A. A street in a woods or forest.

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Somewhere near Miami.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 7 (of Season 4), "Slack Tide".

After Arthur Mitchell (the Trinity Killer) and Dexter cut down a tree, they are heading back in his van,
on a forest road, when suddenly a deer jumps out in front of his car and is hit by the car.

They stop and get out. The deer is lying in the road, moaning in pain.

Arthur is upset, and says they should leave.

Dexter points out that the animal is suffering, and says they should kill it and put it out of its misery.

He hands Arthur the axe.

The clearly distraught Arthur can't make himself do it. Dexter is surprised that a serial killer can't kill a deer.

He asks Arthur if he wants him to kill the animal for him. Arthur is grateful.

Dexter kills the deer with the axe, while Arthur looks away, unable to watch.

Harry's "ghost" tells Dexter to kill Arthur now, with the axe, but Dexter doesn't take the advice.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A botanical garden.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This scene was shot at the South Coast Botanical Garden, at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, in Palos Verdes Estates, CA.

That's on the east side of Crenshaw Blvd, about a mile southwest of Pacific Coast Highway.

( It's the same location where they filmed the second season scenes of Doakes being held captive by Dexter in the cabin.
And the same park where they filmed the scene of police finding a woman's arm inside a gator.
)

At one time a landfill, the land was turned into a lush garden with a lot of palm trees and semi-tropical plants, making it a good starting point for any producer looking for a swampy, Everglades look.

Because there are so many roads in the large public garden, and because they tend to look alike, I can't pinpoint the exact spot where they filmed it.  But enjoy a visit to the garden yourself (especially in the Spring time), if you want to try to identify the road yourself.



I shot these photos of the garden in 2008.










Here is an aerial photo. And here is a map link.

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

A.  Having seen this area before, in the Doakes cabin scenes, and having visited here to shoot photos for that page, I'm pretty sure I would have recognized it on sight as the South Coast Botanical Garden.

However, I didn't have to. Dexter fan Kerry Weiss sent me a copy of an article in Entertainment Weekly, in which the reporter described this scene where Trinity hits the deer, mentioning that it was shot at the botanical garden. The alligator scene was, naturally, in the same episode as the deer scene, along with the cutting-down-a-tree scene, all three of which were filmed at the garden.