Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. A public street. 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 12, of Season 5, "The Big One". Jordan Chase has kidnapped Lumen, and has locked her in the trunk of his car. When they stop at a traffic light, Lumen begins making noise in the trunk, drawing the attention of a fruit vendor, who recognizes Chase. In this short scene, an angry Chase pulls his car over on a side road, opens the trunk, and hits Lumen in the face with his gun, knocking her unconscious. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A public street. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This short scene was shot on Loynes Drive and E. Vista Avenue, in Long Beach, CA. ( Note that this particular part of Vista Avenue might be renamed Palo Verde Ave for a short distance here. Maps disagree.  Google maps shows it as E. Vista, but Yahoo and Bing maps show it as Palo Verde.) To be more precise, Chase's car is first seen heading west on Loynes, as it crosses the Cerritos Channel bridge (just west of Studebaker Road). As soon as the car crosses that bridge, it makes a sharp right turn, north, onto Vista Ave (or Palo Verde... whatever it's called here). The car comes to a stop on Vista, just a few yards north of Loynes, where Vista curves off to the left (west), in the University Park Estates neighborhood. Chase gets out if the car, and opens the trunk (with the camera looking back southeast, towards the bridge), and knocks out Lumen.

He then gets back in the car, U-turns on Vista, and drives a few yards south back to Loynes, before making a right (west) turn on Loynes and speeding off.

That same channel bridge is seen in the scene of Dexter stealing a car.


And Loynes Drive was used in two other scenes as well (in the same episode): the scene of Chase driving while he talks on the phone to Dexter, and the fruit vendor scene.




I shot the photo below in December 2010:



My shot above shows Chase's parking spot on Vista/Palo Verde,
with the camera looking back southeast, towards Loyne's Drive

matching the screenshot below...




And my photo below is a wider shot, showing the channel bridge and the University Park Estates sign.






Here is an aerial photo of the road. 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.

I had heard from Rick that they were filming on Loynes. After the scene aired, it wasn't hard to place this shot, as there are several notable items visible: the bridge, the traffic barrier, the ice plants near where Chase parks, and especially, the traffic signs at that intersection.

On top of that, Ellen emailed to say that "he turned his car around on the inlet to Vista St., which is to the west, next to the channel." And Coleen emailed to say that she recognized it as "Palo Verde Ave (300 block) as it enters the neighborhood known as University Park Estates, near Channel Island Park - just off of Loynes Drive." (Thanks!)