Dexter attends the funeral of Brother Sam, an ex-con who had turned to God, and had given some glimmer of hope to Dexter.
Sam's ashes are scattered in the water, by one of his followers, as mourners recite the 23rd psalm.
The young
man leading the ceremony asks people to raise their hands if Brother Sam
changed their lives. Almost everyone does. Dexter starts to
tentatively raise his own hand, but hesitates.
Afterward,
the young man tells Dexter that Brother Sam wanted him to have his
bible. Dexter takes it, then sees that it is stained with the
blood of Sam (who had it with him when he was shot).
Dexter says
that someone else, someone more religious, could probably make better
use of it. But the guy tells him that Brother Sam always said that
the answer to any question was in there.
He also
asks Dexter if he has seen Nick, noting that he disappeared after Sam
died. Dexter suggests that maybe Nick just needed some time off,
but he knows that he drowned Nick, on this same beach.
Dexter
wonders if Sam might have possibly changed him, noting that he didn't
kill Jonah Mitchell when he had the chance, and that he seems to have
passed a little light on to Travis.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
A. A beach - but not in Miami.
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. Dexter thinks to himself that
he drowned Nick on this same beach. And for once, they're telling
the truth about a location.
This is indeed the same spot where they filmed not only Nick's drowning, but also Nick's initial beach baptism scene.
It's Bayshore Beach,
a small sheltered beach on the east side of 54th Place, just
north of E. Ocean Blvd, where the Long Beach peninsula joins the mainland
- about a mile southeast of the Belmont Pier.
For one reason or another, locals refer to this beach as "Horny Corner".
The beach doesn't face the ocean.
In fact, it faces the opposite direction. The calm water you see is
the Alamitos Bay, which runs between the peninsula and Naples Island,
(which is what you see on the other side of the water).
The beach
park includes a small cluster of sporting facilities, playground equipment
for kids, and a co-op pre-school.
There's also a small snack stand called Alfredo's Kayak Cafe, where Dexter has have filmed a number of scenes over the years, including Dexter's first meeting with Rudy (ironic, considering his "reunion" with Rudy on this same beach), and Lundy dining with Debra.
They've shot other scenes at Bayshore Beach as well (not involving the Cafe), including the scene
where Lila bought roofies from a drug dealer was shot
near the basketball courts. And the scene where Dexter planted evidence
against Doakes was shot at the end of the adjacent
pier.
A. Dexter has
filmed at this small beach so many times in the past (beginning back in
the first season), that I'd recognize its features anywhere: The
homes on Naples Island visible across the channel, the handball courts
visible in the background, the small dock... I've been there and shot
photos on several different occasions.
But, I also had the help of Elaine, of Long Beach, who drove by when they were
filming this scene, and sent me this shot from her Touch 4G:
Blow that up a bit, and you can see Michael C. Hall, in the aqua shirt, and one of the funeral wreaths.
