| Q.
What is it supposed to be on the show?
Q.
Where is it supposed to be on the show?
A. In or near Miami, Florida.
Q.
When did we see it on the show?
A. We see the location in Episode 3, of Season 1.
Debra agrees to help Dexter get back a pair of earrings that she took from him and gave to her friend, Sofia.
Debra takes
him to the local shopping center and recommends that he buy Sofia a
pair of earrings as a gift, to replace the ones he wants to get back. She suggests a
pair with Sofia's birthstone, to make it look personal.
Dexter takes her advice, buys the earrings, and is awkwardly handed a tiny shopping bag.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. This scene was filmed at the Plaza del Valle, in Panorama City, CA, a colorful marketplace and gathering spot catering to the local Hispanic community.
It is located on the east side of the San Fernando Valley (hence the Valle in the name).
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The row of shops and restaurants runs along the east side of Van Nuys Blvd, from Chase Street to Parthenia Street.
The official address is 8610 Van Nuys Blvd, Panorama City.
It is about 9 miles northwest of the new studio.
The “Cuban Cafe” where Dexter stalks Handsome Tony is located at the north end of this center.
Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?
A. I didn't I have to figure this one out. It was a tip from someone in the know, that Dexter was filming at Plaza del Valle.
My only problem was determining exactly where they filmed in the sizable mall.
The reason it's difficult to tell is that (since this prequel is set in
1991) they temporarily redressed the shops there to look like what you
would have found in the early 1990s. For instance, they added a fake video rental store, and Dex & Deb buy the earrings from a fake “Limited Too” shop (a chain that disappeared in 2008).
So I can't simply see the names of the actual stores and know where they are in the mall, because the visible names aren't real.
But the one spot I'm certain about is seen early on in the scene when
they walk towards EXIT doors just before the camera cuts away:
Those
doors lead out into the back parking lot, and you'll find them right here.
As far as I can tell,
they filmed in the immediate area west of those doors, near Malena's Restaurant, around the east end of the adjacent east/west corridor (the one that has a giant hamburger at its
west end).
Here is an aerial
photo of the location. And here is a map
link.
Note: I was told by the same source that they were also filming inside the “La Sierra” nightclub at Plaza del Valle, apparently with music and a large number of extras.
But so far, I haven’t been able to match it with a scene from the show.
The closest fit would have been the after-dark scenes at the La Palmita restaurant.
Clearly, those lunch hour restaurant scenes were shot at Ballast Point
in Long Beach. But I can’t rule out the possibility that once they
switched from the daylight lunch scenes to the nighttime dance scenes,
they might have interposed scenes shot at La Sierra with the scenes shot in Long Beach, aided by a little matching set dressing.
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