Original Sin's Season 1 Finale Makes Dexter Season 8's Biggest Debra Morgan Mistake Even More Frustrating

Published Feb 28, 2025

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Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin season 1 and Dexter season 8.The finale of ending of Dexter: New Blood, Original Sin was a joyous occasion.

As happy as Original Sin's ending was, however, it also included some subtle dark details about the future. For example, Brian (Roby Attal) continued to watch Dexter through the window, hinting at his and Deb's Dexter season 1 relationship. Even the happiest parts of Original Sin's finale, however, also made one of the original Dexter's worst mistakes even harder to accept. Watching Deb at a high point in her life in Original Sin only made her death in Dexter season 8 more frustrating to deal with.

Deb's Happiness In Original Sin Season 1's Ending Makes The Reality Of Her OG Finale Death So Much Harsher

Harry & Dexter Were Debra's Biggest Sources Of Happiness, But Their Mistakes Ended Up Killing Her

Dexter- Original Sin Season 1 Ep 10-49 — Image via Paramount+

The last shots of Original Sin season 1 saw Deb happily dancing with Dexter and Harry just after she told them she was ing the police academy. It was a truly happy moment, and probably the happiest Deb has ever been in Dexter. A big reason Deb was so happy is because she had her brother and father ing her and simply spending time with her, which makes it all the more tragic that Deb died because of Dexter and Harry's mistakes in Dexter. Though they were the source of her joy, Deb's family also indirectly caused her death.

Dexter Original Sin Foreshadows Deb Worst Moment From The OG Season 1 Finale

Dexter: Original Sin Brutally Foreshadows Deb & Dexter’s Worst Moment From The OG Season 1 Finale

Dexter: Original Sin episode 9 reveals several unknown details about Brian Moser and one of his earliest encounters with his future girlfriend, Deb.

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In Dexter season 8, Deb died after being shot by Oliver Saxon (Darri Ingólfsson). Both Harry and Dexter had a hand in putting Deb in Saxon's line of fire, too. Saxon was Dr. Evelyn Vogel's (Charlotte Rampling) son, and she only ed Dexter to hunt him down because Harry had hired her as a psychiatrist years prior. Additionally, Dexter chose the worst possible moment to give Saxon over to the police instead of killing him himself, which ended with Deb taking a bullet. Dexter and Harry's mistakes killed Deb, and watching her get so much happiness from them in Original Sin almost makes her death feel like a betrayal.

Dexter's Season 8 Finale Never Should Have Killed Off Deb

Deb's Death Was Too Sudden & Clashed With All Her Character Development In Dexter Season 8

Though Original Sin made Deb's death even more frustrating, the actual "original sin" Dexter made was killing Deb at all. Deb spent most of Dexter season 8 spiraling after killing Maria LaGuerta (Luna Lauren Velez): she quit Miami Metro, started doing drugs and drinking excessively, and was dating a wanted fugitive. She managed to turn her life around, however, and even reed Miami Metro and started healing her broken relationship with Dexter. Just as Deb was finally getting better and recovering from the years of abuse she suffered through in Dexter, the show killed her in the final moments of season 8.

She deserved an ending like the one Original Sin gave her, but the prequel series came far too late to fix Dexter's mistake.

Deb's death felt like a slap in the face to both Deb herself and to longtime viewers. Deb had so many unspeakable things done to her, from being seduced by the Ice Truck Killer to watching Frank Lundy die in front of her and falling in love with her adopted brother, and Dexter just killed her off for shock value. Deb, of all people, deserved a happy ending in Dexter, yet she was just used as another sign that Dexter hurts everyone he gets close to. She deserved an ending like the one Original Sin gave her, but the prequel series came far too late to fix Dexter's mistake.

Deb's Death Is One Of The Only OG Show Mistakes That The Prequels & Sequels Can't Fix

Resurrection Can Undo Dexter's Death & Original Sin Fixed Harry's Past, But Neither Can Fix Deb's Death

One of the worst parts of Deb's death is that Dexter can't undo it. Original Sin has already put in a lot of work to fix some of the mistakes that Dexter and New Blood made, and the show Dexter: Resurrection will fix even more. Original Sin went back and cleared up some inconsistencies in Harry Morgan's past, and also turned him into a more likable and less morally gray character. Resurrection has a chance to undo Dexter's death and give him a more fitting ending than New Blood was capable of. Neither Original Sin nor Resurrection can do anything about Deb's ending, though.

Deb's death was as definitive as any TV death can be. Dexter season 8 saw Dexter unplug Deb from her life , stopping her breathing, and then deposit her body into the ocean. Then, New Blood further confirmed her death by having her appear as Dexter's dark enger. Dexter: Resurrection found a way to show that Dexter survived Harrison shooting him, but there's simply no way to claim that Deb survived the ending of Dexter. Deb's death is permanent, and no matter how good the franchise continues to be, the way she died will always be one of Dexter's biggest mistakes.