Dexter: Original Sin Filming Locations: Captain Spencer's Cargo Ship
The
location: Captain Spencer's Cargo Ship
Q.
What is it supposed to be on the show?
A. An old cargo ship.
Q.
Where is it supposed to be on the show?
A. On the show, it is docked not far from Miami Metro HQ in Miami, Florida.
Q.
When did we see it on the show?
A. We see the ship in Episode 10, the season finale of Season 1 of Original Sin.
Dexter has discovered that Captain Spencer is behind the kidnappings of two boys, one of whom is his own son, Nicky.
After allowing him to escape from the arcade, Dexter follows him to find out where he is keeping the kidnapped boy.
Spencer drives to
the port and goes aboard a large (possibly abandoned) cargo ship.
Dexter follows him and learns that he is keeping Nicky chained up in a
dark hold of the ship.
A struggle breaks out between Dexter and Spencer, including the Spencer firing a flare gun at Dexter.
Spencer opens vents allowing water to flood into the hold where he is keeping Nicky chained up.
He then presents Dexter with an ultimatum: he can either chase and catch Spencer, or he can save Nicky's life.
As Spencer escapes the ship, Dexter stays behind and rescues the boy from drowning.
Once he is sure the boy is safe, Dexter sends up a signal flare to alert the port authorities.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
A. A 1945 cargo ship and floating museum. .
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. This is the SS Lane Victory, one of the few remaining Victory class ships of the World War II era merchant marine fleet.
A National Historic Landmark, it is docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California as a floating museum, and the public can tour the ship.
( In fact, I took that tour ages ago. )
But its location in the remote warehouse/docks district of San Pedro can be somewhat tricky to find. The dock is at Berth 52, which is at 2400 Miner Street.
The approximate GPS coordinates are 33°43'29.3"N 118°16'34.0"W .
( The Lane Victory is still a seaworthy ship. And as such
it has moved its dock location more than once over the decades. Its
first location was near the Vincent Thomas Bridge, about two miles to
the north of its current location. So there is no absolute guarantee
that they won't move the location again in the future, although I doubt
it. But to be on the safe side, if you plan to visit the ship, be sure
to phone them or check their website in advance, and verify its current hours and address.
And speaking of the ship being mobile, I know that a while back,
they offered occasional "Victory at Sea" cruises to Catalina
Island for a few days each summer. But I'm not sure whether those short cruises are
still available. )
You will find the ship's website here. You can read more about the ship there, or on Wikipedia.
Over the years, Dexter has filmed fairly often in this general section of San Pedro.
And at the far south end of that same Signal Street, is the US Water
Taxi dock where they filmed a number of scenes, including a brief shot
of divers retrieving the bodies of Bay Harbor Butcher victims (in season 2), and the scene of Dexter carrying Debra’s body from the hospital out to his boat in the series finale of season 8.(In fact, the Lane Victory can be briefly glimpsed in the background of that scene, across the channel.)
Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?
A. As I
mentioned above, I took a tour of the SS Lane Victory, so I was 99%
certain that this was the ship. But since the nighttime scene was dark, I
took the precaution of lightening a screenshot of the ship In Photoshop and then comparing it to the StreetView of the Lane Victory, and (as you can see below) they were identical.
I noticed that they made a few discrete changes for the show, probably via CGI. They covered up the name Lane Victory (which is on the side of the ship near the bow), and they removed the anti-aircraft gun at the ship's bow.
Here is a screencap of Spencer's cargo ship as it looks in Dexter: Original Sin:
:
And here is a matching shot of the SS Lane Victory docked in San Pedro:
[ Photo by Russ Allison Loar ]
]
And here is a current Google StreetView of the Lane Victory in dock: