The Dark Defender

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title: "The Dark Defender" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2007-american-television-episodes", "dexter-(tv-series)-episodes", "television-episodes-directed-by-keith-gordon"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Defender" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox television episode"]

Field	Value
series	Dexter
season	2
episode	5
image	Dexter_Season_2_Episode_5_The_Dark_Defender.jpg
caption	Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) imagines himself in a room with his younger self (Maxwell Huckabee), his biological mother Laura Moser (Sage Kirkpatrick), and his future adoptive father Harry Morgan (James Remar)
airdate
production	205
writer	Timothy Schlattmann
director	Keith Gordon
episode_list	List of Dexter episodes
season_article	Dexter (season 2)
prev	See-Through
next	Dex, Lies, and Videotape
::

JoBeth Williams as Gail Brandon
Tony Amendola as Santos Jimenez
Jaime Murray as Lila Tournay
Keith Carradine as Frank Lundy
Christina Robinson as Astor Bennett
Preston Bailey as Cody Bennett
Katherine Kirkpatrick as Laura Moser
Maxwell Huckabee as young Dexter Morgan
Dave Baez as Gabriel
Tasia Sherel as Francis
Travis Winfrey as Reynolds
Eddie Kehler as Droning Man
Charlene Amoia as Young woman
Jim Hanks as Annoyed man
Vince Pavia as Lipsey
Brian Gattas as Welsh
Kim Delgado as Desk sergeant | episode_list = List of Dexter episodes | season_article = Dexter (season 2) | prev = See-Through | next = Dex, Lies, and Videotape "The Dark Defender" is the fifth episode of the second season and seventeenth overall episode of the American television drama series Dexter, which first aired on October 28, 2007 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by Timothy Schlattmann and was directed by Keith Gordon.

In the episode, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) investigates a crime scene in a comic book store where he sees a poster of The Dark Defender, a character inspired by Dexter's own crimes under the guise of the "Bay Harbor Butcher", who is currently under investigation in his own police department. After he dreams that The Dark Defender saved his mother's life when he was young, Dexter's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Lila Tournay (Jaime Murray) encourages him to seek closure by confronting one of his mother's killers, Santos Jimenez (Tony Amendola). Meanwhile, Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) suspects that her new boyfriend Gabriel (Dave Baez) is using her to write a book about her engagement to the first season's "Ice Truck Killer".

Schlattmann was inspired to set the homicide case in a comic book store when he realized that an Aquaman snow globe on his desk "could easily be a murder weapon". When he visited comic book artist Tone Rodriguez to draw and render the poster of The Dark Defender, comic book writer Dan Wickline was also at Rodriguez's studio, and so Schlattmann arranged for the two to have cameo appearances in the episode. The episode was filmed in Los Angeles, California though set in Miami, Florida. "The Dark Defender" was praised by critics and Schlattmann was nominated for Writers Guild of America Award for his script. The episode was also submitted as Dexters sample episode to determine the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards; though nominated, the series didn't win.

Plot

While drinking coffee with Debra, Dexter is called to a comic book store where the shopkeeper has been bludgeoned to death with a snow globe. Dexter sees a poster of The Dark Defender, a vigilante killer based on the Bay Harbor Butcher. Later, at his Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Dexter falls asleep and has a dream in which he, dressed as the Dark Defender, rescues his mother, Laura Moser. When he tells his sponsor, Lila, about his dream, she tells him that he must confront his mother's killers to seek closure. He and Lila travel to Naples, Florida, where one of the three men, Santos Jimenez, runs a tavern.

Having been warned by Rita's mother, Gail, to leave her and her children alone, Dexter tells Rita that he is going away while Gail is visiting. Leaving Lila in their motel room, he goes to Jimenez's bar and waits until closing time to confront him. When Jimenez brandishes a baseball bat, Dexter disarms and beats him, revealing his identity as Laura's son. Jimenez tells Dexter that his mother was killed for being Harry's narcotics informant and lover. Dexter is prepared to kill Jimenez until Lila phones, prompting him to tell her that he is about to "use." Thinking that he is about to use drugs, she urges him not to go any further, because "using" will only leave him empty and alone inside. A distraught Dexter returns to the motel, leaving Jimenez unconscious, and falls asleep in Lila's lap.

The following day, Lila confides to Dexter that she went into rehab after getting high on methamphetamine and setting her ex-boyfriend's house on fire, unaware that he was inside. Dexter asks her if she thinks that he deserved to die, something that Lila silently agrees to. Dexter tells her that, "It's okay then." Meanwhile, Debra is insecure around Gabriel because of how her previous relationship with Brian ended. Looking through Gabriel's e-mail, she sees that he has sent a book titled The Ice Princess to a number of publishers. Assuming he is writing a tell-all book about her, she angrily breaks up with him. Discussing the break-up with Lundy, he gives her the background check that he had run on Gabriel, revealing that he is a children's writer; Debra realizes that The Ice Princess is a children's book.

When Dexter returns to Miami and visits Rita, Gail—suspecting that he is hiding something—announces that she will be living with Rita from now on. Dexter realizes that he must protect his secrets, so he begins by cleaning his boat that night with a black light to detect any blood. He is unaware that the marina is being videotaped by the Miami-Metro PD, who believe that the Bay Harbor Butcher may be keeping his boat at that marina.

Production

Schlattmann thought to write the comic book store homicide storyline when he picked up the Aquaman snow globe in his office and thought, "'Wow, this thing could easily be a murder weapon," because of its weight and its edge. The writers wanted to use the actual Aquaman globe but DC Comics would not allow the character and the snow globe to be used in the episode, so the Dexter art department custom-made a snow globe. The superhero's name ultimately became "Mariner" as other names including "Sea King" and "King of the Seas" could not be used for legal reasons. Trademark and copyright clearances was again an issue when finding a name for the superhero based on the Bay Harbor Butcher. "The Eradicator" and "Judge Justice" were considered, but the final choice was "The Dark Defender". Cerone said that the name was "a little on the generic side, but it was one we could clear."

The scenes at the marina where Dexter keeps his boat, Coral Cove, were filmed at the Leeward Bay Marina in Los Angeles' Wilmington neighborhood, in spite of the show's Miami setting. The episode opens in a coffee bar at Coral Cove Marina, which was filmed at Leeward Bay's floating diner, the Chowder Barge. One of the empty barns at Long Beach, California's Shoreline Village was set up as the comic book store. Doakes and LaGuerta discuss the homicide case while standing on the Shoreline Village boardwalk, and the Village car park was used to film Doakes and LaGuerta's stake out.

Reception

Eric Goldman of IGN called "The Dark Defender" "a very satisfying episode of the show" and thought that "so far [the cast and crew are] doing a very good job" of replicating the tension seen in the first season. He was impressed by Dexter's discoveries about his birth mother and adoptive father, but called Debra's romance with Gabriel a "less successful" storyline. TV Squad's Keith McDuffee believed the revelation of Laura's affair with Harry to be "certainly the most shocking moment of the episode", and thought that "One of the brilliant moments of the season so far was Dexter going after one of his mom's killers." Paula Paige of TV Guide called Dexter's monologue about his hollowness "very moving". She thought that his confrontation with his mother's killer "may have been one of the best shot [scenes] in the whole series". Blogcritics Ray Ellis praised the "razor-sharp sense of humor" seen in the episode and thought that "In a season of mostly dreary, bland series, Dexter remains the most daring show on television." Dexter and Jimenez's confrontation was named Hall's best scene by Variety critic Stuart Levine.

In a short recap of seasons 1 and 2 in Film Quarterly, J. M. Tyree called "The Dark Defender" season 2's "most intriguing episode", and compared Dexter to Batman: ::quote When the identities of the Butcher's victims are revealed to be murderers, the public applauds him, elevating Dexter to the status of a folktale avenger or comic-book anti-hero. And indeed Rita excoriates him for disappearing at night "like Clark fucking Kent," but the FBI describes the Butcher as more like one's own "personal Batman." Batman is an apt comparison, although Dexter prefers to violate Batman's aversion to killing. Both live outside the law, "part human, part mutant," as Dexter puts it. Both cling to an ethos riddled with perplexities and contradictions. Visiting a comic-book shop, Dexter find himself transformed on a handmade superhero poster from Butcher into The Dark Defender, a protector of the city and the executioner of its predators. Vigilantes simultaneously share territory with cops and outlaws, they break the law in the hopes of helping society. ... Dexter describes being "half sick with the thrill, the complete wrongness," when the "dark passenger" inside him takes command. ::

Schlattmann was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for his work on this episode in the Episodic Drama category. "The Dark Defender" was submitted to the Primetime Emmy Awards judging panel to determine nominees for the Outstanding Drama Series award;

References

Eric Goldman. (October 29, 2007). "Dexter: "The Dark Defender" Review". [[IGN]].
Jonah Weiland. (October 30, 2007). ""Dexter's" Comic Connections". [[Comic Book Resources]].
(November 13, 2007). "Aquaman Shrine Interview with Tim Schlattmann". The Aquaman Shrine.
"Special Features: The Dark Defender". [[Showtime (TV network).
Gary Wayne. "''Dexter'' Filming Locations, Season 2: The Coral Cove Marina". Seeing-Stars.com.
Gary Wayne. "''Dexter'' Filming Locations, Season 2: The Marina Coffee Bar". Seeing-Stars.com.
Gary Wayne. "''Dexter'' Filming Locations, Season 2: The Comic Book Store". Seeing-Stars.com.
Tom O'Neil. (April 23, 2008). "'Dexter' picks a killer eppy for Emmy's drama-series race". [[Los Angeles Times]].
Keith McDuffee. (October 28, 2007). "Dexter: The Dark Defender". [[TV Squad]].
Paula Paige. (October 29, 2007). "The Dark Defender". [[TV Guide]].
Ray Ellis. (October 30, 2007). "TV Review: Dexter - "The Dark Defender"". [[Blogcritics]].
Stuart Levine. (August 12, 2008). "Men of few words make big impression". [[Variety (magazine).
Jones Lecturer in Fiction at Stanford University's Creative Writing program.
J. M. Tyree. (Fall 2008). "Spatter Pattern". University of California Press.
Byron Perry. (December 12, 2007). "WGA announce TV, radio nominees". [[Variety (magazine).
Tom O'Neil. (May 5, 2008). "Emmy episodes: 'Californication,' 'Dexter,' 'Weeds,' 'The Tudors'". [[Los Angeles Times]].

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