Dexter is stalking serial killer Ray Speltzer, who works as a groundkeeper at Briar Cemetery.
He
is also trying to convince Debra (who just recently discovered his dark
secret) to let him dispatch Speltzer before he kills again.
But she insists they have no evidence.
So Dexter begins spying on Speltzer at the cemetery, and sees him enter a private mausoleum, which he locks behind him.
Dexter
returns after dark, scales the fence, and breaks into the mausoleum,
where, sure enough, he finds a bizarre altar Speltzer has built, and a
souvenir earring that he took from his last victim.
While he's there, he gets a phone call from Debra, saying that she's going to stake out Speltzer's house.
Realizing
she's in danger, Dexter runs from the cemetery and speeds to the house
where he finds Debra about to be killed by crazy Speltzer, who is
wearing a mask with giant bull horns.
We
see it again in Episode 4, "Run", when Dexter sneaks into Speltzer's
RV, and is attacked and captured there (and wakes up being stalked in a
maze).
In
that same episode, they used Hollywood Forever again for the funeral
scene where Debra & Angel attend the funeral of the barmaid
Speltzer killed when Debra was at his house. She sees Speltzer there,
watching and taunting her, and she almost attacks him (before Angel
pulls her back.
Only this time, they moved over northwest, and shot this scene at the entrance to the cemetery chapel, just west of the cemetery's main gate.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
A. A cemetery.
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. This is Hollywood Forever Memorial Park, located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard, in Hollywood, CA.
The spot on the lawn, near the lake, just outside (north of) the large Cathedral Mausoleum where Valentino is buried.
In fact, the small mausoleum
(On the show, the small mausoleum has the name
"Laurel" above the door, but I suspect that's probably
fake. The next time I'm at Hollywood Forever, I'll check & see
what name actually is on the mausoleum, and will report it here.)
Right next to that small mausoleum, is the white tomb of Harry Cohn,
the former head of Columbia Pictures - who was probably the most
disliked executive in Hollywood. Legend has it that at Cohn's funeral
here, remarking on the big crowd, Red Skelton, said: “Give people what
they want and they’ll come out.”
There
is indeed a crematorium at Hollywood Forever (Beatle George Harrison
was reportedly cremated here), but they didn't actually use it on the
show. Instead, they built a replica of it at the studio.
The cemetery is just south of the Sunset-Gower studio where they film Dexter. And in an interesting twist, Sunset-Gower was originally Columbia Pictures, which was run by Harry Cohn.
Dexter has filmed here in the past. They filmed Rita's funeral here in Season 5. And this is where Dexter dug up Ellen Wolfe, after Prado killed her in Season 3.
Hollywood Forever is a popular filming spot, and a number of movies and TV shows have been shot there over the years.
(You can read more about Hollywood Forever, and the stars buried there, by clicking here.)
A. In the early seasons, I usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes,
using clues from the various scenes. By the now, though,
I've developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an
eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and would let me know
in advance when something was about to film there.
Between those reports, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a
few new resources I discovered, by the time the first episode airs, I
already know most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only
need to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct
locations.
This group of helpful fans includes Rick, Ellen, Elaine, Mia, Joel, Susan, Eric, Jeff, Kerry & others. My thanks to all of
them.
But I needed no help on
this one. I know Hollywood Forever like the back of my hand. In
fact, I've written a number of pages about the park and the stars
buried there, which you can read here.
