Dexter: 10 Worst Things The Main Characters Have Done

The Showtime crime drama Dexter gave an intense account of the life and journey of the vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall. The series remains one of the darkest and most well-written shows over the past decade, with a talented ensemble cast at its center.

One of the best things about the series was its layered characters. Dexter was, of course, a psychologically damaged person with multiple masks, but Miami Metro Homicide also had some other staple characters who had several sides to their personalities. From disrespecting women to grave errors of judgment and meticulously planned murders, here are some of the worst things the main characters did over the course of the years.

10 Vince Masuka: The Resident Pervert

Vince Masuka was Dexter’s colleague at the forensic section of Miami Metro. He also considered himself Dexter’s buddy and proved himself to be a loyal friend.

However, despite the fact that he was kind and a constant source of comic relief, Masuka also had a deeply twisted, perverted sense of humor. He never killed anyone or even came close to hurting people, yet he saw women as little more than sex objects and had but one thought in his head, at all times. Some of the most cringe-worthy dialogues in the show are credited to Masuka’s perverted thinking.

9 Rita Bennet: Ignored The Signs

The sweet Rita ended up being one of the most tragic characters on the show. But before that, she was Dexter’s wife, the one woman he genuinely loved and wanted to keep safe.

Rita wouldn’t have hurt a fly, so the worst thing she did wouldn’t have come close to what some of the others would have done. However, she did make one huge error of judgment when she decided not to take her husband Paul’s entreaties seriously. Paul was her ex-husband and a brattish, abusive man, but he did warn Rita about Dexter’s behavior, which she decided to ignore. She also never questioned Dexter’s long nighttime sojourns and put it down to his long hours of work. Had Rita not put blinkers on, she might have lived to see her children grow up.

8 Joey Quinn: Gave Away Confidential Information

Joey Quinn was the cute police detective in Miami Metro who started dating Debra after a while and despite breaking up with her, harbored feelings for her until the very end. Quinn was shown to be a callous young detective who could go corrupt if need be.

His callousness led him to commit a blunder when in season 4, he started going out with the reporter Christine Hill, who later turned out to be the Trinity Killer’s estranged daughter. While he could not have possibly known the connection, he made a huge mistake when he carelessly gave away confidential police information regarding the investigation into a spate of murders dubbed the ‘Vacation Murders’. As it was revealed later, Christine was simply stringing him along to get insider information for her own sick purposes.

7 Angel Batista: Growing Insecure In Marriage

The good-humored Batista was like a papa bear within the precinct and hardly ever did anything particularly heinous.

What he could have avoided was blowing up his marriage by constantly being insecure with his wife’s authority and even letting his suspicions about her fidelity to him cloud his judgment. Batista and LaGuerta did try to patch up their tumultuous marriage several times which ultimately ended in failure. Had Batista been with Maria throughout, things might have turned out differently and the latter might not even have died a shocking death.

6 Maria LaGuerta: Seduced Boss’ Fianceé

Although ultimately a good soul, Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta was one of the most layered characters in the series, shifting every now and then between flawed, and twisted, and caring, and kind.

LaGuerta was shown to be an ambitious scheming woman who had become hardened as she made her way in a typically ‘man’s world’. One of the worst things she did was to seduce her boss’ fianceé in season 2 after she was removed from the position of lieutenant. She carefully planned to drive the new boss over the edge by sleeping with the latter’s fianceé, discrediting her in front of the whole force, so that Maria herself could once again be reinstated.

5 Hannah McKay: Tried To Kill Debra

Hannah McKay was the beguiling serial murderer who became Dexter’s partner in crime and eventual lover in the final seasons.

Hannah had done plenty of extremely shady things in the past, but the worst thing she did on the show, and to Dexter, was poisoning Debra so that she would pass out while driving and be killed. Although Debra managed to survive the ordeal, trying to get to his little sister was an absolute no-no in Dexter Morgan’s book.

4 Lila West: Murdered Doakes In Cold Blood

Lila West was the deranged artist/arsonist who became Dexter’s sponsor as well as his lover in season 2 when the latter convinced Rita that he had a drug problem to divert her attention from finding out his real secret. Lila was a deeply disturbed soul with extremely dubious moral standards.

She had already killed her ex-boyfriend by burning down his house before she met Dexter. But the worst thing she did during her time on the show was to murder Sergeant James Doakes in cold blood when she found him locked up in Dexter’s hide-out inside the forest. Instead of releasing Doakes and setting him free, she literally threw the keys way and turned the gas on, causing Doakes to be burnt to a crisp.

3 Harry Morgan: Created Dexter

Harry Morgan was Dexter’s adoptive father and his friend, philosopher, and guide during his growing up years. Harry was the one who found little Dexter when he sat amidst the bloodbath inside the shipping container after his mother had been brutally murdered.

While Harry looked upon Dexter as his own son, he did make one fatal error of judgment when he decided to channel Dexter’s murderous tendencies into ridding society of its worst, most depraved killers. It’s true that the vigilante killer did save countless lives by killing the dregs of society, but in encouraging his dark passenger, Harry had essentially created a monster.

2 Debra Morgan: Shot & Killed Laguerta

Maria LaGuerta became a major threat to Dexter in season 7 when she accidentally stumbled upon one of his famous blood slides at the crime scene after the Doomsday killer’s murder. Her instincts kicked in and she began connecting the dots to the Bay Harbor Butcher, who was really Dexter all along.

The season ended with Maria’s devastating death when Debra Morgan, Dexter’s adoptive sister and the only person aware of his true identity at the time, took the decision to shoot Maria instead of Dexter, murdering her boss on the spot. Debra, who was shown to be an honest, sincere young detective throughout, was literally ruined by this moment’s decision to save her brother, making this the absolute worst thing she ever did.

1 Dexter Morgan: Was Responsible For Rita’s Murder

Dexter Morgan was a serial killer and in spite of his code, which was there to ensure that he only murdered those who deserved it, he was, after all, a rather sick man; most of what he did was unimaginable and very morally dubious.

However, the worst thing he did, in the context of the show, was his behavior towards Rita, and the fact that he was indirectly responsible for her brutal death. He might have grown to care for her, but all Dexter ever did was to lie through his teeth and use Rita and her family as a facade to hide his own monstrous hobbies. He also let Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer, go scot-free for a long time even though he could have easily killed him when he had the chance. Letting Mitchell run amock allowed the latter to murder Rita, making her death one of the most shocking in television history.

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