If you ask a Dexter fan, they are likely to tell you that this season is good one. For the six seasons before, Dexter’s serial killer identity remained a mystery to the characters closest to him. But, this season, Dexter’s sister Lt. Debra Morgan finally uncovered Dexter’s “dark passenger.” While at first Deb refused to accept Dexter’s being, after seven episodes, her character unexpectedly changed her mind and asked Dexter to do what he does best: kill. With this revolution, and Captain Maria LaGuerta hot on Dexter’s trail, it seems like the final chapter is upon us. The ending is near. And with one more season remaining after this one, we are left to wonder, what’s in store for the end? And has Deb placed herself on the path to a bloody finale herself?
The final 30 seconds of the Nov. 11 episode when Deb asked Dexter to take out Hannah McKay (Dexter’s new love interest who is also a killer) proved a huge turning point for Deb. “I think the future for Deb is her life is finally her own and she’s not living some version of a life that [she] thinks Dexter wishes for her, or her father wishes for her,” Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Deb, tells Hollywood.com exclusively at the premiere of her new movie, Ex-Girlfriends, in New York City. “She’s claiming space. And as an actor, that’s really exciting.”
And while this development may have seemed shocking to fans, Deb’s “acceptance” may not be true “acceptance” after all. “It’s funny how people perceive it,” Carpenter says. “You say starting to accept it. I’m not sure that I ever actually even lean that way.” Instead, Carpenter feels that the writers are keeping Deb on her path. “I feel like it’s been an honest portrayal, it’s honored everything that we’ve said is true about the character,” she says. “I’m grateful that we haven’t lied to the audience or suddenly made changes to make it more convenient for the writing.”
But where is the writing and storyline going to take us in the last five episodes of this season, or even in the final season? Is Deb doomed to go down with Dexter? While Carpenter has yet to learn the fate of her character, she does dream up a storyline that would most likely satisfy the masses.
“There’s a part of me that wants her to die because I don’t want this life [for her],” Carpenter says. “I love her very much, and I want it to feel done.” And death seems to provide the best alternative for Deb’s exit from the show in Carpenter’s mind. “That feels like the swiftest way to feel like I, the actor, can leave it,” she says. “I think it should happen like, ‘Oops, she slipped in the shower,’ or something. As long as they leave her in a good place, whether it’s a comfortable coffin or in great relationship, whatever it is, I want it to be complete.”
But, whatever does happen in the end, it’s going to be a sad parting for all. “It’s weird,” Carpenter says. “I’m excited to graduate from the show next year. But it’s also like turning off the lights on something that has generated so much energy and excitement that it will be really hard. [It’s] bittersweet.”
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
[Photo Credit: Randy Tepper/Showtime]
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