Every Dexter Love Interest, Ranked From Worst To Best

Summary Dexter's love interests added complexity to the show, with some supporting his dark side while others brought out his humanity.

Relationships like Lila and Hannah reflected Dexter's dark nature, while Rita and Lumen showed his capacity for love and redemption.

Despite the controversial storylines, Dexter's romances played a significant role in shaping his character and the overall narrative.

Dexter was a dark and gripping show that boldly made a serial killer the protagonist, but even with the violent nature of the main character, there were still a number of Dexter's love interests featured in the series. It followed the life of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a serial killer who targeted other murderers. The show dealt with Dexter struggling to hide his dark hobbies and fit in with regular society. While Dexter often discussed that he was not interested in relationships or intimacy, he did have a number of romances over the course of the show.

When it comes to Dexter's love life, some of these women were long-term girlfriends Dexter was with in an attempt to appear normal. Others were smaller flings, and some even knew Dexter was a serial killer and supported him. While some of these relationships were seen as huge mistakes on the part of the show, others made the series even better, creating complex characters for these women while also strengthening the character of Dexter Morgan.

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8 Deb

Played By Jennifer Carpenter

Though Dexter was a hugely popular and acclaimed series in its early days, it was also known as a show that eventually lost its ways and made some much-maligned decisions in the later seasons. Dexter season 6 was widely considered the worst and a major reason was this storyline. Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter), Dexter's adoptive sister, attended therapy and came to the conclusion that she was in love with him. Carpenter and Michael C. Hall were married in real life, but the romance simply did not work for these characters.

Anything romantic between them felt forced and awkward while also severely hurting the character of Debra.

They may not have been related by blood, but Deb and Dexter considered each other as siblings. Anything romantic between them felt forced and awkward while also severely hurting the character of Debra. While the showrunners seemed to recognize their mistake and drop the storyline, the damage had been done to Debra who was made to be a more naive and less intelligent character because of this arc.

7 Laci

Played by Cherilyn Wilson

While most of Dexter's romantic partners on the show have a fairly significant role to play in the story, that was not the case with Laci (Cherilyn Wilson). In fact, it is not likely that a lot of fans remember the character as she only appeared in a short scene in one episode during the derided sixth season of the show. However, that was enough to have a brief moment with Dexter.

The episode finds Dexter on a road trip where he stops at a small store where Laci works. He begins flirting with her and nearly ends up killing her at the request of the vision he had of his brother Brian (Christian Camargo). However, Dexter went a different route and had a random fling with Laci resulting in a sexual encounter in the back room. Though brief, it is a rare moment of this kind for Dexter.

6 Trisha

Played by Kristen Miller

Similar to Laci, Trisha Billings (Kristen Miller) only showed up for one episode of the series. However, she managed to make a bigger impact with a bit more screen time. She also had more of a connection to Dexter, making their brief time together mean more for him as a character.

The fact that Trisha was a popular girl in school while Dexter was a bit of an outcast showed how he had learned to fit in more since his school days.

Trisha was an old classmate of Dexter's who remembered him from biology class. The former prom queen saw him again at their high school reunion and openly flirted with him. She then took him into an empty classroom for a quick hookup that was forgotten about by the end of the episode. Though it didn't make for a grand romance, the fact that Trisha was a popular girl in school while Dexter was a bit of an outcast showed how he had learned to fit in more since his school days.

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5 Lila

Played by Jaime Murray

Lila (Jaime Murray) is a complex love interest for Dexter as she made for a compelling addition to Dexter season 2 while also presenting a character that the audience wanted to see taken out as soon as possible as she was bad news for Dexter. After Dexter developed a cover story about being a recovering drug addict, he started going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings where he met Lila, and she eventually became his sponsor.

Though she made for a great villain, she was the wrong woman for Dexter.

Lila was interested in Dexter's "darkness" and he was intrigued because nobody wanted to see that side of him before. They started an affair that caused a rift between Dexter and Rita (Julie Benz). Lila turned out to be manipulative and dangerous as she committed arson several times. One was to get Dexter to sympathize with her, another killed Sergeant Doakes, and another nearly killed Dexter, Astor, and Cody. Though she made for a great villain, she was the wrong woman for Dexter.

4 Cassie

Played by Bethany Joy Lenz

Life would've been much less complicated for Dexter had he actually started dating Cassie Jollenston (Bethany Joy Lenz). A lot of fans might not fondly remember Cassie because she didn't show up until the much-maligned final season. Cassie was Dexter's neighbor and a friend to his nanny, Jamie Batista (Aimee Garcia). The two seemed to hit it off when they first spoke, but their later meetings were eventually a bit disappointing.

Dexter wasn't interested in pursuing the relationship any further and didn't call Cassie back, leading her to move onto a new man with Oliver Saxon. Unfortunately for her, Oliver is also a serial killer and brutally murders her. While her death is one that fills Dexter with guilt and shows the danger brought to people in his life, their relationship wasn't strong enough to sell that point and Cassie just came off as a tragic victim.

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3 Hannah

Played by Yvonne Strahovski

This was another romance that seemed to work slightly because of the violent nature shared by Dexter and his love interest. Dexter slowly found out that Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) was a murderer. Once he uncovered her true nature, he got her on his kill table and expected her to beg for her life. However, the interaction took a strange turn when the two were overcome with passion in the moment, leading to Dexter cutting her free and the two of them having intercourse.

Debra wanted Dexter to kill Hannah for her misdeeds, but he refused, and the two remained together.

Debra wanted Dexter to kill Hannah for her misdeeds, but he refused, and the two remained together. Though they split at the end of season seven, Hannah returned in season eight. They ended up back together and by the time the series finale rolled around, Dexter left Harrison with Hannah while he went off to become a lumberjack. While they certainly seemed like a good fit, Hannah simply suffered as a love interest for being included in the lackluster later seasons of the show.

2 Rita

Played by Julie Benz

As soon as the series began, Rita Bennett was Dexter's girlfriend and later his wife. She had a harrowing and violent past that left her uninterested in sex, which worked out well for Dexter as he got into the relationship simply to appear more normal. Eventually, that changed, and the two grew closer. What started as a facade became a true relationship.

Dexter went on to legitimately love Rita and her children, Astor and Cody. He married Rita and they were mostly happy for the better part of four seasons, even having a child of their own named Harrison. Tragically, Rita was murdered by The Trinity Killer at the end of Dexter season 4. Interestingly, though the shocking twist was seen as one of the show's best moments, it never rebounded from the loss of Rita.

1 Lumen

Played by Julia Stiles

Following the death of Rita, many fans weren't ready for another Dexter love interest. However, Lumen Pierce (Julia Stiles) turned out to be the perfect new partner for Dexter and the one who he saw as being his true soulmate. Her backstory is a tragic one, having been captured and repeatedly raped by the Barrel Girl Gang. Dexter found her while searching for Boyd Fowler, a killer who was meant to dispose of Lumen's body.

Lumen and Dexter went on to partner up to eliminate the members of the gang, with Lumen wanting revenge against the men who brutalized her and also killed several other women. It was the first true case of Dexter letting a woman in on his ritual and they formed a true bond. While he very much wanted their relationship to continue at the end of Dexter season 5, once Lumen got her revenge, she felt she was ready to leave the world of violence behind and begin healing.