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four, Dexter was with Trinity’s family when the police raided their home. After hiding briefly, Dexter then joined the police search of the scene. Presumably, Trinity’s family did not report to the police that a man named Kyle Butler (Dexter’s fake name) disappeared seconds before the raid began. Had they made this report, there likely would have been a frantic search for a man matching Dexter’s description, after which Dexter may have come under heavy suspicion. The fact that none of these events transpired seems unlikely. But because most viewers were probably rooting for Dexter to escape suspicion, these viewers should have been less likely to question the plausibility of Dexter’s stealthy evasion.

This does not mean that viewers always agree with everything Dexter does, however. Narrative researchers have also provided evidence that people participate in characters’ decisions, providing judgments with respect to the wisdom of particular decisions. Readers more readily accept story outcomes that are consistent with the decisions they mentally advised the character to make.39 Throughout the series, Dexter has to make important decisions about whom to kill, when to kill them, and how to complete the job. At the time of these decisions, viewers are able to offer their own advice. Rooting for Dexter ultimately means wanting a good outcome for him, but sometimes this means rooting against Dexter’s decisions in the moment. By participating in Dexter’s decisions, regardless of whether or not viewers agree with any particular decision, they become more invested in the outcome of the choices he makes. They are attending to each of Dexter’s goals as if they were their own.

Perhaps one of the most poignant decisions Dexter had to make (and viewers had to participate in) was when the serial killer Trinity attempted suicide by leaping from the roof of an unfinished building, and Dexter caught his arm. Viewers probably weighed Dexter’s options, just as he did. In fact, viewers were likely divided about the decision they preferred. Some may have offered the mental advice, “Let him die!” whereas others thought, “Save him!” (presumably so that Dexter could later kill Trinity in a more satisfying way). The scene offered a perfect context in which viewers’ individual participatory responses to Dexter’s decision would determine how they experienced the future outcome of that decision. Viewers who root against Dexter’s decision to save Trinity are not suddenly turning on Dexter: They are, in the moment, rooting against his decision because they feel it will not be to his benefit in the long term. In the last episode of season four, “The Getaway” (4-12), viewers discovered what was, ultimately, the most significant consequence of Dexter’s decision to let Trinity live. During the final scene, viewers were struck with a sense of horror when Dexter opened the bathroom door and found his wife Rita soaking in a bathtub full of blood, while his newborn son sat in a pool of blood on the tile floor next to her. Viewers who urged Dexter to let Trinity complete his suicide probably felt a sense of, “I told you something terrible would happen! I knew it!” Viewers who supported Dexter’s decision to let Trinity live may have felt an added sense of guilt for having urged Dexter to make the decision that led to the dreadful outcome. In that way, viewers’ reactions to this horrific scene accrue added complexity as a consequence of their earlier responses to Dexter’s decision.

In the moment, most viewers want Dexter to succeed—they quite literally want Dexter to get away with murder. Moreover, most viewers’ automatic preference will be for Dexter to be successful in all the roles of his life, including being a step-dad and husband. Still, we emphasize that viewers’ preferences arise from their own life experiences. Thus, not all viewers will have the same participatory responses. This section has described what we believe to be a typical response to watching Dexter in the moment. But what happens when each episode ends, and viewers begin to engage in reflection