‘Dexter’: David Zayas and Lieutenant Angel Batista Had a Lot in Common
When the TV show Dexter premiered in 2006, it changed how people viewed TV. The disturbing show debuted even before antiheroes like Walter White ever made it to American households, thus putting Showtime on the map with original programming.
The show ran for seven years and ended in what fans called “the most dissatisfying ending.” Nonetheless, it gave viewers rich and well-developed storylines and fan-favorite characters such as Lieutenant Angel Batista. Interestingly the actor who played Batista, David Zayas, was a police officer in real life before becoming an actor.
Dexter followed a serial killer vigilante
Dexter followed the titular character as he sought to punish criminals and wrongdoers for their crimes. Dexter was orphaned at three after witnessing his mother’s brutal murdered. A Miami police officer Harry Morgan adopted the child. After noticing that Dexter had unresolved trauma and pent-up anger, he taught him how to channel that anger elsewhere.
Harry taught Dexter how to kill criminals who slipped out of the hands of the law and not get caught. To enable him to carry out his crimes, Dexter sought employment at the Miami Metro Police Department, working as a forensic analyst with a specialty in blood spatter pattern analysis.
Whenever he carried out his crimes, Dexter exercised caution and used gloves and plastic-wrapped kill rooms to avoid the mess. He then disposed of the body by segmenting it and throwing it into the Atlantic Ocean to minimize detection.
Although he was good at getting away with murder, Dexter was conflicted about his double life. At the beginning of the series, Dexter claimed through narration that he was detached, but as the show progressed, he started to develop feelings for his foster sister and other people. He occasionally revealed to some people who he really was but ended up killing them to maintain his secret.
Fans hated the ending
Towards the final season, Dexter’s sister Deb got fatally shot and died due to a blood clot on the brain. Dexter moved to Oregon and took up lumberjacking as an income earner. The screen cut to black, and fans were left with questions about how Dexter’s colleagues handled his disappearance and how he dealt with his murderous urges.
By the final season, fans had theorized that Dexter would end up in prison for his crimes or die probably in the same fashion as his victims, but neither happened. Many fans and critics panned the finale calling it the worst ending in tv history.
Although the finale wasn’t the best conclusion to a long-running series like Dexter, it was actually a brilliant ending that left endless possibilities for a revival. Here’s why the finale was brilliant. If Dexter had gotten killed off, the writers would have closed the lid shut on continuing his story.
This finale left a window of opportunity for a fresh cast and new ideas. It gave the writers a chance to pursue another plot involving Dexter and how he chooses to handle his murderous tendencies in his newly acquired life.
One character was a cop in real life
According to Mental Floss, Zayas played Lieutenant Batista on the show and was also a cop in real life. Zayas said that he didn’t tell his coworkers about becoming an actor, but his partner knew his plans. Zayas said that he never planned to become an actor, but he couldn’t have enough once he got a taste of acting.
He recalled running lines with his partner while working the midnight shift. Zayas’ role as Bautista on Dexter isn’t the only time his acting career has reflected his real life. He played another police officer on two seasons of Bloodline and in another show set in Florida.
