Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. Thomas Medical Pharmacy. 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 3, of Season 6, "Smokey and the Bandit". Dexter is stalking Walter Kenny, a crotchety senior citizen whom he suspects of being the "Tooth Fairy" serial killer. In this scene, Dex has agreed to drive the old guy around on a series of errands (so he can stick close to him), because his bad back is acting up. His first stop is this pharmacy, where he sends Dexter in to pick up his prescriptions. But then he amends that shopping list by adding on beer and several porno magazines ("Teen Ass", "Nipple Parade" and "Spanked"), which Dexter picks up at the newsstand next to the pharmacy. Kenny then has Dexter drop him off at a self-storage facility. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A vacant market. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. They filmed this scene a strip mall on a busy highway, in a somewhat seedy part of Long Beach. The vacant space they used as the pharmacy used to be occupied by El Ranchito Market at 2090 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, in Long Beach, CA. As of 2011, the old Ranchito signs were still up. Besides the fake pharmacy signs, and the usual palm trees, they put up a fake newsstand next to the market, where Dexter buys the porno mags. It's literally right across the street from the Tooth Fairy's storage facility.

And it's less than a mile southeast of Brother Sam's Good Shepherd Auto Repair.





I shot the photos below in October 2011.





(Look closely, and you can see part of the Tooth Fairy's storage facility reflected in the store windows to the left.)






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 tipped me to the fact that they were filming at one of the two markets across from the storage place, so once I saw the scene, I simply did a comparison via Google, and it was clear that Dexter's car turned into the El Ranchito lot.




 
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All other photos & text are Copyright © 1999-2024-Gary Wayne and may not be used without written permission.



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