Dexter: New Blood Finale Betrays Deb’s Death Scene In Original Series (2025)

When Deb dies in Dexter, it marks an emotional conclusion for Dexter and Debra Morgan, which Dexter’s last line in New Blood betrays. Time and again, in the original series, Dexter resolved that he could not feel love, but this gradually changed as he realized there were two people he genuinely loved: his sister Deb and son Harrison. Deb’s death, which Dexter felt responsible for, broke him and was the catalyst for why he decided to abandon Harrison and ride into a hurricane in Dexter’s controversial season 8 finale.

Why would Dexter: New Blood’s ending undermine this? Undoubtedly, Harrison is one of the few people in the world for whom Dexter has felt love. Dexter initially didn’t love Harrison’s mother, Rita, but his complete heartbreak at her death in the season 4 finale also disproved this. Dexter even came around to saying that he was in love with Hannah McKay before the series finale, but these feelings of love pale compared to his deeply ingrained connections to Deb and Harrison.

Dexter: New Blood Ruins Deb's Death Scene

Dexter Claims He Never Felt Love Before Harrison

One of the most tragic moments in Dexter’s original series was Deb’s season 8 finale death. She had become brain-dead from complications in surgery after being shot by Oliver Saxon, so Dexter mercifully pulled the plug on her life support in the show’s final moments. While there was no need to say that Deb was the closest person to Dexter in his entire life, their everlasting bond was sealed when Dexter whispered, “I love you, Deb,” before she drew her last breath.

This was one of the only times that Dexter had ever said “I love you” and truly meant it, which is what marked his decision to try to take his own life in the hurricane; Dexter could no longer stand to see the tragedies of his loved ones caused by his actions. He truly did love Deb, and this in no way undermined his love for Harrison. But, in Dexter: New Blood’s series finale, he says that he has “never felt real love” until the moment when Harrison kills Dexter.

This line suggests that Dexter has never really loved anyone except Harrison, and only in this moment, which betrays the significance of Deb’s death scene in the original series finale. By stating in Dexter: New Blood’s finale that he didn’t love Harrison until that moment while suggesting he didn’t feel love for Deb when she died, the series is betraying two of the original shows' most important storylines.

Dexter Clearly Had Love For Deb

Dexter Loved His Sister Before Her Death

One of the titular serial killer's first lines in the original Dexter series premiere is that if he could feel love, he would want to feel it for Deb. Upon developing his bond with his sister Deb and having a son who gained his own Dark Passenger, it would have been for them if Dexter were ever going to feel love.

While the last person that Dexter sees before he dies in New Blood is Deb as she clutches his hand and takes him to the other side, it feels extremely out of character for him to state that he could never actually feel love until Harrison decided to kill him. Harrison’s birth and Deb’s death were the two moments in Dexter’s original series that proved after all those years that Dexter could, in fact, feel love.

The fact that Deb died in Dexter’s original series finale was already a point of controversy for her character, but what drove it to make sense was that Dexter’s complete heartbreak at her death was the last straw that led him to stop killing. It can be argued that Dexter returning to serial killing in the first place in Dexter: New Blood betrayed the impact of Deb's death, but implying he never truly loved her makes it much worse.

While Dexter's death in New Blood was inevitable for his story to officially end, writing it to undermine Deb and Dexter’s relationship because of his connection with Harrison repeats the crimes committed against Deb’s character.

Dexter's Relationship With Deb Was The Show's Most Important

Dexter & Deb Carried The Original Series

Throughout Dexter, he was a serial killer but felt he was doing the right thing since he killed bad people, often stopping other serial killers by acting as one himself. He needed something that grounded him and made him a real person, not someone defined only by his criminal actions. When Deb fell in love with Dexter in season 6, fans hated it at the time. The problem was that she was his "sister," although they were not blood relatives and were only raised together as siblings. However, it was the right move.

No one on Dexter humanized him like Deb. He never had to hide who he was from Deb. She knew him, and he didn't create a fake persona to be around her. This pretty much ruined her life, but they completed each other in a damaged and broken way. She said he was the only person she knew she could rely on. Throughout all her relationships, Deb only really told Dexter she loved him. They needed each other, and when Dexter said "I love you" before she died, it was the perfect conclusion to his story.

Dexter & Deb's Relationship Will Be Important In The Prequel

Deb Loved Dexter As A Brother Since They Were Kids

Though Dexter: New Blood may have damaged the legacy of Dexter and Debra's relationship, the franchise will continue on with another opportunity to show how important their bond is. Dexter: Original Sin will be a prequel series taking a look at Dexter's younger years and how he developed into the vigilante killer audiences are introduced to in the original series. The show will feature several returning characters, all played by new actors, with Debra Morgan as an obvious and essential inclusion.

The biggest name in the cast is Christian Slater, who will take over the role of Harry Morgan, Dexter and Debra's adoptive father. While Harry teaching Dexter the code will obviously be a big part of the prequel series, the relationship between young Dexter (Patrick Gibson) and Debra Morgan (Molly Brown) will be even more important. The show has the opportunity to reveal how Debra was the most important person in Dexter's journey that prevented him from being the monster he feared he would be.

Harry saw the darkness inside of Dexter and attempted to find a way to ensure that he would not be a threat to the innocent people of the world. While Harry loved Dexter, it was also not a relationship that showed Dexter what love really was, as so much of it revolved around Dexter's need to kill. Debra, on the other hand, was someone who was in Dexter's life as long as he could remember but who he kept the secret from. She didn't know the darkness inside of him and could just love him as a brother.

Returning Characters In Dexter: Original Sin:

The prequel series needs to explore the family dynamic at work here. While Harry could come up with his code to guide Dexter, it likely wouldn't have worked had it not been for Dexter feeling like there was someone who truly cared about him as a person. It is not enough for the series to simply make Dexter and Debra feel like the same characters seen in Dexter; it must give more context to the bond between them.

Dexter: New Blood

Crime

Drama

Mystery

Dexter: New Blood takes place ten years after the conclusion of the original Dexter TV series after Dexter heads off into a Hurricane to fake his death and start a new life. To escape his past and give his children a potentially better life, Dexter assumes the identity of Jim Lindsay, a woodsman of the north who works at a small sporting goods store. Dexter is in a new relationship, his murderous desires are suppressed, and his father figure, Harry, has been replaced by Debra, his sister, who perished in the last series. However, when Dexter's son Harrison somehow tracks him down during several incidents around his new home, Dexter realizes that his dark side may not be gone. Worse still, his son may also be harboring his own. You can rent the seasons for just $9.99 for Prime Day.

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Cast

Michael C. Hall , Jack Alcott , Julia Jones , Alano Miller , Jennifer Carpenter , Clancy Brown , Johnny Sequoyah

Release Date

November 7, 2021

Seasons

1

Network

Showtime

Writers

Alexandra Franklin , Jeff Lindsay , Marc Muszynski , Clyde Phillips , Kirsa Rein , Alexandra Salerno , Scott Reynolds , Veronica West , Tony Saltzman , David McMillan , Warren Hsu Leonard

Directors

Marcos Siega

Showrunner

Clyde Phillips

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Dexter

Crime

Mystery

Drama

Based on the character created by author Jeff Lindsay, Showtime's Dexter follows Miami Metro Police Department's most skilled blood spatter analyst, Dexter Morgan, as he attempts to satisfy his Dark Passenger's need to kill by hunting down criminals who have escaped justice. However, using the rules his adoptive father taught him to remain undiscovered, Dexter must walk the fine line of seemingly blending into society while continuously feeding his dark urges. Dexter faces several serial killers as his facade slowly crumbles around him; with every problem solved by his Dark Passenger, another one arises for his suburban fatherly life. When Dexter takes things personally or feels that the law is failing, he takes matters into his own hands and even compromises the investigations of his co-workers. Dexter aired on Showtime for eight seasons before receiving a mini-sequel series called Dexter: New Blood, which picked up ten years after the show's events. You can buy each season for just $9.99 for Prime Day.

Where to Watch

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Not available

*Availability in US

Cast

David Zayas , Michael C. Hall , Lauren Velez , C. S. Lee , James Remar , Jennifer Carpenter , Desmond Harrington , Julie Benz

Release Date

October 31, 2010

Seasons

8

Network

Showtime , CBS