I'm a big fan of Rita - I thought she was the perfect girlfriend for someone like Dexter. Yes, he did errands for her. That's what couples do. Dexter kept her at arm's length for pretty much the entire relationship. He also basically cheated on her with that slut yeah, hitting the jack pot indeed, yet she forgave him which most women wouldn't. I personally could never be in a relationship with a brooding stiff like Dexter, it would drive me crazy trying to figure out what he's thinking. I think she did well given the circumstances of her husband's personality. Just my opinion.

Rita sucks. And according to Dex; she wanted to swallow too.
"It's hard to have tiny versions of yourself go around and screw up. Must be what parents feel like" - Dexter Poindexter

I couldn't stand Rita and it always humored me how uninterested Dexter usually seemed to feel about her dying. It's who he is as a person but I'm glad he's not the type of character we'd have to see grieving and depressed every day.

I hate her too. Like you said, she's too needy and very selfish. I suspect Dexter stayed with her so long because he simply wasn't bothered by her attitude.
Remember, Dexter was a sociopath. He was just going through the motions to fit in and appear normal, and staying in a difficult relationship was part of it in his mind. He had no desire for other women and, therefore. no real incentive to finally dump her. Granted, he did grow fond of her and the kids, but had no real emotional attachment.

Not saying the baby needs to be passed off the second he comes in the door but how would it be co parenting if the father isn't involved?

'Co-parenting' is just that - doing it together. So if mom has been taking care of baby all day then how is it unfair for dad to have some time with him later on?

that's called real life.. females have been doing that crap since the dawning of time.. Man goes to work, mother is stay at home mom.. She passes off baby the moment dad walks in the door.. Like seriously it's supposed to be co-parenting, not her stopping the moment dad walks in..

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She got annoying to me real quick too. I liked her in the first season.

That's modern stay at home females for you these days. Moaning over little things and too much energy to spare so they demand attention from a worn out husband.

There were valid reasons to be upset with him, and some reasons weren't valid.
A good example of her being unreasonable was when Rita gets upset at Dexter for suggesting not to spend money on a funeral for Paul in season 2. It's understandable that Rita would DISAGREE with Dexter, but Dexter wasn't being demanding about his opinion. Just merely expressing it and she jumps down his throat over it. And then she expects him to ATTEND it as if Dexter has any reason at all to care about some dude who mistreated his girlfriend in the past.
However, him holding his apartment while being married Yeah, kind of a valid reason to be upset with Dexter in season 4.
She was a mixed bag with this kind of stuff throughout the series. They were just constantly trying to make her an "obstacle" so as to keep the tension in Dexter's life high.

Whenever people complain about Rita's nagging, it's like they forget that Dexter gave her every reason to. Dexter did nothing but lie to her and deflected when she'd ask him to be open with her. People like the OP want to put the blame on Rita yet give Dexter a pass. The reason she was happy Dexter hit the neighbor was because Dexter showed no feelings about it when she was talking with him beforehand in their bed.
This OP's argument is dumb. "Rita should be thankful for Dexter and shouldn't complain at all since he's emotionless and doesn't care."

I would die for Rita

I believe it was in the pilot that Dex said (in his head) that he and Rita were a good match because she was "just as damaged" as he was

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Yeah, she kinda bugged me in the third and fourth seasons but nobody should have to die like that especially in front of her infant son. I always felt kinda bad about how she left the show. I get her death had to particularly brutal in order to help "fuel" the fifth season but still sad.
RIP David Bowie

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It appears you know nothing about women born 1980 and later.

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Ugh! Skyler White is one of the worst wives. Rita, Skyler, and Lori Grimes are my top three most annoying wife-characters.

Whow. I have to say this is an awesome, very insightful posting. Thank you !
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

You nailed it Pat Bunny.
It's much more the writers and how they're trying to create drama/obstacles

Rita's a pretty sympathetic figure. She's a single mom and domestic abuse survivor who is conned by a serial killer who uses her for social cover and ultimately contributes to her violent death. If the story was told from the point of view of anybody other than Dexter, we'd feel horrible for her.
Instead Rita gets a bad rap because it's almost impossible to create a likable wife character for an anti-hero character unless she's his partner in crime. (Citation: Skyler White, Carmela Soprano, Margaret Thompson, etc, etc, etc.) Because either she, like Rita, is oblivious to her husband's criminal behavior and is used mostly to create obstacles ("Hey honey, could you stop and buy some milk?") to ramp up dramatic tension and/or illustrate the main protagonist's double life, and, OR she does know about the crimes, like Skyler and Carmela, and occasionally contributes to protect her family despite crises of conscience, and everybody hates her because she's a hypocrite.
"Sacred cows make the best hamburger."

I really liked Rita in season 1 but the writers screwed her character up. They were trying to hard to make her tough or something. She just came across as a major league C.