Phillips: "Dexter is a psychopath and Jackie is sociopath. What made him endearing was the fact that he talked to the audience. The voiceover is what drew you in and got you to understand his life. He's a serial killer and she's drug addict. They're both people with deep, dark secrets and have to live life pretending to be normal. That's such a burden because you have to be aware of that every minute of the day. You can't slip. You can't screw up. I was binge watching all the Nurse Jackie episodes and realized the parallels are there."
"What Dexter does is heinous. There is no support for what he does, but he is humanized. What Jackie does is not a victimless crime because other people in her life are deeply affected by it. She needs somebody to talk to about it. She needs that release and the audience needs to be in on what's going on with Jackie, and most often they are; and that's important."