A. A wake (perhaps at a church, or perhaps some other kind of meeting hall.)

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

A. In Miami.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 1 (of Season 3, "Our Father".

While stalking Freebo at his house, Dexter blundered into a scene of Freebo struggling with a stranger, and was forced to kill the man in self defense when he attacked him. It turned out that the stranger was Oscar Prado, brother of influential Assistant District Attorney, Miguel Prado.

In this scene, Dexter attends Oscar's wake.

While there, Miguel Prado sees him near Oscar's coffin, and (unaware that it was Dexter who killed him) misinterprets Dexter's reaction as admirable grief for his dead brother.

It is the start of an unfortunate relationship, as Miguel slowly begins to draw Dexter into his orbit, virtually forcing friendship upon the reluctant serial killer after they end up sharing the secret of Freebo's death.


Miguel eventually convinces Dexter to share his lethal hobby with him, unleashing Miguel's own dark side - but one lacking the limits of Dexter's code.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A private club, but not in Miami.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This was filmed inside The Ebell Club, at 290 Cerritos Ave, in Long Beach.

That's on the east side of Cerritos Avenue, between 3rd Street & Bird Way, in downtown Long Beach, less than a half mile north of the beach.

Built as a private social club for women in 1924, the Ebell Club today serves mainly as a venue for weddings. It's a very picturesque place, with Spanish arches and wrought-iron stairways. The producers added flowers and a few religious statues, to give the funeral the look of a church event.

To be more specific, the scene was shot in the club's Courtyard. When the building was originally built back in 1924, it was an open air courtyard with a fountain in its center, but an earthquake in the 1930's damaged the building, and when they rebuilt the place, they added a roof (and removed the fountain).

The club has its own website, at www.ebellclub.com.
(To see photos of the Courtyard where the scene was shot, click on the "Photo Gallery" link and then click on "The Courtyard" link.)


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




I shot the photo below in 2009.





It's less than a mile from the rooftop where they filmed the angry confrontation between Dexter and Miguel Prado. And it's less than a mile east of three other third season locations: the supermarket, the donut shop and the cleaners.
And it's about a mile northeast of Shoreline Village, where they've filmed many Dexter scenes over the years.

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

A. I usually don't bother with interiors, since they are often just studio sets. But it was clear that this wasn't a set. Eventually, I was tipped to the fact that it was shot at a Long Beach wedding venue, and knowing that, I was quickly able to identify it through a fairly simple Google search, verifying it with the Club's own photos of the building's interior.