After Rita was murdered, Quinn suspected that Dexter was involved. This suspicion was caused by Dexter’s unemotional call to 9-1-1, the fact that Rita’s murder didn’t exactly fit Trinity’s M.O., and learning that Dexter had punched Elliot Larson for kissing Rita.
In his private life, Dexter maintains superficial relationships – with his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz), and Rita’s children, Astor (Christina Robinson) and Cody (Daniel Goldman in season one, Preston Bailey in subsequent seasons) to appear normal.
While Debra learned the truth about Dexter in the closing moments of season 6, it was season 7 that dealt with the actual fallout of her discovery.
In season three, Dexter finds his life manageable until he discovers that Rita is pregnant. Dexter, afraid of what kind of father he would be, considers leaving Rita to parent alone, until Debra convinces him that he would be a great father.
Why did Dexter continue to date Rita?
Rita was portrayed as a loving mother of two who was slowly recovering from the abuse by her (eventual) ex-husband, Paul. Dexter’s initial reason for continuing to date Rita was to maintain his cover of appearing to be normal.
Dexter felt that Rita was a perfect girlfriend because she was as damaged as he was in her own way. Rita was completely unaware that Dexter was a serial killer, and it delighted her that he was great with her children. Rita began to develop more confidence in herself, along with a growing sexual attraction to Dexter.
Dexter injected Paul with heroin, and notified the police. Paul was then set back to prison, not fully aware of what had happened. After he thought about it, Paul pleaded with Rita to not to let Dexter near their children, claiming that Dexter had framed him. Rita did not believe Paul and brushed him off.
After the baby (named Harrison after Dexter’s father) was born, Rita and Dexter moved into a house in the suburbs. Rita soon noticed a pattern of lies by Dexter, including lying about the concussion he suffered in a car accident, how serious the accident was, and the fact that he kept his old apartment.
One night, Paul came to the house drunk, and Rita reluctantly let him in. He began to abuse her and wrestled her onto the bed. Rita managed to escaped by knocking him out with a baseball bat. Paul then sued Rita for custody of the kids. Dexter, fed up with the situation, took the matter into his own hands.
Rita, despite not liking violence, had season tickets to the Florida Panthers, and her favorite sport was hockey. At first, Rita tended to be naively unaware of Dexter’s flaws.
Personality. Rita was a loving mother who previously was in an abusive marriage with Paul Bennett. Due to her violent past , Rita initially avoided sex with Dexter. This was one of the reasons he kept seeing her as he considered himself emotionally removed from humanity, and thought that if Rita got too close to him, she would sense his darkness.
What happened to Rita in Dexter?
In the Season 4 finale of Dexter, Rita is unceremoniously murdered, with the details behind her death being just as disturbing as the act itself. The series finale of Dexter is notoriously controversial, but several seasons before the show’s conclusion, another contentious ending rocked its audience. Understandably, the events of the last episode …
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Rita was Dexter’s girlfriend and eventual wife that he met through his sister, Debra. Deb answered a domestic disturbance call to Rita ‘s home and arrested her abusive, drug-addled estranged husband, Paul Bennett, with whom Rita shared two children, Astor and Cody. She then introduced her to Dexter, setting them up on a date.
Heading into the Dexter revival, the creative team would get a leg up on its predecessor by taking better care of the female characters because creating damsels in distress with no agency of their own means characters like Rita will never be more than expendable plot devices.
Knowing that Arthur had their family in his crosshairs, Dexter implored Rita to leave for their honeymoon before schedule, to which Rita agreed. Later, Dexter captured and butchered the Trinity Killer, but his victory would only last a short time.
However, Dexter and Rita‘s relationship wasn’t long-lived.
Truth be told, Rita was more of a plot device than a fully realized character. She endured an unnecessary amount of pain throughout her four-season run, starting at the hands of her abusive ex-husband.
Comment. The series finale of Dexter is notoriously controversial, but several season s before the show’s conclusion, another contentious ending rocked its audience. Understandably, the events of the last episode of Season 4 aggravated more than a few.
