MONDO EXTRAS

Benz: Well, I think in that scene especially, um, he...his perception of what's going on is...he sort of...sees her thigh, there, and he still fascinated with how the Ice Truck Killer was able to make such clean cuts, so in a way, she becomes this sort of inanimate object and he's just trying to figure out how the killer did...that. Rita just sees it as a sexual advance.

Mr. S: Right. And at that point, I believe, you say, "Oh, dammit, Dexter," and you sort of exit the car rather...briskly, and, you know, it's just interesting to see Dexter sort of processing that, as his real connection to sexuality is through...his fascination. It's a very cerebral connection with this kind of violence.

Benz: What's fantastic about it, in a way, is...Dexter has been, um... It's hard to talk about other characters, but Dexter's been kind of asexual up to this point. He's had sex, but his focus has been...I perceive it almost as if his focus has been...his sexual focus, his sexual energy has been channelled into killing, and so that kind of makes him asexual as far as actual sex goes. And then, all of a sudden, here's Rita, and she feels like he wants to take their relationship to the next level, but she's not ready. There's really that conflict of, like, all of a sudden he's being faced with, "Wow," you know...it's so hard to explain.

Mr. S: I know, well, there's a lot of murky areas, that's why the show is good. You know, it's kind of hard to discuss in depth without sort of fumbling on your own words because you're still trying to figure out what's happening inside some of these people's heads.

Benz: Yeah, and you know, she really...I think in the pilot episode you really see her struggling to take their relationship to the next step even though she's not really ready. He's not even asking that of her, but she doesn't know. She thinks that's what he's asking of her, but he's not. It's that delicate balance between the two of them in that relationship: her perception of what he wants, and his perception of what she wants that are sort of coming from different sides, as he's just trying to keep her, you know, from early on as sort of the perfect cover, and thinks that, you know, God, they've been together for a while now and this is the next step, but she's not ready because, you know, the last time she had sex, she was raped. But she wants to keep him because he's a good man, and he's good to her kids, and she does have feelings for him, so she's kind of willing to go there for him, even though she's not ready. And he's like, "Whoa," out of left field.