Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. An accident scene, where a car crashes into a chain link fence. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere near the docks of Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 3, of Season 6, "Smokey and the Bandit". Dexter has finished a day of driving Walter Kenny around doing errands, from a pharmacy to a storage facility, by breaking into Walter's storage shed and discovering proof that he is indeed the legendary "Tooth Fairy" serial killer. And then, conveniently, Dexter's next victim calls him from a bus stop to say that he's lost and needs help. Dexter happily offers to pick him up. But when he does, Dex is in for a surprise.  Walter may be old, but he's not stupid, and he's figured out that Dexter is on to him. He pulls a gun on Dexter, and orders him to drive to a parking lot, making it clear that he plans to kill him, and perhaps pull out all of his teeth first. Dexter surprises him by pushing the car's gas pedal to the floor, and slams the car into a chain link fence. Walter wakes up on Dexter's table (or in this case, his own Barcalounger). Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A public works yard.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This scene was shot inside the gates of the Long Beach Public Works Yard (AKA the
Trees Department) at 1601 San Francisco Ave, in an industrial corridor of west Long Beach.

The main gate is at the west end of 16th Street, where it stops at San Francisco Ave.  But it appears that they didn't use that main gate in this shot.  Instead, they shot just inside a second gate, that's a few yards south of the main gate.

Dexter's speeding car is traveling east across the lot, towards San Francisco Street, when it plows into the fake fence.

This city property is on the edge of the Los Angeles River, and just east of the 710 Freeway (between Pacific Coast Highway and Anaheim Street).

It is just a block southwest of the warehouse where they filmed the "Dexter Stabbed" scene that opened the season.

( My hunch is that they discovered this property when scouting that warehouse, since this industrial area is somewhat removed from Dexter's usual stomping grounds. )

I shot the photo below in October 2011, from San Francisco Avenue.


(The building with the overhang that you see on the left side, inside the gate,
is the same one seen on the right side in the fourth screencap above.)







Here is an aerial photo of the location. Here is a Google StreetView.
  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 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.


Rick let me know that they were filming at this yard back in June.  When the scene aired, I was able to establish which gate they used because I spotted parts of the former Graybar building in the background.  And comparing it to the StreetView, I could tell that they also filmed the scene at a fake fence west of the real gate (since a small building on the right side is clearly inside the gates).  (Thanks, Rick!)






 
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