Dexter's Unusual Relationship with Women

It never occurred to me that Dexter & Hannah was just "mommy issues final boss" vs "daddy issues final boss" 😭😭

Yo it is actually crazy how Rita was the one woman in Dexters life who never found out he was a serial killer

I agree with you that Evelyne was wrong about Dexter. He wasn't a psychopath. It's impossible to diagnose a fictional character, but if I had to, I would say that his brain wanted to protect him from feeling emotions (any kind of emotions) after seeing his mother's death (so longterm PTSD with an addition with "cutting off" his feelings). With time however, especially after recalling what happened, he was able to slowly heal himself enough to feel again. Maybe not as strong as an average person, but still - he felt guilt, happiness, sadness and even empathy to some degree. At the end of the 8 season he was a completely different man than at the start of the story.

Rita’s life is so tragic, get pregnant young to an abuser and addict, next boyfriend is emotionally closed off and just uses her as a cover first and thinks of her as a wife second, get killed brutally infront of your baby

I find it interesting to compare and contrast Dexter's treatment of women with Joe Goldberg's. Where Joe kills almost every woman who rejects him, the only love interest Dexter kills is Lila, and he does this to protect children.

Honestly, it'd be difficult for a straight serial killer to NOT be weird with women.

I never felt okay with how rita was treated, she deserved so much more

I think Dexter’s decision to sleep with Lila in Season 2 wasn’t just about lust or rebellion against Rita—it reflected something much darker and unresolved. Lila was, in many ways, a distorted mirror of Brian Moser, Dexter’s biological brother. Like Brian, she saw Dexter’s darkness not as something to hide or suppress, but as something natural, even beautiful. She offered acceptance without judgment, the same way Brian had in Season 1. Sleeping with Lila can be read as Dexter subconsciously reaching for Brian again—grieving the brother he killed, the only person who had truly embraced him without conditions. By choosing Lila, he was recreating that connection, even if only temporarily, because part of him still longed for what Brian represented: a life where his darkness was not a burden, but a bond. In that sense, Lila wasn’t just a reckless fling. She was the embodiment of Dexter’s unresolved grief for Brian and his guilt for being the one who ended his brother’s life. Taking her to bed was a way for Dexter to touch the ghost of Brian again, to relive a connection he couldn’t admit he missed.

Deb's life in a nutshell: Profession to CATCH KILLERS. Didn't know boyfriend was a SERIAL KILLER. New boyfriend killed by daughter of SERIAL KILLER. Found out that her brother is a SERIAL KILLER. Got shot and killed by a SERIAL KILLER.

Next week I will be examining "Noctural Animals"