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Detective Debra "Deb" Morgan (spelt 'Deborah' in the novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter") was the Deuteragonist and Protagonist and a main character in the Showtime series DEXTER. Debra was often the conscience of the series, providing the morally correct sense of justice, while her brother, Dexter Morgan, always pursued much darker means. Her involvement in the plot was usually parallel to Dexter's, usually hunting the same killer with the intent on bringing them to justice, in spite of the fact that Dexter sought them to satisfy his Dark Passenger.
Her adopted brother is Dexter Morgan, the main protagonist and Serial Killer of the series... while both were raised by Deb's biological parents; Harry and Doris Morgan. Debra grew up watching her brother take a lot of the spotlight, often seeking attention from her father, who would otherwise focus everything on Dexter. Little did she know that Harry's reasoning for doing this was not because he loved her any less, but he was trying to control a "weapon" of sorts within his surrogate son to handle his own personal agenda with Serial killers. Debra decided to join the police in her father's footsteps, hoping to become worthy within his eyes, even though he had passed away years before.
She evolved steadily throughout the series, moving up from a cop in vice to Lieutenant of Miami Metro Homicide. Unfortunately, when she killed Captain Maria LaGuerta to protect her brother Dexter, something inside of her changed and she left her life at Miami Metro behind. She worked as a Private Investigator for Elway Investigations (which was run by her ex-boss, Jacob Elway) for a short amount of time before returning to Miami Metro. She was later shot by Oliver Saxon and suffered from a blood clot during surgery. She died when Dexter turned off her life-support and dumped her body in the ocean. This was of course not one of Dexter's 'normal' killings, (if you could even call it that) he wanted to do the humane thing for his sister.
Summary
Appearance
Debra was a slim, Caucasian woman. Her face was soft and somewhat thin, with a big smile. Her hair was ever changing, going from one length to another (and in Season 3, even cutting off a lot of it), but, typically, it remained light brown.
Her overall body was thin, but had an athletic build, meaning that she's capable of running down a perp when necessary rather than just drag behind. On the right side of her stomach, she had a scar where she was shot during Season 4 and shared the same type of look her brother has (on both his side and his arm).
Her attire was one of the most variable throughout the series. As soon as she's allowed into Homicide, she quickly adopted designer suits, thus making her one of the best dressed officers in Homicide. Her suits changed along with her hairstyle and, before the show ended, she dropped using a jacket and instead wore a long-sleeved button-up shirt with dress pants and shoes. Her typical gear was a gun and a badge, along with other possible devices such as a radio. Her at-home attire was very casual compared to her work clothing, usually consisting of T-shirts and blue jeans.
Personality
Debra was not shy with curse words, but was also lonesome, despite the tough persona she presented. Debra's ability to be "one of the guys" was what allowed her to be so effective at her job. She was headstrong at times and wore her emotions on her sleeves, but she was also sensitive and caring deep down inside, though she didn't readily express it. She is a lot of things that Dexter is not; crass, impulsive, emotional, trusting and thus serves as a perfect foil for Dexter. She highlighted his shortcomings in his attempts to be "human".
She was known to have a very foul mouth (in the very first episode of the show, Dexter described her as "his foul-mouth foster sister"), and there was hardly a sentence that she spoke in which she did not utter a swear word (she did this in normal conversation, but swore more often when angry). This had nearly gotten her into trouble on several occasions, as she often spoke profanely to her superiors, only to realize this afterwards and apologize. It finally got her into trouble in the 3rd season, as a poorly-timed public comment against the deceased Oscar Prado caused her to be removed from the Fred Bowman case. However, it had been revealed that she was able to control herself at times when around children, such as when holding onto baby Harrison. Even though he couldn't possibly understand her at his age, she used the word "fu---dge". She was also well known for being easily angered and frustrated by suspects (even more evident when something violent happens to someone close to her). Despite her foul mouth and anger issues, it seemed to be pretty evident that Debra's love for her brother was her primary trait. Though she was often frustrated with his inability to open up to her, she defended him on more than one occasion. For example, she threatened Quinn when he referred to Dexter as a "dweeb."
Every single aspect of Debra's life changed once she saw Dexter plunging a knife into Travis Marshall's chest and, after she eventually put the pieces together, discovered that he's a mass murderer, much to her horror. Having discovered who her brother really is, Debra then became torn over whether she should love him as a family member or if she should even care for him at all because there was reason to express resentment for his actions, his secrets, and the blood slides that she discovered. Debra often glanced at Dexter with an expression of distrust, frustration and rage. She concluded that that she never really knew her brother (much like Brian Moser had suspected) because she saw that he was a totally different person. Even though, once again, she admitted she still loved him, Dexter realized Debra was acting differently towards him and that on multiple occasions she was not there for him like she used to be. Debra began studying Dexter's actions and continually questioned every movement he made due to her severe distrust for him and his insane urge to kill. This resulted in her admitting that she is incapable of telling the difference between the truth and a lie with Dexter (to be fair, most of his lies were to protect her, which she seemed to believe was illogical). Her distrust for Dexter was so great at this point that she even believed that he was the one who killed Rita, much to Dexter's anger and shock. Debra then commented that Harrison should go live with his grandparents and that Dexter is an unfit father, which caused Dexter to finally snap at Debra and say that he is a good father, vowing not to affect his son, regardless of what Debra believes.
When it came to the law, Debra thought that justice is the thing that would prevail, although she did, at times, admit that it isn't perfect. She kept on telling Dexter that they should both be able to follow the law no matter what and that he could have easily gone to the police - rather than slaughtering his victims in cold blood. However, Dexter replied that the justice system is simply a joke, and it is so easy for criminals to escape through the cracks and that, if her justice system is as good as she believes it to be, he wouldn't be nearly as busy. He went on to claim that his Code is sometimes better. A good example of him using the code would be on one of his desired targets, Ray Speltzer. He convinced Debra that he could take him out before he could get the chance to kill, stating that he knew Speltzer had the potential to kill once more. Soon enough, Debra seemed to start catching on to the incontrovertible truth in Dexter's words, specifically when Speltzer brutally murdered another defenseless woman (Melanie Garrett) in his tailor-made maze. After Dexter pursued Speltzer and successfully killed him in a crematory (and burnt his body), he showed Debra the smoke produced by Speltzer's ashes (rising out of the chimney). A conflicted Debra claimed she was happy and Dexter replied that makes her 'human'.
In the Season 7 finale, Debra demonstrated how she would be willing to protect Dexter at any cost - regardless of the consequences. She reluctantly shot Maria LaGuerta in the chest in order to ensure that her brother wouldn't be condemned for his past actions. Even though she started to pin the blame on Dexter in the beginning of Season 8, it was revealed by Evelyn Vogel that she had actually been in a state of denial for a long time and had only been trying to blame herself for getting involved in the situation. She simply viewed Dexter as the person she could scold because he was a Serial Killer to begin with. Debra, however, began to accept that Dexter was taught to commit these secretive crimes by her father. Debra eventually decided to make amends with her foster sibling and the two moved on in life, both accepting the reprehensible urge within themselves. In the penultimate episode of the whole series, it is revealed that Debra may have even been willing to take a bullet for Dexter's sake. She was shot in the stomach by Oliver Saxon while she was trying to incarcerate him.. It can be inferred that she was attempting to do this for Dexter, as she told him to journey to Argentina to enjoy his future with both his son and Hannah McKay (this was being threatened by Saxon). In the series finale, Debra and Dexter shared several peaceful moments while Debra was bedridden. Debra remembers that Dexter protected her from the fictitious 'monsters' during her early childhood.
Soon after Oliver Saxon was murdered by Dexter, the latter learned that a blood clot had formed in his sister's brain. Dexter realized what must be done and reluctantly turned off her life-support to ensure that she rest in peace. While he did this, he mumbled 'I love you, Deb', indicating that their bond was one that could never be broken....
Early Life History
Debra was born to Doris Morgan and Harry Morgan and, later, the adoptive sister to Dexter Moser. She was a tomboy as a child and was always very rough. She constantly craved the attention of her father and she envied Dexter for all the time their father Harry spent with him- teaching him how to get succeed with murder. She initially accepted him as a brother, however, and was extremely upset when blamed herself after she asked him to fetch her football by climbing over a fence and was injured. She was frequently confrontational to Dexter as a child, always seeking the attention from Harry and never getting it.
When she was 16, her mother, Doris Morgan died of cancer. Like her father, she wanted to become a detective and started learning to shoot a gun by borrowing her father's, which angers him when Dexter tells him, and she reproaches Dexter for telling him saying that sometimes she wished that he had never brought him home but apologizes for it soon after. She still learns how to use a gun better than Dexter and trying to foster her career as a future detective. She is distraught at her father's death, inspired by his legendary police career and follows in his footsteps. Years later she joins the police force and yearns desperately to become a Homicide Detective.
Career
Debra Morgan has one of the most developing careers in the Miami Metro Police Department. In 2001, she joined the police department and spent three years in patrol before moving on to Vice in 2004. While in Vice, she would often go undercover as a prostitute and continues to have personal contacts within their ranks. Two years had passed and the Ice Truck Killer Investigation was rekindled after finding two murdered victims in Miami. Showing initiative, she started to notice oddities in the victims and realized they could be delivered by mobile refrigeration units-specifically refrigerated trucks. At first the idea of searching for refrigerated trucks was dismissed by her superior Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta, but later after Dexter began stalking a refrigerated truck (which he excused as just following Debra's lead to back up her story) and has a victim's head thrown at him, the department realizes the value in her investigative ideas. Shortly thereafter, she manages to actually find the truck and inside are the fingertips of victim Sheri Taylor, who is later identified at Miami Metro Homicide. Captain Tom Matthews hears about the successful finding of the truck and later has LaGuerta promote Debra from Vice to Homicide. She however is not officially a detective at this point.
Two more years pass, with Debra officiating as an Officer of Homicide she helps break huge cases such as the Ice Truck Killer Case and aids Frank Lundy as part of his Special Task Force in searching for the Bay Harbor Butcher. In most instances, she takes point and with her intuitive ability to recognize evidence, signs, indications and clues that lead to truth. She finally becomes a bonafide detective and she earns The Silver Shield just before Dexter's wedding at the end of Season Three. One of her first duties as Detective is to lead the charge on capturing George Washington King, who "commits suicide" (in reality he was already killed by Dexter, but provided an escape plan for him at the time) by smashing through a patrol car window from the above railing.
Two years as a detective prove Debra a capable, and hard-working individual. Now nearing nine years on the force, she aids in the Trinity Killer Case picking up where her former lover Frank Lundy left off, closes the Santa Muerte Case with some unfortunate casualties and despite being put on suspension while a fellow officer by the name of Cira Manzon becomes detective in her place, Debra still manages to bust the Barrel Girls Case successfully, only being steps behind the "killer couple" she had hinted at before.
One year later, with the recent promotion of Maria LaGuerta to Captain of Miami Metro Homicide (a position previously held by Tom Matthews), the position of Lieutenant has opened for a new replacement. At first, Sergeant Angel Batista (who became Sergeant near the beginning of Season Three, ironically at that time forcing Debra off the Oscar Prado case to cement the position) was considered for the position, Maria's top pick to take her place. However, Deputy Chief Matthews reviews a recent heroic incident (which is circulated on a video sharing website, likely YouTube) with Debra back at a restaurant where a disgruntled employee came back to shoot up the place though she managed to take him down with no injury to civilians. This gives her a heroic feat under her belt and enough for Matthews to decide firmly on promoting her to Lieutenant, which she makes LaGuerta do. Humorously, the first promotion LaGuerta gave Deb was given with a heavy heart and annoyed attitude. The second promotion on the other hand was cheerful and proud-the two were actually friendly with one another. The third promotion is very emotional for LaGuerta who promised it to Batista, but now has to award it to Deb instead, and she's not happy about it. Batista remains as Sergeant, and while depressed about what occurred, he's proud of Debra... despite others such as Joey Quinn (who recently was turned down by a proposal to Deb) urging him that she's changed, Angel continues to believe in Deb and her abilities, aiding her now discreetly in dealing with being a Lieutenant.
Effectively, she completely skipped the Golden Shield of a Homicide Sergeant to reach Lieutenant, certainly a notable feat by Debra Morgan.
Plot
Debra Morgan is featured from the start of Episode 1 and acts as the other Main Character throughout the series so thus she's in every episode and season to date. While her brother Dexter is dealing with a particular Main Antagonist, Debra is almost always persuing the the same criminal, or, at times, another major antagonist that Dexter doesn't invest his time in. However, she has amazing detective abilities and typically catches on to clues just a mere step behind her brother thus leading Homicide multiple times towards success (almost accidentally catching her brother on multiple occasions). It is through her many selfless actions that she held the position of Lieutenant in Homicide and was able to lead the charge on new cases, including the Doomsday Case, and the Mike Anderson homicide investigation which lead to the further investigation of Isaak Sirko. During the penultimate season, she did not only knew her brother's secret, but also covered and helped him which lead to her eventual emotional breakdown after she was forced into a situation that went against everything she stood for - killing Maria LaGuerta to protect Dexter and herself.
In Season 1
Despite being smart, she is unsure of herself, so instead relies upon Dexter's seemingly limitless expertise on murderers to solve difficult cases. Initially assigned to vice, she was desperate to be transferred to homicide, and after Tom Matthews promotes her, she starts to gain a lot of confidence in herself and relies less on Dexter's abilities and more on her own.
Debra develops a close relationship with a man called Rudy Cooper, who is actually the Ice Truck Killer, who is dating her in order to get close to Dexter. She falls in love with him and trusts him completely.. At the end of the season, Rudy proposes to her, and she accepts and is then kidnapped by him in order to reveal himself to Dexter. She is bound to a table in the same manner that Dexter kills his victims, while Dexter and Brian discuss her fate. In the show, she is unconscious but in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, she is wide awake and finds out that her brother is a killer. Debra is severely affected by Rudy's betrayal; she moves in with Dexter for fear of being alone.
In Season 2
Debra is particularly frail at the start of season 2, still recovering from her ordeal with the Ice Truck Killer. Key to her recovery were Dexter and an older man and Special Agent, Frank Lundy. She starts to bury herself in work and is very wary of anyone she has a relationship with, such as Gabriel. She feels that she is not a good detective because she didn't spot that her fiancé was a serial killer, but Frank Lundy tells her otherwise and they, mid-season, develop a romantic relationship which ends in Debra gaining her confidence back. She stays in Dexter's house while she deals with the trauma of what happened to her, leaving his apartment a total mess to the point where Dexter says, jokingly, "I will not kill my sister," repeatedly.
Come the end of the season, she has regained all of her confidence and her police work is back to scratch. She is more determined than ever to improve her career and earn a detective shield. But she is still upset when Frank Lundy has to leave Miami due to his work.
In Season 3
As Season 3 begins, Debra had her hair cut to shoulder length, has "sworn off men, liquor and smokes" and is even more determined to get her silver detective shield. She is working with a new partner, detective Joey Quinn, but has been approached by an Internal Affairs officer who tells her that her partner is being investigated as a dirty cop; but she refused to assist IA. She was originally part of the team investigating the murder of Miguel Prado's brother Oscar, but because of her lack of tact and people skills, she was removed from the case by the newly-promoted Detective Sergeant Batista; however, the case she has been assigned to (the murder of a young woman) was eventually found to have been the connected Skinner case, which she solved with the help of Anton Briggs, a C.I. whom she started a relationship with after saving his life from "the Skinner". Because of her success on the Skinner case, she was given her detective shield at the end of the season.
In Season 4
A conversation between Debra and Dexter leads to her finding out her father slept with one of his confidential informants. She investigates the files on Harry's informants and interviews them, hoping to find the one Harry slept with. One of the files is shown to be Laura Moser. Also during this time, her relationship with Anton has been breaking, especially now that he had a gig in the city instead of on a cruise ship. This is put on hold by the return of Frank Lundy to Miami to hunt the Trinity Killer, and Debra once again becomes involved with Lundy. Soon, both she and Lundy are shot by an unknown assailant suspected to be the Vacation Killers, with adding insult to injury, she confesses to Anton that she slept with Lundy, prompting them to immediately break up. Lundy dies, and she eventually figures out the Trinity Killer is the shooter. As a result, Debra opens an investigation to the Trinity Killer. However, it is later revealed that Trinity could not have been the shooter. Since her wounds from the bullet were in a horizontal line, someone of Masuka's height had to be the shooter. During a Thanksgiving dinner, Debra remembers a conversation she had with Christine Hill and realizes she has knowledge of the shooting that no one outside the police department knew about. This leads Debra to believe that she was the shooter. This is backed up later when it is revealed that Hill is the daughter of Trinity. Hill later confesses to Debra that she was the shooter, moments before she shoots herself in the head. Due to her solving the Lundy killing, she restarts her search for Harry's C.I. mistress and finds out about Laura Moser, and the fact that Dexter and the Ice Truck Killer are brothers.
In Season 5
Debra is on the scene shortly after the events of Season 4 come to a close, telling fellow officers to back off her brother as she takes Harrison into her arms and asks Dexter what happened. Debra becomes shocked and confused at Dexter's response, also realizing that now Rita is dead. She backs her brother despite the opposition from FBI and her own department alike, not realizing that Joey Quinn has taken an interest in Dexter's possible connection to Rita's murder. She is seen taking care of Harrison while Dexter copes with his loss, though works to get everything ready for the funeral in her brother's absent emotional state... including setting up the coffin, memorial artwork and the likes.
After a bad breakup with Anton Briggs and the loss of Frank Lundy, Debra has been cornered with a lot of unfortunate outcomes with her relationship status. Feeling a sense of obligation to Rita, she arrives with Quinn at her house to cleanup the blood... which Quinn objects because that is something the FBI is paid to do, but she feels it is her duty, so they go ahead and clean the place spotless of the blood spills. After they finish up, they begin to converse on how she's holding up... and she starts to break down in tears, while Quinn attempts to comfort her... but little does he know that the tables turn when she starts kissing him, resulting in the both of them having an extreme moment of passion that ends in sex. After they finish, Debra goes to sort through dresses as Quinn is still in shock (and likes the fact) of what just happened, questioning her on what this means from here on out. Debra is in extreme denial, pushing Quinn away while she takes a stack of dresses back to Dexter's Apartment... with Quinn still wondering what this means between the two of them.
When she learns that Dexter skipped out on his FBI interview (regarding Rita's death), she becomes infuriated and tries to reach him by phone but when that fails, she busts through the door of the apartment to see Harrison in the arms of "the crazy cat lady" from downstairs. Apparently Dexter had her watch over Harrison, so she tries to get a hold of him again (with some of her famous cuss words and anger) and still fails to figure out where he's at. She as well as the rest of Homicide attend the funeral, with her thinking centered on Dexter, who is still missing, but Quinn attempts to run his theory about Dexter by her when Dexter suddenly arrives (thus cutting him off) and the funeral commences.
Some time passes and Harrison has grown a bit, with Dexter and the rest moving all of their possessions into what was supposed to be her apartment. She even is forced to bunk with Astor Bennett while Dexter sleeps on the couch and Cody on the cot. The stress of this starts to build, along with a new case in the midst... the Santa Muerte Murders.
In Season 6
At the start of the season, Quinn proposes to Debra, but she rejects him and eventually ends their relationship. The ensuing awkwardness is only made worse when she is promoted to Lieutenant, thanks in part to LaGuerta's political machinations. Debra generally seems to earn the respect of the office, but struggles with the idea of some people not feeling 'open' to her anymore because of her new job level. The job is also very stressful in itself, and she comes to doubt whether she can handle the responsibility. Her work and personal troubles weighing down on her, she eventually begins to attend therapy sessions. Matthews attempts to make a deal with her about covering up his involvement in the death of a prostitute, but before she can take any action, LaGuerta tells Matthews' superiors about his indiscretion and lets Debra take the fall for it.
Debra continues working Homicide after being promoted to Lieutenant; she works alongside Angel, Masuka and Dexter to try and solve the DDK murders, but an erotic dream between her and Dexter sparks something that seems to confuse Debra. After Travis kidnaps and threatens to kill Harrison, Dexter meets him to intervene only to be ordered by Travis to inject himself with M99. But before Travis kills Dexter, Dexter manages to knock Travis out and take him to a secluded church in which he sets up his ritual to kill Travis.
"Oh God..." Deb finally sees the real Dexter
Dexter Morgan manages to capture Travis Marshall following his attempt to murder Harrison. Debra previously asked Dexter if he could do a final sweep of the Santa Maria de Laredo Church, which was actually a ploy so she could tell him the truth about her emotions. When she does arrive however, Dexter had turned the church into his personal kill room for Travis... and as she walks into the doorway she is able to witness Dexter standing with the knife in hand, seeing him stab Travis in the heart before her eyes.
Dexter says simply, "Oh God..."
In Season 7
In "Are you...?", which picks up at the end of season 6, Debra witnesses Dexter murder Travis Marshall. Dexter claims that he went to collect evidence, and was surprised by Travis; he then says that he "snapped" and killed Travis on impulse. Debra reluctantly helps him burn down the abandoned church where he killed Travis, destroying the evidence of the crime. Later, Dexter comes home to Debra, sitting in the chair in the corner of his apartment, surrounded by Dexter's victim's blood slides, a pack of knives, and other tools that Dexter uses to kill. Debra reluctantly asks Dexter if he is a serial killer. Dexter, taken aback, replies yes. Horrified, Debra recoils from Dexter as he admits that he is the "Bay Harbor Butcher", and that her father taught him how to get away with murder. In "Sunshine and Frosty Swirl", after reading serial killer reports by Frank Lundy, Debra says she wants to help Dexter, and make sure he doesn't kill again. Dexter agrees, even though he doesn't really have a choice, as Debra (probably) would have arrested him. In "Do the Wrong Thing", after Dexter disposes of a particularly brutal serial killer who had evaded imprisonment on a technicality, Debra admits that she understands why Dexter takes the law into his own hands, and tells him that she will not stop him as long as he does not tell her about it or interfere with Miami Metro investigations. She even compromises her own professional ethics by falsifying evidence to mislead LaGuerta, who is trying to reopen the Bay Harbor Butcher case.
Their truce is threatened when Dexter begins dating Hannah McKay, a serial poisoner who Debra is intent on arresting for the murder of Sal Price, a writer she had feelings for. Dexter is torn between his responsibility to Debra and his feelings for Hannah, the only person who has ever accepted and loved him for who he really is. In "Do You See What I See?", the situation is worsened when Debra gets into a near-fatal car accident after a confrontation with Hannah; she is convinced Hannah poisoned her, and Dexter is suspicious enough to order a toxicology screen on a bottle of water in Debra's car, along with searching Debra's house for clues. The results prove that Hannah did indeed poison Debra, leaving Dexter with no choice but to give Debra evidence proving that Hannah killed Price. Debra is on hand to arrest Hannah, as a heartbroken Dexter looks on.
Debra fires her gun at LaGuerta.
In the season finale, "Surprise, Motherfucker!", Debra rushes to Dexter's side when LaGuerta has him arrested for the Bay Harbor Butcher murders, and angrily confronts her before being told to recuse herself. Dexter is released, however, thanks
Killing her.
to the evidence that Debra tampered with. The next day, LaGuerta calls her into her office under the pretext of apologizing — and confronts her with circumstantial evidence that she was near the church at the time it was destroyed. Debra talks her way out of immediate danger, but fears that LaGuerta
Then embracing her in deep sorrow.
will soon have definitive proof of what she and Dexter had done. Later, at Angel Batista's New Year's Eve party, she learns that LaGuerta has gone in pursuit of Dexter, who she fears is in the act of killing Hector Estrada, the man who ordered his mother's murder. She goes to the scene, where she finds Dexter poised to shoot an unconscious LaGuerta. As she pleads with Dexter not to do it, LaGuerta regains consciousness and urges Debra to kill her brother. Resigned, Dexter tells her to "do what you have to do". Desperate to save Dexter, Debra shoots and kills LaGuerta, and breaks down in tears over her body.
In Season 8
In Season 8, which takes place roughly six months after the finale of Season 7, Debra has left Miami Metro in order to work at a private investigation firm and she partly blames Dexter for killing LaGuerta because she felt there was no other option. Slowly but surely, Debra manages to forgive Dexter after attempting to end both their lives by crashing a car into the lake, with sound advice from Dr. Evelyn Vogel.
During the penultimate episode, Dexter leaves Oliver Saxon to be arrested by Debra, as she has always wanted Dexter to hand over criminals to Miami Metro rather than kill them when there is sufficient evidence, but Deputy Marshal Max Clayton frees Saxon from the seat he is tied to, before being killed by Saxon. Debra then enters the room, only to be shot in the gut by Saxon, who then escapes with a gunshot wound on his arm, fired by Debra as she was falling over.
In the Series Finale, doctors are optimistic that Debra will pull through her surgery. Saxon is arrested by Angel Batista and other officers on the scene, as he arrives outside the hospital room Debra was in. However, Dexter sees that Debra is no longer in the room and walks up to a teared-up Quinn, who informs Dexter that a complication arose when an unsuspected clot formed after her initial surgery, causing a loss of oxygen to be supplied to her brain, and she was pronounced brain-dead on the scene. Quinn is attempting to hold back his tears, whilst Dexter looks on with very little hope (as well as anger).
Dexter returns to Miami Metro with a GSR (Gunshot Residue) kit with intentions to kill Saxon. He tells the latter that he will kill him with a pen that has been placed on the table, but then Saxon grabs the pen and stabs Dexter in the shoulder. Dexter instantly grabs the pen and thrusts it into Saxon's left carotid artery, causing him to fall to the ground and bleed to death. The CCTV footage is then watched by Angel and Quinn, who both come to a conclusion that Dexter can be cleared under an act of self-defense, even though they can slightly see that Dexter
Debra Morgan after being taken off life support in "Remember The Monsters?"
acted out of anger. Dexter returns to the hospital as patients from the south wing are being
Dexter carrying Debra's body out to The Slice of Life.
evacuated due to Hurricane Laura (a fitting tribute to Laura Moser, perhaps) - and goes into Debra's room to say a final goodbye, and then shuts her off of her life- support (to prevent her from suffering). He
Debra, just before being slowly placed into the water by Dexter.
then says "I love you, Deb.", before waiting until the EKG flatlines.
He then takes her body out to his boat, and drops it into the sea, before calling Hannah and Harrison to say goodbye. He then sails out into the heart of the storm and his boat is found obliterated in the sea the next day by rescue boats. He is presumed dead. The final scene shows Dexter living somewhere else without a family in a small cabin on his own, leaving the rest of his life open-ended.
Any investigation (by Quinn, Batista or Astor and Cody) in order to find out who killed Debra while in hospital and where did her body disappear is left open as well.
Dexter dumps Debra's body in the ocean.
Appearances
Debra has appeared in every episode in the series, as she is the secondary protagonist (as well as main) character.
- Dexter
- Crocodile
- Popping Cherry
- Let's Give the Boy a Hand
- Love American Style
- Return to Sender
- Circle of Friends
- Shrink Wrap
- Father Knows Best
- Seeing Red
- Truth Be Told
- Born Free
- It's Alive!
- Waiting to Exhale
- An Inconvenient Lie
- See-Through
- The Dark Defender
- Dex, Lies & Videotape
- That Night, a Forest Grew
- Morning Comes
- Resistance is Futile
- There's Something About Harry
- Left Turn Ahead
- The British Invasion
- Our Father
- Finding Freebo
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight
- All in the Family
- Turning Biminese
- Sì Se Puede
- Easy as Pie
- The Damage A Man Can Do
- About Last Night
- Go Your Own Way
- I Had a Dream
- Do You Take Dexter Morgan?
- Living the Dream
- Remains to Be Seen
- Blinded by the Light
- Dex Takes a Holiday
- Dirty Harry
- If I Had a Hammer
- Slack Tide
- Road Kill
- Hungry Man
- Lost Boys
- Hello, Dexter Morgan
- The Getaway
- My Bad
- Hello Bandit
- Practically Perfect
- Beauty and the Beast
- First Blood
- Everything is Illumenated
- Circle Us
- Take It!
- Teenage Wasteland
- In the Beginning
- Hop a Freighter
- The Big One
- Those Kinds of Things
- Once Upon a Time...
- Smokey and the Bandit
- A Horse of a Different Color
- The Angel of Death
- Just Let Go
- Nebraska
- Sins of Omission
- Get Gellar
- Ricochet Rabbit
- Talk to the Hand
- This is the Way the World Ends
- Are You...?
- Sunshine and Frosty Swirl
- Buck the System
- Run
- Swim Deep
- Do the Wrong Thing
- Chemistry
- Argentina
- Helter Skelter
- The Dark...Whatever
- Do You See What I See?
- Surprise Motherfucker!
- A Beautiful Day
- Every Silver Lining
- What's Eating Dexter Morgan?
- Scar Tissue
- This Little Piggy
- A Little Reflection
- Dress Code
- Are We There Yet?
- Make Your Own Kind of Music
- Goodbye Miami
- Monkey in a Box
- Remember the Monsters?
Other appearances
Dexter: The Game
Debra with her officer attire.
Debra appears following her Season 1 story arc, working undercover as a prostitute to find the Ice Truck Killer.
Dexter arrives at the motel where the Pool Victim was found and LaGuerta tell him to go and talk to his sister, Debra. Dexter gets to Debra and she asks him for help on the case as she wants to have a part on solving the case of the prostitute killer to be able to be transferred from Vice to Homicide as she is sick of working as LaGuerta's puppet. Dexter agrees to help her.
Debra, undercover as a prostitute during gameplay.
Later on, at Miami Metro, Debra encounters Dexter to find out about what new evidence he has on the killer. He proceeds to tell her about an Ice Truck, which then leads to believe the killer has been using transportation to mobilize his victims, and an Ice Truck is perfect to preserve the victims in the state they have been found.
Relationships
Debra also has a very poor track record with relationships, which is another contrast to Dexter and his steady (except for part of Season 2) relationship with Rita.
Sean "The Mechanic" was the subject of a brief relationship from the first season episode (Crocodile). It wasn't long before Debra discovered he was married and as a result, she dumped him.
She dated Rudy Cooper (during Season 1), unaware that he is actually the Ice Truck Killer and also Dexter's biological brother. Rudy eventually proposes to Debra and she accepts, but soon after he reveals his identity and drugs her, to use as bait against Dexter. Dexter rescues Debra and later kills Rudy "for the safety of (his) sister." In Season 4, Deb finally discovers the truth about Dexter's biological family. She is very upset and tells Dexter, thinking he has no idea of who his brother was, and goes on to say that she loves Dexter more than anyone.
Gabriel was yet another brief relationship (in season 2). Debra met him while working out at the gym. They went on several dates, but eventually Debra left him because of her growing attraction to Frank Lundy.
In Season 2, she becomes romantically involved with Frank Lundy and they have a healthy relationship despite their age difference. Debra is attracted to him partially because of his success as an FBI Agent but also of the approval he has for her viewpoints. He inspires confidence in Debra; something she never received from Harry. Unfortunately, his job forces them to end their relationship.
Later they started things up again while she was seeing Anton, but they were both shot and Frank was killed. (Dex Takes a Holiday)
In Season 3, she seems to have finally found a match in Anton, her "C.I." for the George King case. When her case might have been in jeopardy due to her romantic involvement with Anton, she chose him over the case, and still received her detective's shield, with approval from Lt. LaGuerta. She also served as Dexter's "Best Man" for the wedding.
It has been joked by some fans that Debra may have something of an Electra complex. First she (unknowingly) starts a relationship with her foster brother's (Dexter's) biological brother (Rudy/Brian). Then she begins a relationship with Lundy, who is approximately her father's would be age, and like him, a respected police officer (albeit for the FBI rather than Miami P.D.). And finally she begins seeing a C.I., something her father once did. Most recently she has started seeing Joey Quinn, a badmouthed cop that is practically perfect for Debra... both are around the same age, both work well together on the job and both have similar personalities.
When Quinn is first introduced during Season 3, it starts out as a simple flirtatious jokes with the occasional hint here and there. However, Quinn nor Debra ever even considers a relationship or a fling at this point therefore it's mostly just tension.
In Season 4, there is less of the hints as Frank Lundy shows up and ends up dying midway through the season and Quinn mainly is dealing with his own relationship this season with Arthur Mitchell's biological daughter. Both Debra Morgan and Joey Quinn lose someone they love this season... which sort of aids them in Season 5.
At the very start of Season 5, during a house cleanup after the death of Rita Morgan... the two have a rapid, violent experiment in sex in the house. After they finish, Debra denies that anything actually happened while Quinn constantly pressures Debra into trying to accept what happened and that the two should hook up. Debra stays in denial, constantly badmouthing Quinn and is quick on the defensive sign to suggest that they were dating or worse in her mind... possibly getting married.
As Quinn starts to back off a bit, Debra starts realizing that she's developing feelings for him and ultimately becomes jealous a few times, before finally coming up to him and admitting that she loves him. The two then kiss and start acting more and more like lovers. They're not yet open about it with anyone but they certainly are happy with one another in person.
However, Debra's recently found out that Quinn was suspended for investigating Dexter as the beginning of the season (she doesn't know that he hired a private investigator) and wants nothing to do with him, even though Quinn had just told her that he loved her. The two are talking with one another, but Quinn is still trying to press back into the relationship... truly feeling that he loves her... and Debra is starting to believe him again, as she can see who Quinn really is and that he may drop this whole hunch on Dexter.
In Season 6, they have been in a relationship for about a year and Quinn decided to propose to her stating he's in love with her, only to be turned down and heartbroken by Deb. Since then, Quinn has been filling the emptiness in his heart with pointless sex with random women (all of which he doesn't care about) and a lot of alcohol. It would later be revealed that the true reason Deb broke up with Quinn was because she doesn't love him, which left him even more hurt. He apologized for all the bad things he did before and tried to get back together one last time, only to be turned down.
During Season 8, there are several moments where the two of them show to be close, like when Quinn constantly helping her whenever she was in a predicament. Clearly showing that despite the two of them had broken up, they're still close. After Quinn broke up with Jamie, still having feelings for Debra, she confronted him, saying that she still had feelings for him as well. The two then began kiss, inferring the two are now a couple. When Debra got a stroke after being shot, he was torn apart to know that Debra would never recover, and remain a vegetable, leaving him to suffer for his loss.
Victims
Attempted
- Herself
- Dexter Morgan
In the novels
- Main article: Deborah Morgan
In the books, the character's name is spelled "Deborah", and she is described as "voluptuous". She also talks about how she has not been taken seriously because she has large breasts. In the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the follow-up novels, Deborah finds out her brother is a killer, and appears to accept it, although sometimes torn between her duty as a sister and as a cop regarding what she should do to him. After being stabbed in Dexter By Design, Deborah has finally come to accept Dexter for what he is, and in Dexter is Delicious, she even asks him to kill Bobby Acosta, knowing he will walk away free after being found to be a cannibal because of his family's wealth and connections.
At the conclusion of Dexter is Delicious, Deborah is pregnant by Kyle Chutsky, who had left her after coming to the conclusion that he was of no use to her. She is also unaware that Brian has returned as her birthing classes are on the same day that Brian visits Dexter and Rita.
Swearing
Debra Morgan is perhaps the most vocal of the characters on the TV series DEXTER and, as such, has created quite a list of her very own unique curse words and phrases, as opposed to a simple usage of the "F word" by a character such as Joey Quinn. The only other character to swear nearly as often as Deb is Sergeant James Doakes. By the end of the series, Debra has used some variant of the word "fuck" approximately 996 times.
Trivia
- Deb wears contacts [2], having traded in her glasses for contacts due to her interest in boys at a young age, and braces at night [3].
- Deb is one of few characters to discover the truth about Dexter Morgan and continue to survive after the fact until her death in the Series Finale in Season 8 "Remember the Monsters". The only other characters currently alive with knowledge of what Dexter does is Lumen Pierce, though her knowledge is only that Dexter is a serial killer that takes blood slides as trophies of his victims. Hannah McKay retains the same knowledge about Dexter's hobby, and how she seemingly dislikes Dexter makes her the most risky threat to him. However, Debra is slowly learning more and more about Dexter's life as a serial killer, and him being the Bay Harbor Butcher.
- Dexter reveals several victims to Debra, though not by name (rather by description). They're all from the first season: Mike Donovan, Jorge and Valerie Castillo, and Emmett Meridian.[4]
- Interestingly, when she's referring to the people in "that box" as the victims before Dexter mentions the above killers... none are actually present in that current blood slide box. All those slides remain in the first box, which is currently in Maria LaGuerta's possession.
- Debra, aside from Jonah Mitchell, is one of the only two people that knows Dexter killed The Trinity Killer. However, she learns far more about the event than Jonah, learning the truth of what happened to Rita and some of what Dexter felt in hunting Trinity and his failure to prevent her death.
- Debra always has a large role in the story, usually on the other half of the hunt for serial killers that Dexter often targets. She represents the side of law and justice through the Miami Metro Police Department while Dexter is the darker side hunting the killers to put them down.
- Her progression in Miami Metro Homicide is the furthest of any character, with most only being promoted a single rank while Debra has gone from beat cop in Vice to Lieutenant of Homicide all in a short period of time, even skipping the rank of Sergeant.
- She has killed three characters so far within the series, the first being Carlos Fuentes when she decided not to hesitate upon him taking a hostage a second time (which almost cost the first hostage's life). The second is Maria LaGuerta, former Captain of Miami Metro Homicide in order to protect her brother (and herself). The third was a hitman named El Sapo who was assigned to kill Andrew Briggs and retrieve the jewels by beating her up in Andrew Briggs' storage container shed. Debra ran up to El Sapo in his car and shot him 3 times with a 9mm Handgun, but Dexter has evidence against her of some of her own blood in the shattered glass.
- However, she incorrectly states that she's killed TWO people during Episode 806: A Little Reflection. This is likely excluding Carlos Fuentes, as the events involving the Fuentes brothers have not been referenced since their last appearance in Season 5.
- After shooting Maria LaGuerta, according to showrunner Scott Buck, they left the cameras rolling and the part where Deb runs up to LaGuerta, crying and holding her is unscripted. She proceeds to say something similar to "I hate you" or "I had to", whether the line was also unscripted is unclear but everything else was Jennifer's decision.
- According to Season 8 after 6 months of LaGuerta's death, Debra Morgan has resigned her job and is now hired in a Bail Bonds company called Elway Industries and has been taking narcotics and extra dosages of prescription medicines (like Xanax).
- Debra is the final death (as well as Dexter's final kill) in the series.
References
- ↑ Episode 802: Every Silver Lining, a computer database entry revealed when Dexter tests a blood sample.
- ↑ Episode 106: Return to Sender, while talking with LaGuerta
- ↑ Episode 402: Remains to Be Seen when she sleeps at Quinn's place
- ↑ Episode 702: Sunshine and Frosty Swirl