The Dark Defender - Production

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." He said that The Dark Defender was in part an homage to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and to Dexter's Dark Passenger, featured in Jeff Lindsay's series of Dexter novels on which the television series is based. On the poster, The Dark Defender, though hooded, was drawn with a smile to resemble Michael C. Hall. The poster was rendered by comic artist Tone Rodriguez, with whom Schlattmann had previously worked on a screenplay in development at 20th Century Fox. When Schlattmann visited Rodriguez's studio in Los Angeles to discuss the art, comic book writer Dan Wickline was also there. Schlattmann thought that "by including the two of them, we could make things a bit more special and add some credibility to the show". Wickline played the dead comic book shopkeeper, while Rodriguez played the prime suspect for the murder. The Dark Defender character also lent its name to a series of highly stylized Dexter webisodes, recapping Dexter's victims of the second season.

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.