Dexter is definitely one of my Top 10 All-Time Favorite television series. I suppose some people who stumble across this may not be familiar with the show, although why somebody would want to read about some dope's rankings of female characters from a show they haven't seen seems unlikely, but just in case you are such a person, I will provide a bare-bones outline of the show:
Airing from 2006 - 2013 Dexter is a psychological crime drama that follows Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who leads a double life as a vigilante serial killer. Adopted as a child by a police officer, Dexter was taught *the code,* a way to channel his dark urges by targeting other murderers who have escaped justice. While outwardly charming and socially functional, Dexter struggles to feel genuine emotions, constantly pretending to fit into normal society. Throughout the series, Dexter juggles his secret life with personal relationships, especially with his sister Debra, a police detective. As the show progresses, his internal conflict deepens, challenging his moral code and sense of identity. With its dark humor, moral ambiguity, and suspenseful storytelling, Dexter explores themes of justice, duality, and the human psyche.
OK. That won't help anybody understand any of the female characters, except perhaps Debra, so these rankings still won't mean anything to the uninitiated.
1. Lila: The übersexy pyromaniac Dexter meets at his 12 step meetings in season two, she should’ve been Dexter’s soulmate. She understood him, and refused to judge him, and shared Dexter's scorn and bewilderment of the square's life. It made no sense why Dexter was so quick to dispatch her when he had the patience of a saint with other antagonists such as Miguel Prado, Arthur Mitchell, Travis Marshall. The showrunners or whatever the fancy term is for the people responsible for the series made a huge mistake killing her off. She should’ve been a recurring character, she could’ve saved the show's disastrous final season if her character had been the one steering Dexter to the self-revelations necessary to end his character arc, instead of Charlotte Rampling's character.
2. Debra: Dexter's potty mouth tomboy sister, played by actress Jennifer Carpenter, she should really be ranked #1, but, man!, Lila was so hot, and that limey accent! Anyway, Carpenter did the finest acting by anybody in the entire series, convincingly portraying every fucked-up emotion Dexter put her through.
3. Hannah: Only ranked this high because of actress Yvonne Strahovski's looks. She would have been a perfect Hitchcock blonde. A serial poisoner, she's nearly killed by Dexter, only to become the great love of his life. Alas, there are ZERO sparks between Strahovski and Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays Dexter. Their relationship is never believable. I've seen Strahovski in The Handmaid's Tale, and she seems devoid of personality and charm. But she looks terrific in shorts and sleeveless shirts!
4. Lumen: In season five Dexter rescues her from a member of a gang of rapists/murderers, and then he helps her to hunt down and kill the remaining members. Eventually they become lovers, but when she and Dexter kill the last rapist, she realizes she can move on with her life, leaving Dexter once again all alone to plow his killing fields. Lumen may not have broken Dexter's cold heart, but she at least cracked it a little. Well-acted by Julia Stiles.
5. Rita: The only reason I rank her this high is because her death was so satisfying. I know she was generally considered a fan favorite, but to me she was a repellent ball-and-chain, exhibiting all the worst traits of the stereotypical American housewife, the kind of soulless nag that would provoke the Stepford Wives experiment. My favorite moment in the entire series was the look on Rita's face when, after nagging Dexter into going to 12 step meetings because she attributes his erratic behavior to a drug problem, she sees Dexter's sponsor Lila for the first time. It's that frightened, insecure look that says "she's way hotter than me!" At least the actress who played her had a nice body.
6. Camilla: Police department records clerk and long-time Morgan family friend, she helps Dexter learn the truth about his early childhood and the events that led to his adoption by the Morgans. Her cancer death in season three provides for one of the series better subplots, including Dexter's quest for the perfect key lime pie. Well-played by veteran character actress Margot Martindale.
7. Rebecca: Trinity Killer Arthur Mitchell’s daughter, so abused and traumatized she offers to be Dexter's jailbait girlfriend if he will take her away from the Hell that is the Mitchell home.
8. Christine: Arthur Mitchell’s other daughter, the Trinity Killer's secret love child, she sleeps with Detective Joey Quinn to gain info on the investigation of her father. Nice-looking actress who also appeared in True Blood and Supernatural.
9. Sally: Arthur Mitchell’s wife, the anti-Rita, the perfect doormat housewife who will let her husband be as vicious and degenerate as he wants, so long as he only beats her to within an inch of her life, and not all the way to her death. Played by the actress who was the mean girl in Romy And Michelle's High School Reunion.
10. LaGuerta: One of the show's main characters and Dexter's boss, she will do anything to climb the police department ladder. The power-hungry Cubana had a mad crush on Dexter in season one which mysteriously vanished in season two. By the end of the series she becomes obsessed with proving Dexter is a serial killer. Too many dropped threads in her character arc, she was more plot prop than authentic character, also unattractive and *thick.*
11. Nadia: Detective Joey Quinn's stripper girl friend in season seven, her goal in life was to save enough money to open her own dog walking business. Played by attractive Swedish actress Katia Winter, who played Little Nina on The Boys.
12: Niki: Dexter's co-worker Vince Masuka's sperm donated daughter turns up in the lousy final season in a failed subplot. She has a nice topless scene in episode four. Played by the girl who played Becky on Friday Night Lights.
13. Lisa: Travis Marshall's sister, who ends up as his Whore of Babylon. It's a small role well-played by Deadwood's Alma.
14. Sylvia: Miguel Prado's wife, she becomes Rita's best friend, and they both nag their husbands into trying to kill each other (not really. . .but almost). The actress who plays her would also later appear on True Blood.
15. Evelyn: The showrunners brought her character out of the cosmic television void for the sorry final season. With nary a hint of her presence in the first seven seasons, she appears as a neuropsychiatrist who just happened to help Dexter's adoptive father devise *the code* by which psychopath Dexter navigates life. There are too many *supension of disbelief* requirements surrounding her character to take seriously. To make matters worse, she is played by European art film actress Charlotte Rampling, and she sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the TV show cast. It would have been like casting Catherine Deneuve on Dallas.
16. Sonya: Dexter's son's Irish nanny in season five, no explanation given why she has been replaced in season six. Well-played by Maria Doyle Kennedy.
17. Jamie: The Dexter swiss army knife character, she plays Detective Batista's kid sister, then Dexter's kid's nanny, then Detective Joey Quinn's girlfriend. Horribly played by a charmless actress named Aimee Garcia, who I guess we were supposed to believe was pretty, considering how often she was scantily clad. Not to my taste, however.
18. Esmée: The least believable character in the series. She is given LaGuerta's job in season two, and is so emotionally retarded, with the maturity of a second grader, LaGuerta is able to steal her job back before the season even ends.
19. Barbara: Undercover vice cop, she becomes Batista's girlfriend in season three in one of the most forgettable subplots of the series after she busts Batista in a prostitution sting. Nothing about the relationship was believable. Worse, the actress was ugly.
20. Astor: Rita's daughter, Dexter becomes her step-dad and she's just a cardboard cutout character meant to put Dexter through stereotypical domestic situations (oh, look, psychopath Dexter doesn't understand Astor is growing up and no longer wants to wear little princess clothes! If Dexter were normal he would know this shit!). The child actress who plays her is no Tatum O'Neal, that's for sure.