Doakes' Cabin

Lore & Background

Doakes stumbles upon Santos Jimenez's remains and Dexter's blood slide collection box, realizing Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher. Doakes attempts to apprehend Dexter himself in the Everglades, but Dexter gets the upper hand and locks him in Jimenez's cabin until he can decide what to do with him. Doakes tries to persuade Dexter to turn himself in to the police because it will protect those he cares about. Dexter considers doing it. Doakes manages to escape from his cage, but he ends up with Esteban and Teo Famosa, drug runners tied to Jimenez. They take Doakes hostage and force him to retrieve the drugs stored inside the cabin. Dexter happens upon the scene, and he and Doakes work together to take the dealers down. Immediately after this, Dexter imprisons Doakes again. In the end, Dexter's erstwhile lover Lila Tournay finds the cabin, and makes the decision for him: after finding out from Doakes that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, she tries to protect him by blowing up the cabin, thus eliminating Doakes as a witness. Doakes's incinerated remains are found along with the dismembered body of Jose Garza, and so the case is closed, with the official conclusion being Doakes was the Butcher and deliberately blew himself up to avoid arrest.

In Their Own Story

The cabin sits deep in the Everglades, isolated and forgotten. Inside, a metal cage holds a man who knows too much. Chains rattle. The air is thick with swamp humidity and the smell of old blood. Doakes, locked in the cage, tries to persuade Dexter to turn himself in. He escapes once, only to be captured by drug runners who force him to retrieve drugs from the cabin. Dexter and Doakes briefly work together to take down Esteban and Teo Famosa. Then Dexter imprisons Doakes again. Lila Tournay arrives, learns the truth from Doakes, and blows up the cabin to protect Dexter. Doakes dies in the explosion. His incinerated remains are found alongside Jose Garza's body, leading police to close the case by declaring Doakes the Bay Harbor Butcher.

Reader's Guide

This cabin is the central location of the Season 2 climax. It first appears when Doakes, following Dexter, stumbles upon Santos Jimenez's remains and Dexter's blood slide collection box. Doakes attempts to apprehend Dexter in the Everglades, but Dexter overpowers him and locks him in the cabin's cage. Doakes escapes once, encounters drug runners Esteban and Teo Famosa, and is forced to retrieve drugs from the cabin. Dexter arrives, and the two work together to subdue the dealers. Dexter then re-imprisons Doakes. Lila Tournay finds the cabin, learns from Doakes that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, and blows it up, killing Doakes. The official conclusion is that Doakes was the Butcher and blew himself up to avoid arrest. Later, in Season 7, Dexter cements his frame job of Doakes by planting kill tools and plastic wrap with Doakes's prints at an abandoned ship yard. In New Blood, a former Special Operations colleague of Doakes provides an alibi saying they were out of the country at the same time as some of the BHB murders. In Resurrection, as Dexter lies comatose, he hallucinates Doakes visiting his bedside and encouraging him to find Harrison and make amends.

Did You Know?

• Doakes was locked in a cage inside the cabin after Dexter gained the upper hand in the Everglades.
• Doakes escaped his cage once, but was captured by drug runners Esteban and Teo Famosa, who forced him to retrieve drugs from the cabin.
• Dexter and Doakes briefly worked together to take down the drug runners before Dexter re-imprisoned Doakes.
• Lila Tournay blew up the cabin after learning from Doakes that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, killing Doakes.
• Doakes's incinerated remains were found alongside the dismembered body of Jose Garza, leading police to officially conclude Doakes was the Bay Harbor Butcher.