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Rita Bennett


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Played by: Julie Benz

Rita Bennett - Dexter Wiki


Occupation: Hotel concierge, mother of two

Personality type: Clingy, Dependent

Signature look: Doe-eyed, innocent

Endearing trait(s):Willing to accept others

Annoying trait(s): Willing to trust even the ones who don't deserve it.

Rita's backstory: Before Dexter, Rita was married to Paul, a cocaine addict who used to abuse her
CHARACTER CONNECTIONS

DexterDexter
Boyfriend
Rita was introduced to Dexter by Debra, after Debra attended the domestic house call where Rita was abused by Paul (her ex-husband). Rita and Dexter begin a long-term relationship that, unknown to her, is engineered by Dexter as a cover to appear more normal. However, she and Dexter become quite close and he accepts the role of being her protector. Rita has a long history of being abused and betrayed by men and it takes her a long time to become intimate with Dexter, which suits him just fine. She becomes suspicious of Dexter's late night activities in Season 2 but mistakes them for a drug addiction. Not surprisingly, she still accepts Dexter even after his feigned admission to being a heroin addict. She gives Dexter an ultimatum that involves him attending NA meetings, where he meets Lila Tournay, who becomes his sponsor and a lot more. She may seem like a whipped puppy but she breaks up with Dexter after he cheats on her, which ultimately teaches Dexter a lot about himself. She starts to forgive Dexter and let him back in to her life at the end of Season 2, motivated in part by the fact that her kids adore him.
AstorAstor
Daughter
They have a normal, loving relationship
CodyCody
Son
They have a normal, loving relationship
PaulPaul
Abusive drug-addicted ex-husband
In Season 2's premiere, he is killed in prison.
Rita Bennett - Dexter WikiGail
Mother
They do not see eye to eye. Gail stopped contact with Rita when she was with Paul, then unexpectedly came back into Rita's life after Paul's death. Rita does not agree with her mother's controlling tendencies (which she takes out on the kids), and she chooses to defend Dexter against her mother's suspicions.

CHARACTER BEST:

QUOTES


  • "Thank God she is alive. That poor thing must be a mess, falling for a serial killer."

  • "You know I hope they catch him today, and I'm not a violent person, but I hope they hurt him. (turns to kiss Dexter) Have a good day."


  • "Shut the f*** up, Nobody talks about my kids that way!"




EPISODES | SCENES










PHOTOS

Rita
Signature Look: Disappointed

Rita
Rita finding the shoe

Rita
With Dexter

Rita
Rita looking persistent






Latest page update: made by shindy77 , Aug 23 2008, 3:52 AM EDT (about this update About This Update shindy77 Edited by shindy77

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(Showing the last 5 of 7 - view all)
Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
Morgaine Romancing a serial killer (page: 1 2) 34 Jun 30 2008, 8:50 PM EDT by jwnelson11
Morgaine
Thread started: Nov 16 2007, 10:13 PM EST  Watch
I think it's a mistake to romanticize the relationship between Rita and Dexter too much. He really doesn't feel anything but rage. Part of the attraction to Lila is that he can express his rage sexually. He won't ever be able to do that with Rita. While it does seem that he's developing some kind of feelings for Rita and the kids, and they're playing that up (probably too much), the one thing Lila might accomplish, in what I expect to be her very short time on the show, is that he does start to have some feelings other than rage. They can't make it too syrupy, though, or they lose the realism of the character completely. And he'll have to make a lot of mistakes. You don't just get feelings all of a sudden and know what to do with them.

There's a very real problem that the writers should address, though, which is that Dexter took on his facade of normalcy because that's how Harry taught him to survive. Now that Harry is no longer the saint he once was in Dexter's eyes, his code is less likely to work as a method of sublimating his anger. Rita was just supposed to be part of the image, and he picked her because she was so damaged that he thought she'd never notice his problems. Where does he put his rage if he's not killing and not with Lila? What happens if Rita gets strong enough to demand more? He's going to have to go back to killing or he's a danger to everyone.

Is he going to be content with his lifestyle after he re-evaluates the code? What if he doesn't want or need to seem normal? What if he can't go back to the almost asexual relationship with Rita? What happens to Rita if she finds out the truth about him?

One good thing is that Lila might have put Rita off the idea of NA for Dexter for completely. She'll probably want to keep him to herself.
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JetpackAngel About Rita 2 Jun 26 2008, 3:11 PM EDT by jwnelson11
JetpackAngel
Thread started: Apr 12 2008, 1:17 PM EDT  Watch
I haven't really started watching the show yet but I think I'm going to. Right now I'm just gathering information on all the characters since I'm starting so late in the season.

Anyway, my question is: is Rita Bennett named after the Rita Bennett in Stephen King's "The Stand?" In "The Stand," Rita was a pill-popping, nervous, helpless, and extremely broken woman that couldn't survive unless someone else was taking care of her, and she ended up OD'ing. When I saw the Dexter character's name and her personality, the question wouldn't let me go until I asked it.
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mike91848 Rita needs more Dexter time! 0 May 30 2008, 11:07 PM EDT by mike91848
mike91848
Thread started: May 30 2008, 11:07 PM EDT  Watch
Anyone else out there that would like to see Rita with more screen time on the show? I know I would!
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PorkSandwiches Good 2 May 26 2008, 2:21 PM EDT by mike91848
PorkSandwiches
Thread started: Oct 5 2007, 12:35 PM EDT  Watch
I think Rita Bennet is a great character to the series, she's perfect for dexter....but also could be slowly finding out more about dexters Dark Passenger instincts....but as dexter said "In Her Own Way, Ritas Just As Derange As He Is". But yea through It all she sticks with her man and dex doesn't seem to mind.....hey he even caught onto the whole sex thing now Ha Ha!!
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Keyword tags: None
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Apocalypstickal Shame on Dexter (page: 1 2) 25 Nov 20 2007, 1:22 AM EST by jwnelson11
Apocalypstickal
Thread started: Nov 8 2007, 10:36 AM EST  Watch
I love Rita, and think she is perfect for Dexter. I feel so sorry for her at the moment. Dexter should never have cheated on her with slutty Lila, who is quite annoying with her English Accent!! I hope that he gets his act together and patches things up with Rita in the end, otherwise the show won't be the same!
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