Did Dexter really love Rita in the original series?

WARNING: Major spoilers for “Dexter” follow.

Dexter Morgan had a complicated but seemingly loving relationship with Rita Bennett throughout the first four seasons of The Last Man. Dexter. Rita, played by Julie Benz, was a radiant ray of sunshine that contrasted Dexter’s hidden darkness. Dexter, a master manipulator, was could easily make Rita believe that outside of his bloody day job as a blood spatter analyst, he was a rather simple guy at the Miami Metro Police Department and feigned a heroin addiction in season 2. Rita, although somewhat naive and blindly trusting of others, ultimately meant a lot to Dexter, although he claimed in the first season that he was incapable of loving her.

As Dexter continued into the later seasons after Rita’s shocking death, Dexter had two other great loves, Lumen Pierce and Hannah McKayIn the last episodes of Dexter, The vigilante killer is willing to throw away his entire life in Miami to start a new life in Argentina with Hannah and Harrison, his only son he had after her marriage to Rita. This proves that he was surprisingly capable of love, or at least some kind of passionate obsession, developing his typical calculated methods to spontaneously leave Miami with Hannah for good. Dr. Vogel also noted in Season 8 Dexter’s atypical ability to care deeply for others, including Debra, despite being thought to be a psychopath.

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Dexter realized how much he loved Rita before the original show ended

Dexter saw new hope for himself in his partnership with Rita

In the first seasons of Dexterthe title character came as close as possible to loving Rita and her children Astor and Cody, although there was always something standing in the way, namely his dark side, which prevented Dexter from being fully in love with her. Dexter cared for Rita as much as he could, especially because she gave him the cover of a typical family man, which overall helped him well in hiding his violent hobby. Although it is somewhat subjective, Dexter’s affection for Rita seemed to develop more into an intimate and loving relationship in the first few seasons, although It’s hard to say that Dexter was head over heels in love in the traditional sense.

Dexter was obviously distraught over what happened to Rita in the season 4 finale, especially because he took the blame for not fully protecting her. This seems to be the theme with most of the people Dexter loves or cares about the most in the series, especially in the case of Debra, who also died in part due to Dexter’s negligence. Trinity knew Dexter loved Rita in his own way, because otherwise, what would have been the point of killing her and letting Harrison be “born in blood” like Dexter did all those years ago in the Shipyard Massacre? Dexter began to realize how good Rita was for him, but Trinity took her away.

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What happened to Julie Benz (Rita) in “Dexter”?

Rita’s death was a crucial moment in the series

Rita was tragically murdered in the fourth season finale by Trinity Killer Arthur Mitchell, who is arguably the greatest villain of the entire Dexter series. Trinity wanted revenge for Dexter interfering too much in his private affairs and hiding the fact that he worked for the Miami Metro Police Department. Trinity, played by John Lithgow, killed his victims in a sequence of three specific deaths that alluded to his childhood trauma. For Dexter, however, Trinity made an exception to his approachby killing Rita in the bathroom of Dexter’s house and leaving her to bleed to death in the bathtub while Harrison cried next to her.

When I witnessed Rita’s death, Dexter Season 4, after knowing he could have killed Trinity earlier, is one of the harsh realities of rewatching Dexter. Rita’s death sent shockwaves throughout the Dexter Fan base and instantly became the most shocking scene of the entire series and arguably still is to this day. Julie Benz was reportedly not too pleased about her character being killed off, but ultimately it turned out to be the best possible outcome for the series and the conclusion of Trinity’s story arc. The season four finale, titled “The Getaway,” is often considered the best episode of Dexter.

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Why Dexter’s relationship with Rita was so complicated

Dexter could never tell Rita who he really was

No matter how close Dexter got to Rita, he could never be completely honest with herknowing that she would never accept him, his “dark passenger,” or Harry’s code. Rita was far too innocent to ever consider being with someone capable of murder, let alone a deadly serial killer. Perhaps Rita would have understood Dexter and kept his secret if Dexter had ever come clean to her, but it’s not plausible that her character would still want to be married to Dexter after he lied to her for so long and revealed so much of his true identity to her. Being with Rita was ultimately good for Dexter during the first four seasons, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for Rita.

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Dexter

Based on the character of author Jeff Lindsay, Showtimes Dexter follows Dexter Morgan, the Miami Metro Police Department’s most experienced blood spatter analyst, as he attempts to satisfy his Dark Passenger’s need to kill by hunting down criminals who have escaped justice. But Dexter must use the rules his adoptive father taught him to remain undetected and must walk the fine line of seemingly blending into society while simultaneously feeding his dark urges. Dexter faces several serial killers as his facade slowly crumbles around him; with each problem his Dark Passenger solves, a new one arises for his suburban father life. When Dexter takes things personally or feels the law is failing him, he takes matters into his own hands, even jeopardizing his colleagues’ investigations. Dexter aired on Showtime for eight seasons before it was given a mini-sequel series called Dexter – New Bloodwhich takes place ten years after the events of the show. You can buy each season on Prime Day for just $9.99.

Pour

David Zayas, Michael C. Hall, Lauren Velez, CS Lee, James Remar, Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, Julie Benz

Release date

31 October 2010

Seasons

8th

Authors

Jeff Lindsay, Scott Buck, Scott Reynolds, Tim Schlattmann, Karen Campbell, Melissa Rosenberg, Kevin Maynard, Wendy West, Manny Coto, Daniel Cerone, Jace Richdale, Drew Z. Greenberg, Chip Johannessen, Adam Fierro, Jim Leonard

Directors

Clyde Phillips

Showrunner

Clyde Phillips

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