Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. A café. 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 3, of Season 5: "Practically Perfect". Dexter is stalking Boyd Fowler, a dead animal pickup guy, who, Dexter has discovered, is also a serial killer. So, in this scene, he feigns an accidental meeting with Boyd at an outdoor cafe, tells him he's unemployed, and talks him into offering him a job in his "dead animal pickup" division. (This leads to the scene where Dexter goes driving with Boyd and helps him pick up a dead skunk. ) We see the same place again in a later scene (from a different angle), where Dexter makes a phone call and reports a dead alligator (in order to lure Boyd out to the kill room he has prepared for him). In that scene, Boyd arrives in his yellow truck to pick up Dexter, right after Dex finishes the call about the gator. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. An vacant storefront in a unique shopping center. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This scene was shot at a Hollywood landmark, the Crossroads of the World center, at 6671 Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood. It's located on the north side of Sunset, between Las Palmas Avenue and Cherokee Avenue (right next door to another piece of Hollywood History, the Blessed Sacrament Church). Most of these scenes were shot near the back of the center. When Boyd pulls up in his yellow truck, he's in the rear parking lot, heading east. If you go to Disney's Hollywood Studios, at Walt Disney World in Florida, you will find a replica of Crossroads of the World right at the entrance to Disney's facsimile of Hollywood Boulevard.

This unusual little collection of shops has been called "L.A.'s first modern shopping mall."

Built in 1936, Crossroads of the World is perhaps most notable for its unique architecture. The centerpiece building of the project resembles a miniature ocean liner, an Art Deco facade complete with portholes, railings, life preservers, and decks.

An outdoor village of small, European-style bungalows surrounds the "ship" (Italian, Mexican, Turkish, New England, French - there's even a lighthouse!), and rising above it all is a central 30'-foot Streamline Moderne tower, topped by an 8-foot, revolving globe of planet Earth.

Crossroads of the World was once a retail shopping center, but today it is just a quiet office complex. Still, as Hollywood landmarks go, it's in good shape, and it's open to the public.

This is the first time that Dexter has filmed at Crossroads, somewhat surprising considering that it's less than a mile west of the Sunset-Gower studio, where the show is filmed.

But a few movies have been shot there, including the 1993 film "Indecent Proposal", and the 1997 film noir classic "L.A. Confidential".




The photos below were shot by Rick, in October 2010.




The Rick's second photo (below) shows the trees seen behind Dexter in that phone call shot,
and the windows of the building seen behind Boyd's truck.





Here is an aerial photo of the center. And here is a map link.

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 5th 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, and my own personal reconnaissance around town, 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, Joel, Geoff, Ellen, Julie, Susan, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.

This particular tip came from Rick, my premiere tipster this season, who let me know back in June that they were filming at Crossroads.  So I kept an eye out for it.

When the third episode aired, I spotted the center's distinctive architecture and nautical look (note that life preserver) and I knew the café scene must have been shot at Crossroads.

After the episode aired, Rick also shot the matching photos of Crossroads you see above. (Thanks, Rick!)