How Push the Envelope: A Lesson in Irony from "Weeds" & "Dexter"

Drug dealing soccer mom = Genius. Readers love irony. Humor and controversy are often born in irony. And best of all, it sets up for endless plot twists, literary gold. 

"Weeds" and "Dexter" are both smash hits from Showtime. Both shows have developed enormous cult followings because they have mastered the art of IRONY. The beauty is that the irony lies in the main characters themselves. 

In "Weeds", main character Nancy Botwin is a mother of two, living in the wealthy California suburb of Agrestic. Only, she's a widow now. Her husband, Judah, died of a heart attack. Desperate to keep their lifestyle intact, she resorts to a very interesting new career. Weed dealer. 

In "Dexter", there is a regular guy named, you guessed it, Dexter. He is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami PD. Oh, and he's a serial killer. Who does he hunt? Serial killers. 

Now, it's obvious when we read these plots that they're the pinnacle of perfection. But WHY? What is the formula? Why are they so damn great??

Well here it is:

The key to intrigue is:

           A                                       B                          

Seemingly Normal Person + Social Taboo  = Intrigue

But this isn't enough. This is good, but it will likely give you an unlikeable character. In fiction, your MC must be someone we care about. We don't have to think he's perfect (that's bad too), but we have to be on his side.  

This is what will happen with the Intrigue Formula alone: 

Or worse:

Here are the keys:

1. The circumstances must make it plausible to justify their actions (And their personality must be funny and witty, so we'll want to justify whatever crazy thing they do.)
2. A and B must be EXACT opposites. 
3. The MC's involvement with the taboo must be kept secret

So this is what it looks like: 

                A                                  B                                 C

Seemingly Normal Person + Social Taboo + Sympathetic Circumstances  = GENIUS

And 

This is how it's done. Balance. And genuine talent of course. It's not all about a gimmick, you have to have a truly fantastic character to back it up. These characters are really amazing. I highly recommend renting the first seasons of either one and taking some notes, there is tons we can learn from Dexter and Nancy. 

And fun fact: The definition of the word Agrestic (the name of Nancy's cozy suburb) is a rude, classless person. Isn't irony fun? 

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