 Gail Brandon is Rita's mother, Astor, Cody and Harrison's grandmother and Dexter's mother-in-law.Gail is a former public-school teacher who was fired by the school board due to "philosophical disagreements" (she disapproved of what she saw as the gradual acceptance of mediocrity in the way schools treated children and made her feelings well-known).She has extremely high standards, making her judgmental of her daughter and her grandchildren.