Derek Morgan is still one of the most important characters to ever exist. He grew up in the South Side of Chicago where he saw his father shot and killed right in front of him. That traumatic experience triggered emotional and behavioral problems which landed him with a juvenile record, and the one person he had to turn to for help ended up abusing him sexually and emotionally all the while pretending “mentor” him.
No one knew what was happening to him, and he had to carry all the guilt and shame over it into his adult years. Even into adulthood, this person haunts him and tries to manipulate Morgan into thinking that all of his success was a result of his (the abuser’s) influence. As if all of Morgan’s accomplishments were due to this person’s interventions. As if Morgan was destined for the gutter, if his abuser had not stepped in to “save” him…
…but Morgan says no. He stands firm, and gathers up all this emotional strength within himself to stand by his successes as his own. He puts himself in this very painful position of confronting his abuser, because the lives of other boys like him are on the line. He got himself to the BAU, so he could put people like his abuser away. To show boys like him that they could be more than their records and the people who abused them.
Outside of all the bitterness and rage that Morgan rightfully has towards his abuser, Morgan has been surrounded by people who love him very much. He loves them just as much, putting all of his trust and faith in them despite the loss and betrayal he has experienced in the past. Healing is a process, and the anger does not go away completely… but he has learned to deal with it in a healthy way, all the while putting away abusers.
Derek Morgan went through hell as a child. His juvenile record labeled him as violent, when his fighting was directly related to the traumas he was going through. His abuser held this against him, in order to make himself out to be the hero of Morgan’s story. He was a young black boy in a poor neighborhood with a record, making it easy for his abuser to prey on him given how society already viewed him.
People would even praise his abuser for taking boys off the streets!
Yet, Morgan subverts all expectations all the while shedding light on some of the painful things boys in his neighborhood were (are) going through. His success was his own. He is healing all the time. He is still guarded and on the surface, he can be tough and masculine… but he is so damn soft and loving and kind and affectionate to the people he trusts, and he is everything people didn’t think he was capable of.
He is unapologetically himself, and he got to tell his abuser to go to hell.
Derek Morgan is very important. I miss him so much, but I’m glad that the show respected this character enough to give him a proper sendoff.
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