Julie Benz still can't shake one 'Dexter' death — and yes, she names it

If you want to talk about moments on telly that genuinely leave you staring at the screen, jaw somewhere on the carpet, Dexter is right up there—and it's not just us mere viewers still coming to terms with it. Julie Benz, who played long-suffering Rita on the series, says she still hasn't got over one of the most brutal twists in US drama history. Thirteen years on from when it all went down, she admits she's still haunted by it. Not that you can blame her, frankly—Rita's death was savage, even by Dexter standards.

I’m not over it. Now anytime anybody joins Dexter, they understand they could be killed off at any moment. Like, I think everybody has died at this point. When we were doing the show, we didn’t realize that — especially killing a mom who just had a baby. To me, the audience is never going to forgive you.

Benz opened up to Entertainment Weekly about how she's not the only one who found it hard to accept—fans have kept reminding her for over a decade. She reckons it's basically unthinkable, especially as her character had just given birth. 'To me, the audience is never going to forgive you.' No arguments there. She goes on to say she was gutted, even more so than the fans: her first thought was, 'Oh my god, I just lost my job.' Second: 'Who's gonna raise Harrison?' She even felt like she'd failed her character, saying maybe she should've fought harder for more storyline for Rita. She went through a sort of personal grieving process after getting that script—and honestly, can you blame her for that?

My first reaction was, 'Oh my god, I just lost my job.' And the second reaction was, 'Who's gonna raise Harrison?' I was heartbroken by it. I just felt like I didn’t serve Rita enough. Maybe I should’ve fought for her more in the writers’ room, come to them with more ideas on storylines. Because I felt like I really failed this woman. I had to go through my own grieving process with her.

The Death That Shocked Everyone

A quick refresher—Dexter is about Dexter Morgan, Miami's most unsettling forensic blood spatter expert (bit of a niche job, isn't it?), moonlighting as a serial killer who only offs the 'bad' guys. Rita, played by Benz, was the battered single mum who became Dexter's girlfriend, and then mother to baby Harrison by season 4. She was, in many ways, Dexter's last shred of normality—well, as normal as you get in this universe.

Then along comes Arthur Mitchell, better known (or worse, really) as the Trinity Killer. John Lithgow played him absolutely chilling—at surface level, your standard church bloke and family man, but in reality, completely unhinged. The big shocker: just as Dexter's about to get the better of him, Trinity gets to Rita first. Dexter comes home, expecting—what, a cuppa? Instead, he finds Rita dead in the bath, Harrison wailing in a pool of blood. The end of season four wasn't just a shock; it was the sort of twist that redefined what TV could get away with.

Dexter's fourth season finale left fans gobsmacked: Rita's murder by the Trinity Killer became one of the show's defining moments.

• Julie Benz played Rita from Dexter's start until that infamous season 4 ending in 2009.
• Her character's death was a completely unexpected move—especially after just giving birth to Harrison.
• John Lithgow (Trinity Killer) has called the twist the most astonished and surprised he's ever seen an audience react.
• Benz says she's still not over it, and reckons neither are the viewers.