Rita Morgan (née Brandon; previously Bennett) is a fictional character created by Jeff Lindsay for his book series about a vigilante serial killer named Dexter Morgan. She also appeared in the television series Dexter, based on Lindsay's books. She was the girlfriend and later wife of Dexter in both media. Portrayed by Julie Benz, Rita was a series regular in the first four seasons. The character made her last television appearance in 2010; she was a special guest star in Dexter's season five opener entitled "My Bad". The character appeared in seven of the eight Dexter novels. In the novels, Dexter initially considers Rita little more than part of his disguise as a normal human being, and the perfect cover for his secret life as a serial killer. He later admits to growing quite fond of Rita, whom he married in the third book, Dexter in the Dark. In the television series, Rita is portrayed as a loving and caring mother who is emotionally damaged due to physical abuse by her former husband, Paul Bennett. Rita is the mother of Astor Bennett (Christina Robinson) and Cody Bennett (Preston Bailey), and later in the television series, gives birth to Dexter's son, Harrison. In the book series, she and Dexter have a daughter, Lily Anne. Benz received positive reviews for her portrayal of Rita, winning a Satellite Award and Saturn Award, and receiving a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Dexter executive producer Clyde Phillips claimed the staff did not know how Rita would leave until late in the fourth season, but that it began to feel inevitable as the story evolved. Benz was notified the day before the script was distributed to the cast and was disappointed, but found the scene revealing her departure to be "very poetic". The character's departure was considered controversial by some reviewers; E! writer Kristin Dos Santos said that it "might go down as one of the most shocking ever on television."