Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. An apartment building. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. 1420 Brickell, in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 1, of Season 7, "Are You...?". Dexter has discovered the fingerprint of Viktor Baskov in the car of a murder victim, and suspects him of killing both the dead stripper in the trunk, as well as detective Mike Anderson. But, as usual, Dexter needs more proof of Baskov's guilt, before Harry's Code will let him kill him. So he looks up his address, and goes to his apartment tower. Inside Baskov's apartment, Dexter examines Baskov's clothing and discovers evidence of both blood and gunpowder, convincing Dexter of his guilt. Checking Baskov's computer, he sees that he has bought a ticket to Kiev, with the plane leaving in just two hours. He then stalks him to the Miami International Airport and kills him there. We see the apartment tower again in Episode 4, "Run", when Isaak breaks into Viktor's apartment (which still has a police seal on it) and looks at a photo of himself & Viktor and comes to tears, revealing that he had genuine affection for the young killer. He then swears that he will avenge his death. It shows up again in Episode 8, "Argentina", when Dexter breaks in again, planning to kill Isaak there.  But he's surprised to find someone already there, a mob hitman sent to kill Isaak himself. He pulls a gun on Dexter. Dexter slits his throat. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. An apartment building/tower.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This is a well-known Long Beach landmark, the International Tower, located at 700 E. Ocean Boulevard (at Shoreline Drive).

In the establishing shot, the camera is looking west/southwest.

Not only does the circular building slightly resemble the famed Capitol Records building in Hollywood, but it has starred in a hit movie as well.

Once inside the apartment, though, the view from the windows is not the view of Long Beach one would get from inside the International Tower.

In fact, it appears to be a view of Miami.

I confirmed that they shot this in the studio on a set, and faked the view out the windows (something they're good at on this show).

The interesting thing here is that the fictional address, 1420 Brickell, actually is an apartment/condo tower in Miami, with a similar view that looks out over Biscayne bay, complete with an arching bridge.

But the building seen outside the apartment's windows appears to be the condo located at 1900 Purdy Avenue, in Miami Beach, which wouldn't be readily visible from that Brickell address, plus the taller twin buildings seen to the right of the Purdy condo aren't there in real life.  All of which leads me to believe that the probably created the Miami panorama in PhotoShop, using actual buildings & bridges in the city in the mix, and then used that montage as the backdrop for the window view.

But there's no doubt that the exterior was the International Tower.

I shot the photo below in 2010.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

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 this time, I didn't need any help.  I'm very familiar with the International Tower. I drive past it all the time, and I shot photos of it for my page about Lethal Weapon. I recognized it instantly.