I watch Dexter, and I enjoy it and consider it entertaining. But I don't consider it particularly well written. It's more of a "guilty pleasure" for me, for the cheap thrilling entertainment value. A lot of things get to me like the one dimensional characterization or contrived plot, etc, but what bugs me the most is the show spoon feeding things to us like we're ten years old. However, I can understand and sympathise with those who do think it's genuinely brilliant, and consider it a top of the line show. It's just that those people might differ from me in taste, which is something you should keep in mind with my suggestion.
If I could suggest any one show, it would be The Wire. I think it is the most brilliant, and best thing to ever grace television.
Other suggestions (in no particular order) are:
Breaking Bad
Spartacus
The Sopranos
Boardwalk Empire
Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
True Blood
I suppose, if you're particularly looking for horror or gruesome stuff, Walking Dead would fit the bill the most. However, my biggest criticism of the show is its slow start. It takes a while for the characterisation and plot development to get really good, but it happens. True Blood is another "guilty pleasure" for me - I basically put it on equal footing with Dexter - and has that same horror style. You might like it. (It's definitely pretty cheesy though, which I can see being a turn off. But it's very entertaining.)
This post was edited by AnomanderRake on Mar 18 2013 01:35am