Rita looks like Discount Linda Hamilton and is a really irritating sub-plot. She's still worth putting up with.

Make sure you've had a bathroom break before you start the last episode. It deserves to be watched uninterrupted.

(If you want to know how riveting it is, consider this: when I walked in the door tonight I intended to watch just one episode and then go driving. I gave up driving to watch Dexter.)