Debugger Out of Scope in Cucumber

When /I (un)?check the following ratings: (.*)/ do |uncheck, rating_list|
  # HINT: use String#split to split up the rating_list, then
  #   iterate over the ratings and reuse the "When I check..." or
  #   "When I uncheck..." steps in lines 89-95 of web_steps.rb

  # If you use debugger as the last instruction of a method, it will
  # get out of the scope of that method...
  debugger
  #flunk "Unimplemented"
end

# In the console, you try to check the variables once the debugger
# stopped the execution and then...
$ rating_list
# => ERROR