A. A dilapidated alleyway, a refuge for drug addicts.
Q.
Where is it supposed to be on the show?
A. Somewhere in Miami.
Q.
When did we see it on the show?
A. In Episode 6, of Season 6, "Just Let Go".
"Chicago
Mike"
Anderson, the new cop at Miami Metro, is searching for information about
who killed Brother Sam. He wants the name of the new leader of
the gang that had threatened Sam.
In this
scene, we see Mike cruising through a neighborhood. He stops at a
building that seems to be literally decaying, and chases down a young
drug addict.
He tells the junkie that he knows the Locos gang is the drug supplier in
this neighborhood, and he wants to know who their leader is.
When the
junkie refuses to cooperate, Anderson handcuffs his wrist to his ankle,
causing him to hop on one leg and then fall down.
Anderson
refers to this as "flamingo-ing" - something cops do in Chicago.
He notes that it's ironic that they don't have flamingos in Chicago, yet
here in Florida, where they do have flamingos, they don't flamingo
people.
After he starts to walk away and leave the junkie "flamingoed", he gets the
information he wants and relays it to Debra:
The new shot-caller is
Leo Hernandez, who lives at St. Andrews & Romaine.
A. The rear side of a row of urban retail buildings that have been partially demolished.
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. There
used to be a row of urban retail buildings along the north side of the 5600 block of Santa Monica Blvd, which included a large linoleum store and a Sears store.
They
decided to
demolish those buildings, and planned to build another center in its place.
But when this scene was filmed (in July 2011), the demolition was incomplete, leaving veritable ruins standing along Santa Monica Blvd.
They filmed this scenebehind and inside these partially-demolished buildings.
The block of
former stores was bounded by Santa Monica Blvd (on the south), by Virginia
Ave (on the north), and by Wilton Place (on the west).
For this scene, they
used the rear (north) side, which faces Virginia Ave.
When we
first see Anderson driving, he is heading north on the 1100 block of N.
Wilton Place. He quickly turns right (east) onto Virginia Avenue, then
right (south) into the rear parking lot of this former center. The initial confrontation with the junkie was filmed up against the back wall of this retail strip.
The
roofless ruin that Anderson chases the junkie through (and where he
captures him) was part of this center, and appears to have been the former "Linoleum City" store, at 5657 Santa Monica Blvd.
Warning: This isn't the best neighborhood in the world. And demolition should be complete by now, so
if you drive
by, chances are that all you will see is an empty lot (or the new center rising in
its place).
Q.
How the heck did you figure out where it was?
A. In previous seasons, I've
usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes,
using clues from the various scenes. By the 6th season, though,
I'd 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 aired, I
already knew most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only
needed to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct
locations.
This group of helpful fans includes Kerry, Rick, Ellen, Susan, Jason, Elaine, Joel, Julie, Geoff, Jeff, Jen, and others. My thanks to all of them.
Rick sent me this one. Plus, he drove by and shot the photo you see above. (Thanks, Rick!)
