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

A. "Flamingo Park".

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 7 (of Season 1) - "Circle of Friends".

We see Dexter jogging in the park, wearing a hooded parka and dark sunglasses, looking rather sinister, as he stalks a young serial killer named Jeremy.

In an earlier episode, Dexter was about to kill Jeremy (after discovering him stalking a young victim), but changed his mind when the teenager told him that the man he killed earlier had raped him.

Later, though, Dexter finds that Jeremy had subsequently slaughtered an innocent student, and decides he made a mistake letting Jeremy live.

He learns that the kid is working Flamingo Park as a gay hustler, so he goes out jogging there in disguise, to remedy his mistake.

He is about to pick up Jeremy (and kill him), when suddenly the cops swarm in and arrest the boy for murder (as a surprised Dexter retreats).

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A public park with a lake - but not in Miami.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This is the only location I've listed which I'm not sure of...

I had thought that this scene was shot at Harbor Park in Wilmington, CA (1235 Figueroa Place), but I wasn't positive.

Fortunately, I managed to contact someone at the city Park Film department who knew. Unfortunately, I was wrong about it being Harbor Park.

The film department told me that the "Dexter" company had attempted to rent Harbor Park several times, but never actually did, because they requested too much time there.

So, apparently the jogging scene wasn't shot there after all. But the actual location, whatever it was, is a dead-ringer for Harbor Park & Lake. (The lake where they dumped "Reggie the Alligator", who went on to make headlines.)

Harbor Park is unusual for an L.A. park. The lake (originally known as 'Bixby Slough') is lined with marshy reeds & rushes, floating vegetation, boathouse willows and shorebird mudflats, giving it a swampy look that does indeed resemble Miami more than Los Angeles.

Ironically, there really is a real Flamingo Park in Miami Beach (just a few blocks east of the stretch of Ocean Drive that we see Dexter driving in the first episode), but it has no lake, no marsh reeds or rushes, and it doesn't look half as Florida-swampy as Harbor Lake in Los Angeles. (It's mainly devoted to sporting facilities.)

One reason I'm almost certain that it isn't a Florida park is the presence of a lot of Canary Island pine trees.  Canary Island pines are ubiquitous in L.A., but aren't common in Miami. Also, it was a scene from Episode 7, and they seem to have stopped most filming in Miami after Episode 5.

So, the jury is still out.  I don't know where they filmed it.  Legg Lake perhaps? Some other park/lake in Southern California?  I don't know.  If you know (or if you figure it out), drop me an email to "Dexter at Seeing-Stars.com" (replace the "at" with an @ sign), and let me know.


Just for the heck of it, here is an aerial photo of Harbor park.  And here is a map link.

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

A. I haven't.

I've been to Harbor Lake many times, and I was at least 80% sure that it was shot there. But it wasn't. So I'm currently at an impass, trying to figure out where they shot it.