Blood Slide Boxes

Dexter and blood slide 5 — **Blood Slide Trophy**

Blood Slide Boxes are objects in the Showtime series DEXTER, Dexter Novels, and Dexter Early Cuts.

They served as Trophy Cases that housed the blood slides that Dexter Morgan collected from many of his victims.

Box One was used prior to the end of Season Two. It contained forty-six blood slides when it was stolen (confirmed by Dexter in "There's Something About Harry.")
Box Two was used from Season Three to Season Seven. It contained forty-three blood slides when it was destroyed.

History[]

When he was ten years old, Dexter went to a crime scene with Harry and took away a bloody piece of glass -- a harbinger of his blood slides. ("Every Silver Lining...")

Dexter didn't always collect slides as trophies. Rather, he spent his early years simply killing. The first of his blood slides was taken from Alex Timmons, a sniper. Thereafter, he continued to collect them whenever possible.

In Season Two, the FBI found Dexter's first blood box during the Bay Harbor Butcher Case. ("Resistance is Futile"). He then started a second box. ("The British Invasion")

In Season Seven, Dexter deliberately destroyed his second box, along with a victim whom he cremated. At this point, Dexter stopped collecting blood slides and relied only on his memories. ("Run")

Collection of Slides[]

During a planned kill, Dexter usually collected a blood slide as a trophy. To do this, he would slice a victim’s cheek with a surgical scalpel and place a drop of blood between two microscope slides. Dexter enjoyed reminiscing over his collection of blood trophies. He would open the box and run his fingers gently across the top of the slides as the glass slightly clattered. At times, he referred to the slides as “friends."

Storage of Slides[]

The blood slide box was kept hidden within a compartment inside Dexter's thru-the-wall air conditioner. When someone went near the air conditioner, Dexter became apprehensive. The unit was fully functional, so there was little reason for visitors to tamper with it.

Each box had storage for fifty slides, however, Dexter never managed to fill either one. Made with a polished oak finish, the boxes had white plastic holders for each slide, and were numbered down the sides. It's unknown if Dexter kept any identifying information elsewhere in the boxes to discern one victim from another.

First Slide Box[]

Season 1[]

The viewers were first shown this box in the opening episode, when Dexter inserted Mike Donovan's blood slide into it next to his previous victims.

The existence of this box was known to Brian Moser, Dexter's older, biological brother. As part of a game, Brian took the slide that belonged to Valerie Castillo and scraped a "smiley face" in its blood droplet.

Following Dexter's murder of Jorge and Valerie Castillo, her body resurfaced as part of Brian's game. In fear that he could be identified by a child witness, Dexter nearly dumped his box overboard, in order to get rid of evidence against him. But as Dexter looked through his slides one last time remembering his kills, including those of Alex Timmons, Cindy Landon, and Gene Marshall, he noticed the smile on Valerie's slide. Feeling that this was a friendly message, Dexter decided to keep the box, and later added more slides to it. However, he did not add his brother, saying at the time of the kill that he was "not a trophy."

Season 2[]

Sergeant James Doakes became increasingly suspicious of Dexter and stepped up his investigation of him. When he broke into Dexter's apartment in search of evidence linking him to the Ice Truck Killer, he discovered the blood slide box. Doakes was unsure of what the box exactly meant, but was determined to find out. He stole the box, locked it in the trunk of his car, flew to Haiti, and asked an old friend to have the slides analyzed. However, while Doakes was out of the country, the box was found by the FBI after Special Agent Frank Lundy named Doakes as a suspect in the Bay Harbor Butcher Case.

When Dexter arrived home, he realized that the blood slide box was missing and panicked. Feeling that the FBI was closing in, his fears heightened when they knocked on his door and ordered him to to go along with them. Believing that he was finally exposed as a serial killer, Dexter quietly accompanied the FBI to the Miami Metro Police Department. As he was brought before Frank Lundy and Captain Thomas Matthews, Dexter noticed his blood slide box sitting prominently on a desk. Dexter was told to sit down and put on gloves. Then Matthews blatantly (and somewhat coldly) asked him to explain the box of slides. In one word, Dexter said, "Trophies." Lundy agreed and revealed that the box was found in James Doakes' car and that he was their primary suspect. Dexter tried not to show his relief. Lundy, knowing that Doakes had previously attacked Dexter, assigned a protective detail to Dexter.

To Dexter's surprise, Matthews instructed Dexter to analyze and match the slides. To run the tests, Dexter took the box to his lab where he placed blood scrapings from the slides into multiple tubes. As he did this, he carefully returned each slide to the box. Then he thoroughly wiped the box to remove his own fingerprints. After the tests were completed, the box was closed and returned to evidence. Later, it was shipped off to FBI archives outside of Miami Metro Homicide's jurisdiction. Several years passed before the first box appeared again.

Second Slide Box[]

Season 3[]

Dexter bought the second box in the finale of Season Two. In "Our Father", while Dexter was at a dentist appointment, flashbacks showed him killing Cal Rooney and adding his slide to four others already in the new box (victims that he had killed between seasons). Dexter remarked in monologue that he had met "new people." This new box was stored in the same location as the previous one, inside his air conditioner.

Season 4[]

Dexter moved his kill tools and blood slide box into a shed located behind his house with wife, Rita. As in his apartment, the blood slide box was hidden in a compartment inside its air conditioner. It was in this location that Dexter broke Jonathan Farrow's slide after he realized that he had killed the wrong person.

Season 5[]

During "My Bad", Dexter decided to disappear and torched the inside of the shipping container where he then kept his kill tools, blood slide box, and files on potential victims. However, he took the blood slide box with him, not yet ready to part with it

Cole Harmon's blood slide was given to Lumen Pierce by Dexter after she witnessed the kill. Although Dexter collected a blood slide from Alex Tilden, he did not keep it since Lumen committed the kill.

Season 6[]

In "Smokey and the Bandit", Dexter killed Walter Kenney, a serial killer that he once admired. As he inserted Walter's blood slide into the box, it teetered and crashed to the floor. This caused the slides to fall out and one to break. Dismayed, Dexter said that he had lost order.

Season 7[]

The box has the slides placed neatly back inside it. Last season, Dexter had collected a blood slide from Travis Marshall, but he lost it at the crime scene. During the investigation, Captain Maria LaGuerta found the blood slide and it immediately stirred her curiosity. She remembered that during the Bay Harbor Butcher Case, she believed that Doakes wasn't responsible. After some detective work of her own, she gained off-the-books authorization to obtain the original blood slide box. As she endeavored to clear Doakes' name, she found a new suspect, Dexter Morgan.

Following increased pressure from Debra and the fact that Maria LaGuerta had found Travis Marshall's blood slide in the church, Dexter determined that he couldn't hold onto the box any longer and decided to destroy it.

After Dexter claimed the life of Ray Speltzer in a crematory, he took one last look at the box and ran his fingers across the slides. Then he placed the box on Speltzer's chest, said it was time to "move on," and pressed a nearby button. This forced Speltzer (and the box) to slide into the flames. Dexter bid farewell to his "friends" as the box burned to ashes along with Speltzer's body.

Box One Victims[]

Although it's stated that 46 blood slides were in the first box, apparently it should be a higher count. All of the Bay Harbor Butcher 18 bodies were matched to blood slides, however, more than eighteen victims are mentioned and/or have their body parts shown. This ups the total.

Alex Timmons - "Return to Sender" /"Alex Timmons (Early Cuts)"
Gene Marshall - "Return to Sender" / "Gene Marshall (Early Cuts)"
Cindy Landon - "Return to Sender" / "Cindy Landon (Early Cuts)"
Rick Jensen - "See-Through"
Jeff Linder- "See-Through"
Renzo Sandoval - "See-Through"
Carlos Gutierrez - "See-Through"
Dylan Maddock - "See-Through"
Robert Thatcher - "See-Through"
Marcus White - "See-Through"
Oscar Sota - "See-Through"
Joseph Cepeda - "See-Through"
Chad Carpenter - "That Night, a Forest Grew"
Shannon Reynolds - "That Night, a Forest Grew"
Anthony Rodrigo - "Morning Comes"
Smith - "Morning Comes"
Orozco - "Morning Comes"
Luke Wellens - "There's Something About Harry"
Andy Jorgen - "There's Something About Harry"
Rachel Rhodes - "There's Something About Harry"
Kevin Mott - "There's Something About Harry"
Jerry Voltic - "There's Something About Harry"
Sean Dibberman - "There's Something About Harry"
Berry Cooper - "There's Something About Harry"
Herbert Washington - "There's Something About Harry"
Jacob Wilson - "There's Something About Harry"
George Hoss - "There's Something About Harry"
Olman Estavez - "There's Something About Harry"
Rick Cross - "There's Something About Harry"
Peter Matherson - "There's Something About Harry"
Alan Elson - "There's Something About Harry"
Henry Vortman - "There's Something About Harry"
Larry Costes - "There's Something About Harry"
Marty Terison - "There's Something About Harry"
Buck Forester - "There's Something About Harry"
Alan Matherson - "There's Something About Harry"
Thomas Hillstat - "There's Something About Harry"
Larry Mueller - "There's Something About Harry"
Fowls - "There's Something About Harry"
Leandro Noriega - "There's Something About Harry" / "Finding Freebo"
Walter Munro- "Surprise, Motherfucker!"
Marcetti - "My Bad"
Mike Donovan - "Dexter"
Jamie Jaworski - "Dexter"
Matt Chambers - "Crocodile"
Jorge Castillo - "Love American Style"
Emmett Meridian - "Shrink Wrap"
Little Chino - "Waiting to Exhale"
Roger Hicks - "An Inconvenient Lie"

Note: The Lindquists - The two shared a blood slide in "All in the Family (Early Cuts)".

Box Two Victims[]

Victims are listed alphabetically.

Adam Rowe - "My Bad"
Alfred Norris - "My Bad"
Arthur Mitchell - "The Getaway"
Ben - "Those Kinds of Things"
Roger - "Those Kinds of Things"
Benito Gomez - "Living the Dream"
Boyd Fowler - "Practically Perfect"
Cal Rooney - "Our Father"
Unnamed Wife Killer - "About Last Night"
Christopher James - "Swim Deep"
Clemson Galt - "Sí Se Puede"
Ethan Turner - "Turning Biminese"
Fred Bowman - "Finding Freebo"
Joe Walker - "Those Kinds of Things"
Julio Benes - "Once Upon a Time..."
Marvin Madden - "Swim Deep"
Matt Parker - "My Bad"
Michael Rose - "My Bad"
Phillip Barnes - "Swim Deep"
Stan Beaudry - "Hello, Dexter Morgan"
Walter Kenney - "Smokey and the Bandit"
Zoey Kruger - "Dex Takes a Holiday"

Twenty-one unnamed slides (per screen shots)

On-Screen Trophies[]

SEASON ONE - Trophies

Alex Timmons (flashback) - First Box ("Return to Sender")
Gene Marshall (flashback) - First Box ("Return to Sender")
Cindy Landon (flashback) - First Box ("Return to Sender")
Mike Donovan - First Box ("Dexter")
Jamie Jaworski - First Box ("Dexter")
Matt Chambers - First Box ("Crocodile")
Jorge Castillo - First Box ("Love American Style")
Valerie Castillo - Slide used to frame Jorge for her murder ("Love American Style")
Emmett Meridian - First Box ("Shrink Wrap")

SEASON TWO - Trophies

Jimmy Sensio - Not killed, slide washed ("It's Alive!")
Little Chino - First Box ("Waiting to Exhale")
Santos Jimenez - Slide presumably lost ("Morning Comes")
Roger Hicks - First Box ("An Inconvenient Lie")

SEASON THREE - Trophies

Cal Rooney (flashback) - Second Box ("Our Father")
Fred Bowman - Second Box ("Finding Freebo")
Ethan Turner - Second Box ("Turning Biminese")
Clemson Galt - Second Box ("Sí Se Puede")

SEASON FOUR - Trophies

Benito Gomez - Second Box ("Living the Dream")
Zoey Kruger - Second Box (Dex Takes a Holiday")
Jonathan Farrow - Initially placed in second box, later broken and disposed of ("Slack Tide")
Stan Beaudry - Second Box ("Hello, Dexter Morgan")
Arthur Mitchell - Second Box ("The Getaway")

SEASON FIVE - Trophies

Marcetti (implied in flashbacks) - First Box ("My Bad")
Boyd Fowler - Second Box ("Practically Perfect")
Cole Harmon - Slide given to Lumen Pierce ("Take It!")
Alex Tilden - Slide given to Lumen; also killed by her ("In the Beginning")

SEASON SIX - Trophies

Ben - Second Box ("Those Kinds of Things")
Roger - Second Box ("Those Kinds of Things")
Joe Walker - Second Box ("Those Kinds of Things")
Julio Benes - Second Box ("Once Upon a Time...")
Walter Kenney - Second Box ("Smokey and the Bandit")
Travis Marshall - Slide lost at crime scene ("This is the Way the World Ends")

SEASON SEVEN - No Trophies

Dexter stopped taking blood when he cremated Ray Speltzer along with his second slide box, making this the first season where no victims had their blood taken.

SEASON EIGHT - No Trophies

As in the previous season, Dexter took no trophies from any of his victims.

NEW BLOOD - Trophies

Matt Caldwell - Makeshift bloodslide made out of two broken pieces of glass; presumably disposed of with remains ("Cold Snap")

No Blood Taken[]

Dexter didn't collect blood trophies from at least 39 of his kills. There may have been more, since Dexter stated that he had killed "dozens" at the time he had Alex Timmons (his first blood slide) on his table.

PRIOR TO BLOOD SLIDES - No Blood Taken

Nurse Mary - ("Popping Cherry")
Unidentified Victim - ("Every Silver Lining...")
Drug Dealer (Third Victim) - ("Every Silver Lining...")
Juan Ryness - ("There's Something About Harry")
Robert Milson - "Dark Echo (Early Cuts)"
Peter Thornton - "Dark Echo {Early Cuts)"
Unknown Victim - Shown via a defunct website

SEASON ONE - No Blood Taken

Brian Moser - ("Born Free")

SEASON TWO - No Blood Taken

Ken Olson - ("Dex, Lies, and Videotape")
Jose Garza - ("There's Something About Harry")
Esteban Famosa - ("Left Turn Ahead")
Teo Famosa - ("Left Turn Ahead")
Lila West - ("The British Invasion")

SEASON THREE - No Blood Taken

Oscar Prado - ("Our Father")
Nathan Marten - ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight")
Camilla Figg - ("Easy as Pie")
Miguel Prado - ("I Had a Dream")
George King - ("Do You Take Dexter Morgan?")

SEASON FIVE - No Blood Taken

Rankin - ("My Bad")
Dan Mendell - ("Everything Is Illumenated")
Lance Robinson - ("Everything Is Illumenated")
Stan Liddy - ("Hop a Freighter")

SEASON SIX - No Blood Taken

Nick - ("Just Let Go")
Norm - ("Nebraska")
Steve Dorsey - ("Ricochet Rabbit")
Beth Dorsey - ("Talk to the Hand")
Alberto - ("This is the Way the World Ends")

SEASON SEVEN - No Blood Taken

Viktor Baskov - ("Are You...?")
Ray Speltzer - ("Run")
Unnamed Hitman - ("Argentina")
Oleg Mickic - ("Helter Skelter")
Clint McKay - ("The Dark... Whatever")
Hector Estrada - ("Surprise, Motherfucker!")

SEASON EIGHT - No Blood Taken

Possible Victims (six-month time skip between seasons)
Unidentified Victim - ("A Beautiful Day")
Andrew Briggs - ("A Beautiful Day")
Ron Galuzzo - ("What's Eating Dexter Morgan?")
A.J. Yates - ("This Little Piggy")
Oliver Saxon - ("Remember the Monsters?")
Debra Morgan - ("Remember the Monsters?")

NEW BLOOD - No Blood Taken

Jasper Hodge - ("Runaway")
Elric Kane - ("Unfair Game")
Wiggles the Clown - ("The Family Business")
Kurt Caldwell - ("The Family Business")
Sergeant Logan - ("Sins of the Father")

Notes[]

Dexter's trophies from his murders are blood slides which he hides in an LG air conditioner. LG's tag line is "Life's Good"
Brian Moser didn't have a blood slide taken, and his body was left for the police to find.
It's unknown what Dexter did with Lila West's body after killing her, but he didn't collect a blood slide.
Miguel Prado was killed and skinned in an M.O. similar to George King's, so he didn't have a blood slide taken.
Jordan Chase was dismembered and dumped into the Gulf, but he didn't have blood taken and, most importantly, was not killed by Dexter but by Lumen Pierce. He was also the last main antagonist to be dismembered.
Travis Marshall was killed and had a slide taken, but because Debra walked in on Dexter, he was not dismembered or disposed of properly. Instead, with Debra's help, Dexter burned Travis' body and made it look like a ritualistic suicide, leaving it for the police to find. Dexter also lost the blood slide at the crime scene, which was found, broken and partially burned, by Maria LaGuerta. Also, Travis was the last person from whom Dexter took a blood slide, as he later abandoned this practice after Debra discovered that he was a serial killer.
Isaak Sirko, although killed by George Novikov, was dropped into the Gulf Stream by Dexter where he had dumped Isaak's lover, Viktor Baskov, a previous victim of Dexter.
Oliver Saxon was killed in a police station, in apparent self defense, so his body was presumably autopsied and buried or cremated.
Kurt Caldwell didn't have a blood slide taken, as Dexter had discontinued the process at the time he killed Kurt, as well as the fact Harrison witnessed this kill. Kurt was then dismembered and his remains burnt in an incinerator
Just as he relapsed into killing and had Matt Caldwell on his table, Dexter initially took a makeshift blood slide from Matt, slicing his cheek with broken glass and trapping some blood between two pieces of glass. After killing Matt, Dexter discarded the blood slide, not needing trophies anymore. This makes Matt the final victim to have ever had a blood slide taken.
It is unknown if Dexter took a blood slide from Wiggles the Clown, though Scott Reynolds mentioned that Wiggles was killed before Season One. It was likely after Dexter started his practice of taking the slides since he seemed poised to take one in the flashback, but he omitted that detail in his explanation to Harrison.
When Dexter explained to Harrison the Code of Harry, he omitted the fact that he took blood slides. It was Deb who convinced him not to tell Harrison about the slides.