In his relationship with Rita, Dexter learned to love, to become a parent, and to form the human bonds that he claimed only to mimic when the series began. Her death gives new license for him to unleash his Dark Passenger. Watch out!

Today, we pause and remember Rita Morgan in her last season on the show. Thanks, Julie Benz, for making Rita a character who displayed a fragility beneath her beauty and balanced the show’s violence with a calming, enduring faith in humanity. You will be missed.

Images: Randy Tepper/Showtime

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Love her or hate her

Will Rita come back as a ghost, the way Harry does?
“There has been no talk of me coming back to the series in any way. A lot of people have been begging me to tell them that I’m going to come back, and I’m like, ‘Rita’s dead!’ Rita is dead and Trinity killed her. There’s all these theories that Dexter did it, or Deb snuck in and did it, but I don’t think it could get any more obvious that Trinity killed Rita. Rita is dead. And there has been no talk of Rita being a ghost. No one’s approached me about coming back.”

Why Rita? And why did her death have to be so horrifying?
It is tough, and my first reaction was, ‘You’re killing the mother of the show! You’re killing the woman who’s suffered more violence than anybody!’ She suffered more violence than Dexter ever suffered. Dexter witnessed the death of his mother, but he didn’t suffer any physical violence. Rita was beaten and raped by an ex-husband on a regular basis, and yet she still has this innocence and sweetness about her.

… When they first told me I was dying, they didn’t tell me how I was dying, and I thought I was going to be the jumper off the building, which for some reason isn’t as graphic. I did feel anger about them taking this innocent, sweet woman in such a violent and terrifying way—which we know from the woman in the bathtub in the first episode.

How did the cast react?
There were a lot of tears the whole last week. When I found out, I called Jennifer (Carpenter, who plays Debra Morgan) right as I was leaving the offices, and she thought I was playing a joke. She couldn’t believe it. She was shocked. And then the producers told the rest of the cast because after telling Jennifer I just said I can’t do it. It’s too hard. I get really emotional thinking about it. It was my family and my favorite place to go every day.

How do you feel about Rita’s death now?
When you make a bold move to kill off a main character, and a bold move to kill off the mother of a newborn, it’s a fifty-fifty shot, and kudos to them for taking that risk. So many other shows, so many other networks would have shied away from it. I really hope that it pays off, because I would really hate to see Rita’s death be in vain and to lose viewers. I hope it catapults the show to a whole other level. I hope it opens the story up to so much more drama. I hope it opens Dexter up to finally releasing the Dark Passenger within him—let’s see the monster that he really is.

Final thoughts? And what will happen to Harrison?
I assume Astor and Cody will go with their grandparents, but what about Harrison? I know that one option is to have them jump ahead in time. They have the option of taking the story creatively wherever they want. But of course I worry about Harrison. The first thing I said when they told me about Rita’s death was, ‘What about the children?!’ I felt like a real mother, and I will be tuning in to make sure that Harrison is taken care of.

Stay tuned, Dexter fans. We’ll have a photo gallery of Rita from Season 4 and an update on Benz’ plans for the future.

Photo: Randy Tepper/Showtime

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Bravo to United States of Tara’s Toni Collette, Dexter’s Michael C. Hall, Nurse Jackie’s Edie Falco, Californication’s David Duchovny and Dexter’s John Lithgow for their noms!

Our two cents: Collette, who already scored an Emmy for her performance as Tara Gregson,  Falco, who somehow breathed new life to the stale medical drama genre, and Lithgow, who gave us chills as big baddie Arthur Mitchell, deserve to win this year, especially after a Showtime shutout last time.

What do you think? Post in the comments.

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Look’s like Deb’s detective work finally pays off with the truth about Dex’s origins. Check out the shocking scene here and tune in tonight for lots more drama. As producer Clyde Phillips says, it’s gonna “blow the top of your head off.” We can’t wait!

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Parrish takes a break from his scruffy surfer dude persona on the Showtime series to play Luke, one of the couple’s grown children who is left to grapple with the messiness that results after Streep and Baldwin’s characters relapse on their divorce.

The film, directed by Nancy Meyers, has raised critical buzz already, but Parrish said for him the joy of It’s Complicated was in working with such an awesome ensemble.

Streep was “incredibly maternal” and open to letting the young actor watch her technique, Parrish said, while Baldwin took some risks in the film that paid off. “It’s a great chance to see him in a place that’s a little bit more vulnerable,” Parrish said. “… He gets to become the one looking for something … and he totally does it with charm and with class.”

For more, check out this video interview with Parrish. It’s Complicated arrives in theaters on Dec. 25.

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“I wasn’t even thinking about my birthday, so it was a nice surprise,” Facinelli told OK! magazine this week at the Tribeca Film Institute’s screening of Everybody’s Fine.

Facinelli’s birthday wasn’t the only one in the household, with daughter Lola turning 7 on Sunday.

Facinelli is a great dad to Lola and sisters Luca, 12, and Fiona, 3, Garth told the magazine.

“He’s very hands-on,” she said. “He doesn’t watch football or sports, he doesn’t drink beer. He’s not a guy’s guy in that respect. Not that he’s not a guy’s guy … that sounds bad. But I’m lucky, I’m so lucky that he doesn’t drink or sm … well, heh … he’s just a rare find, so I’m really, really lucky.”

Facinelli, shown here with Garth at the Twilight: New Moon premiere in LA last month, added that “patience” is the most important thing he’s learned from his wife.

Still, Garth said even the best dads need alone time. “Sometimes I’ll hear the Harley thing rev up, and I’ll know he’s had enough estrogen for one day and he’s gotta get out of the house.”

She wouldn’t mind evening the scales a little. “I want a boy every day,” Garth said. “Yes I do. I love them. We’re so fortunate, and I don’t ever want to push that envelope. You think, ‘I have three healthy, great kids, and I’m so lucky’ that I would be scared to have more. But I would be willing to take the risk.”

Image: Fame Pictures

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Still, Jonny Boy couldn’t entirely hide that svelte, animal attitude we remember from Seasons 1 and 2.

For the series’ final season, Rhys Meyers consented to “some aging,” Liz Smith notes in her Variety column, but we’re guessing he’ll still bring plenty of sexy to Season 4, which debuts April 11.

Till then, you can re-live all the action from previous episodes on Sunday nights. Showtime will start airing all three seasons, two back-to-back episodes at a time, starting on Jan. 3. The episodes air at 8 and 9 p.m. Eastern.

Photo: Jonathan Hession/Showtime

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The hourlong chat contains some dynamite info, but not the spoilers some of you may have hoped for. Phillips and the rest of the show’s creators, crew and cast were sworn to secrecy on the Season 4 finale, which Phillips promised will “blow the top of your head off.” He went on to say that the episode, which airs Sunday, is the most exciting the writers have ever produced.

Here are a few of the highlights he did reveal, in answer to fan questions:

• Adversaries to Dexter such as Jimmy Smits’ Miguel Prado and John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer are called “Big Bads” because they’re so much more evil than your average villain.
• It’s tempting to compare Dexter and Trinity since they both kill in a ritualized fashion. But Dexter is driven by Harry’s moral code. Trinity has no code; he only has mythology.
• Jennifer Carpenter is less foul-mouthed than her character, Debra Morgan, but she enjoys delivering the colorful lines the writers give her. Phillips said she’s an actress at the top of her game and she should win an Emmy for this season.
• The writers don’t know yet where LaGuerta and Batista’s marriage will take them, but they’ll explore the relationship next season.
• Quinn, who’s becoming more and more suspicious of Dexter’s behavior, is there to recreate some of the tension that was lost after Doakes was killed.

There’s lots more in the full chat, my friends. Take a look for yourself, on your own schedule:

Dexter’s Season 4 finale is next Sunday, Dec. 13.

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Weeds and Californication made the short list for comedies, while Dexter got a nod in the drama category and This American Life received spot on the list for non-fiction television.

The winners will be announced at the PGA Awards ceremony on Jan. 24 in  Hollywood.

Check out the PGA’s full announcement of the nominees after the jump.

Images: Courtesy of Showtime

TELEVISION SERIES AND NON-FICTION TELEVISION NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2010 PGA AWARDS

Nov. 30, 2009

announced today the nominations for Television Series and Non-fiction
Television categories that will advance in the voting process for the
21st Annual Producers Guild Awards. The PGA Awards television categories
include: Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television,
Comedy; Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television,
Drama; PGA Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television; and PGA
Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment and Competition
Television.

The nominated shows are listed below in alphabetical order by category:

Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Comedy

NBC’s “30 Rock”

Showtime’s “Californication”

HBO’s “Entourage”

NBC’s “The Office”

Showtime’s “Weeds”

Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Drama

AMC’s “Breaking Bad”

Showtime’s “Dexter”

ABC’s “Lost”

AMC’s “Mad Men”

HBO’s “True Blood”

PGA Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television

CBS’s “60 Minutes”

Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”

A&E TV’s “Intervention”

Bravo TV’s “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the ‘D’ List”

Showtime’s “This American Life”

PGA Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment and Competition
Television

CBS’s “The Amazing Race”

Fox’s “American Idol”

Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report”

Bravo TV’s “Project Runway”

Bravo TV’s “Top Chef”

Nominations for PGA Awards in the Theatrical Motion Picture and Longform
Television categories will be announced on January 5, 2010, along with
the individual producers in all categories.

The winners in each category will be announced at the PGA Awards
ceremony on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium.

About the Producers Guild of America
The Producers Guild of America is the non-profit trade group that
represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the
producing team in film, television and new media. The PGA has over 4,000
members who work together to protect and improve their careers, the
industry and community by providing members health benefits, enforcing
workplace labor laws, the creation of fair and impartial standards for
the awarding of producing credits, as well as other education and
advocacy efforts. The PGA hosts important industry events including the
annual PGA Awards and the Produced By Conference.

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In Season 2, Tara will meet and befriend a free-spirited artist who reminds her of the life she could’ve had if she hadn’t move to the Kansas City suburbs to raise her family, Collette recently told Entertainment Weekly.

As we reported this summer, the artist will be played played by Oscar nominee Viola Davis (Doubt), shown here at the Law Abiding Citizen film premiere last month. She will appear in six episodes.

The experience “is like holding up a mirror of sorts” for Tara, Collette said. “They have an elusive, mystical bond.”

Season 2 of United States of Tara premieres March 22 on Showtime.

Image: Fame Pictures

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