A. In Episode 2, of Season 6, "Once Upon a Time..."
Dexter is
stalking Brother Sam, an ex-con who claims to have found God and
reformed, but whom Dexter suspects of still being a killer.
So, Dexter follows Sam in his car one night.
Dex
watches as Sam goes into a house, then he sees a flash, hears a
gunshot, then watches Sam run out of the house with what appears to be
his victim's dead body slung over his shoulder. Sam puts the body
in the trunk of his car, and heads back to his "Good Shepherd" garage.
Dexter follows him to the garage, to make sure he's guilty, only to discover that the "dead man" (Nick) is alive and well.
It
turns out that Nick was a recovering drug addict who was about to fall
back into his old ways. So Sam tracked him down. Nick fired
a shot at Sam (which is what Dexter heard), then Sam punched him out,
and carried him back to the garage.
(Nick's
story plays out later, when a trio of thugs show up at the garage, demanding that Sam
give them Nick. Sam bravely refuses, and Dexter changes his mind
about Brother Sam.)
Later, in Episode 6 ("Just Let Go"), Dexter suspects Nick of shooting Sam (because Sam's dog didn't bark at the assailant).
So, Dexter
goes back to Nick's house, breaks in, and looks for the bullet that Nick
fired at Sam. He finds it embedded in a wall, and digs it
out. Sure enough, it matches the new bullets in Sam.
A dying Brother Sam confirms that his shooter was Nick, but asks Dexter to tell Nick that he forgives him.
Dexter tries his best to honor Sam's dying wish, but when Nick shows no contrition at all, Dexter loses it and kills Nick on the beach where Sam baptized him.
Q.
What is it actually in real life?
A. A residential house - just not near Miami.
Q.
Where can I find it in real life?
A. This home is located at is 1227 Gordon Street, in Hollywood.
Gordon Street runs right next to the Sunset-Gower Studio where Dexter is filmed (on the studio's east side), and over Dexter's six seasons, the street has become a virtual back lot for the show.
They have used at least a dozen homes on Gordon Street, ranging from Doakes' apartment house (in the first season) to Boyd Fowler's house (in the 5th). Almost all of those houses were north of Fountain Ave, on the east side of the street, directly across from the studio.
This house (1227), however, is south of Fountain, and is on the west side of Gordon.
You'll find it about
midway between Fountain & Gordon, but there are a lot of trees
nearby, so the house itself is somewhat hidden. It's just one block south of Lisa's house.
Dexter parks his car one
house south of Nick's place, around 1221 Gordon (you can see that
home's chain link fence when Dexter gets out of his car and walks back
to Nick's).
The early scene of
Dexter following Sam in his car, through a "seedy neighborhood", is a
cheat. They re-used the same night time footage that they had used
in Episode 5, of Season 4, when Dexter was following Trinity home for
the first time.
That chain link fence with the "S.T.R.I.V.E." sign on it, seen in both "follow" scenes, is at the NW corner of 5th St. & San Pedro St, in L.A.'s
Skid Row. (Didn't think anyone would notice, did you,
guys?) The next quick shot, with the banner that reads "25",
is the Woods community center at 5th St & San Julian,
Then it cuts to the actual Gordon Street, just before he reaches the house.
I Here is a Google StreetView of Nick's house: (click the photo to see the panorama)
[ Warning: This is a private home. Do not trespass on their property,
knock on their door, or do anything else that might disturb the residents.]
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 6th 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, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a
few new resources I discovered, 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, Ellen, Susan, Jason, Elaine, Joel, Julie, Geoff, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.
