The actress behind Rita, recently shared her take on how her character might have reacted after learning the full truth about Dexter.
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| Michael C. Hall as Dexter and Julie Benz as Rita in Season 4 (Showtime/Paramount+) |
For a television show like Dexter, some of the most exciting conversations among fans come from the “what if” scenarios. What if a major character had made a different decision? What if one key event had played out another way?
And perhaps one of the biggest alternate scenarios involves Rita Morgan, and what if she had actually survived the Trinity Killer, and eventually discovered that her husband was the Bay Harbor Butcher?
Who better to answer that “what if” than Julie Benz herself?
Julie Benz: “She Wouldn't Have Believed It”
During her recent appearance on Dexter’s Kill Room alongside Erik King, Benz was asked by her former co-star what Rita would have done if she had discovered the truth about Dexter. Benz’s answer was surprisingly simple, and it may actually be close to what many fans would imagine happening in an alternate version of the story.
“I don't think she would have believed it. I mean, I think you could have shown her the show and be like, this is your husband. And he's a serial killer. And she would have said, that's not him,” Benz explained.
She then went deeper into Rita’s perspective, explaining why the revelation would have been so difficult for her to accept.
“Because then it forces her to then really look at herself like, I fell in love with this man. I created a life with this man. We had a baby together. What does that say about me? What does that say about my child?” she said.
Benz also added that this was one of the sad things the series never actually got the chance to explore: “It is probably the one sad thing that we never got to explore that,” she said. Benz was also asked whether she believed Trinity had told Rita anything beforehand, but admitted, “I have no idea.”
Rita Could Have Been in Complete Denial
So, had Rita survived into Season 5, Season 6, and even beyond, and eventually learned the truth about Dexter, Benz believes she initially would have been in complete denial.
Honestly, Julie Benz’s answer actually makes a lot of sense when you look at Rita’s story.
Dexter’s wife met a tragic end in the Season 4 finale, “The Getaway” which remains one of TV’s most shocking episodes to htis day. At the time, Dexter and Rita had started a new chapter together, moving into a new home with Astor, Cody, and their newborn son, Harrison. But after Dexter’s actions against him, the Trinity Killer eventually found Rita and killed her as a final act of revenge.
Over the years, fans have imagined many scenarios involving what could have happened if Rita had never returned home after forgetting her ID before her flight.
Dexter became a safe place for her after everything she went through with her abusive ex-husband, Paul Bennett. After such a painful first marriage, discovering that the man she had come to trust and build a family with was secretly a serial killer would have been an incredibly difficult truth to accept.
Even knowing that Dexter only targeted other killers, the revelation would have completely changed the way Rita saw her husband, herself, and even the family they had built together. As more and more people close to Dex learned the truth (Doakes, LaGuerta, Debra, Batista), Rita would have been faced with that same horrifying reality sooner or later.
And eventually, once that denial actually started to fade, there is no telling how Rita might have reacted. It could have taken her character down a very different path and opened the door to some insane moments.
What do you think of Julie Benz’s take on this alternate Dexter scenario? How do you imagine Rita would have reacted if she eventually discovered that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher?