the main reason rita’s death was so shocking in terms of Dexter the series is that every season before we were privy to knowledge that Dexter didn’t know.
Season 1: rudy was the Ice truck killer, we knew before dexter
Season 2: doakes taking his slides, we knew before dexter
Season 3: skinner was in cahoots with miguel, we knew before dexter
season 4 we had no clue what happened to rita as did dexter. We were there when the big reveal occurred for both dexter and viewer. They changed the whole storytelling format we were so used to. Having that inside information gave rise to tension that we wanted to see Dexter handle in his awesome way. Having been in dexter’s shoes as the Rita death reveal occurred gave rise to a more poignant way of storytelling. Are we gonna get more of that in future seasons? perhaps. Now the wait for season 5.
I found her death a bit contrived, myself, and entirely unnecessary. I was enjoying the episodes where Dex was trying to balance family life and passenger life. Now Rita (and presumably the kids) will be gone and…well… how convenient.
Plus I found the punch of the scene somewhat diminished by it being so perfectly staged by Trinity (as well as having the familiar and entirely conveniently coincidental blood-covered baby) I kept waiting for Dexter to snap out of the dream-sequence.
I really think the main reason Rita was killed off is that almost everybody found her so damn annoying. This show was BRILLIANT in Dexter’s pre-Rita days, and it came to a screeching halt every time that whiny bitch was on the screen. He needs to KILL! That is the essence of his character, not his make believe love affair/marriage with Rita. It took the writers a while to figure this out. Mind you, I am not cold blooded, but I realize that it’s a tv show, and not a real woman being murdered, which would obviously be tragic, even if she was very shrill voiced and annoying.
I wasn’t a big fan of Rita, but I was actually enjoying the whole Dexter trying to balance family and murder thing. I’ll be interested to see what’s going to happen with the kids. Aster and Cody could presumably go to Rita’s mom (I don’t think he officially adopted them, so he wouldn’t automatically get custody right?), but Harrison will probably stay with him.
This probably has something to do with the fact that I have a 3 1/2 month old daughter, but when they made the big reveal, my first thought was “He left the baby all by himself?!?!” Aparently in my brain, brutally murdering people is fine and dandy, but leaving a baby alone crosses the line. :dubious:
I just finished watching season 4. Frankly, I too was emotionally blown away by Rita’s death. Yes, she was annoying, but she also provided the stability and love that gave Dexter his humanity. Ying/Yang and all that.
Since I saw the last episode I keep saying to myself, “No, she can’t be dead. That’s fucked up. Dexter *needs *her. This will kill him.”
Season 5 will be interesting, to say the least. One question: Are we sure it was Arthur who killed her? Remember, a few people discovered Dexter’s secret at the end…
The Baby was with his mother. And when Dexter found her the parting scene was him carrying his son away - as a nod to his adpopted father taking him from the scene of his own mother’s death.
I do think the title of this thread needs to have a [spoiler] warning, because I know if I hadn’t already watched this past season, I would be seriously upset after reading some early posts in this thread.
To address a few points brought up:
[spoiler]1) Yes, Arthur definitely killed her. It was completely his M.O. and his confrontation with Dexter needed to be more simple than just him being hunted down.
I think this will lead to Dexter being much more dark, and possibly continuing down the path of breaking the code (as he did with the fashion photographer). The push and pull of his ambivalent relationship with his father will be very clearly echoed in his relationship with his son, and it will be interesting how the new season will play this out.
I found Rita to be rather annoying as well, but with her loss, I don’t think the family aspect of Dexter’s life will be lost. I hope Dexter’s non-biological kids stay with their grandparents after their return from Disney Land (or is it World?), and that the family-centered drama revolves around him raising baby Harrison.[/spoiler]
I just finished the fourth season not even five minutes ago, and came here to see what was said since I’d been conspicuously avoiding this thread for a month. I’m pretty surprised by some of the reactions here, both to the character and the OP. I was no huge fan of Rita – she’s probably one of my least favorite characters, and I don’t mean I disliked her; I just wasn’t invested in her – but the scene sill hit me pretty hard, and like a few others, I was also pretty interested in Dexter trying to juggle his murders with his family life.
Someone up above said that he has to kill, which, while true, misses the point that he has to do so while preserving his veneer of humanity. We discovered this season that he really does love Rita, so this changes not just the dynamic of the show, but all the game rules. Dexter was a family man as much as a serial killer this season, but without an anchor, he could very well turn into Arthur or his brother, two things he’s tried his hardest not to become.
But, instead of discussing this (which, admittedly, was probably discussed in the main thread) we have people attacking **mswas **for being too invested in a fictional character and giving flippant Whatevers when he tries to explain why the character’s death moved him, and others implying anyone moved by her murder is whining. I guess some people on the SDMB are just too cooly cynical to be moved by something so pedestrian.
I was just watching Angel and thought to myself how much more interesting Darla had became than Rita.
I have a theory about some of Rita’s inexplicable freak outs - as a technique through which the audience could experience Dexter’s lack of natural empathy or ability to read social cues or body language…