Another quality of complex TV and its hallmark according to Mittell is “an interplay between the demands of episodic and serial storytelling.” With the juggling of long-term and short-term conflicts, the role of the story arc is expanded across episodes, even seasons. Dexter fits this description in that any given episode focuses on the long-term war between Dexter’s desires and his conscience (which appears in the form of his father), while featuring self-contained “monster-of-the-week” stories at the same time, in which Dexter defeats “monsters” while being one (2006, p. 33). Each episode does not stand alone, but it also contains its own smaller conflict that results in some closure at the end, if not a resolution. Dexter fits the long-form arc storytelling technique in that most conflicts take a few episodes to be resolved, if not an entire season. For example, the first season centers on the “Ice Truck Killer” and finding out his identity and the connection he has with Dexter. This main plot takes the entire season to get through and develops bit by bit throughout. Smaller plot developments that begin and end within one episode include a businessman that is wrongfully acquitted for murder and a psychologist that murders his patients, both of which are resolved with Dexter’s knife.