James Doakes
| James Doakes | |
|---|---|
| Dexter character | |
| First appearance | Book Series: Darkly Dreaming Dexter TV Series: "Dexter" Pilot episode: Dexter |
| Last appearance | The British Invasion |
| Created by | Jeff Lindsay |
| Portrayed by | Erik King |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Detective sergeant |
| Family | Mother, two sisters |
| Nationality | American |
James Doakes is a fictional character in the Showtime television series Dexter and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. In the television series he is portrayed by Erik King. Doakes is a police detective with the rank of Sergeant serving as lead case investigator to Miami Police Department's Homicide Department. Doakes has a violent temper, which drives him to divorce his wife; he confesses that if he had stayed with her, he would have killed her.
Character biography
Doakes enlisted in the Army, and ascended to become an operative in the U.S. Army Rangers (he mentions having been part of the Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment).[1] After spending many years in black operations, Doakes gave up his military career, electing instead to use his skills to help innocent civilians. Doakes's police career grinds to a halt when he receives excessive force citations and proves he did not work well with others (apart from leading them). Doakes had a relationship with LaGuerta, whom he made a point of listening to, and was partners with her, but their partnership ended when LaGuerta arrested a high-profile drug dealer in a drug bust and got promoted. This only happened by chance; Doakes did the work and LaGuerta only happened to catch him escaping.
Season 1
Doakes hates Dexter; the only person in Dexter's life who can see through his mask of sanity, Doakes suspects that Dexter is hiding something, and has no reservations about telling him so. Ultimately, Doakes realizes that Dexter is withholding vital information on the Ice Truck Killer case, to the point that he is driven to physically attack him, only for Dexter to expertly fight back.
Season 2
LaGuerta, Doakes' old partner, tells him to back off, but Doakes merely begins following Dexter in secret. Doakes ends his investigations when he finds Dexter attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, supposedly for heroin addiction; Doakes erroneously believes Dexter's dark secret is that he is a drug addict. Feeling sympathetic towards Dexter for once, Doakes briefly leaves him alone.
Doakes resumes the hunt, however, after Debra reveals that Dexter does not so much as smoke. After Doakes starts investigating Dexter's past, Dexter goads him into a fight — seemingly unprovoked — in front of the entire squad room. Doakes is initially prepared to accept dismissal and take a high-paying security job LaGuerta set up for him, only to begin suspecting Dexter is the notorious Bay Harbor Butcher when Special Agent Frank Lundy mentions shoddy bloodwork as a reason for the acquittal of one of the Butcher's victims.
Doakes, in the course of following Dexter, stumbles upon Santos Jimenez's remains and Dexter's blood slide collection box, and realizes Dexter's secret: He is the Bay Harbor Butcher. Ironically, Doakes is by now the prime suspect in the case, thanks to Dexter's expert manipulation of the evidence.
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. In the end, Dexter decides to frame and turn in Doakes to the FBI.
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 blows up the cabin by igniting propane tanks. 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. Later on, Dexter avenges Doakes' murder by killing Lila.
Doakes's funeral is largely unattended, with the exception of LaGuerta, Dexter, and Doakes' mother and sisters. Doakes is replaced as sergeant by Angel Batista.
Differences from the novels
In the novels, Doakes' first name is "Albert", and he served in El Salvador with the U.S. Marine Corps alongside Kyle Chutsky and "Dr. Danco". Dexter believes that Doakes has a "Dark Passenger" of his own, and deals with it by being as violent as he legally can in his job. After LaGuerta's murder at the end of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Doakes believes Dexter was the killer, and tails Dexter in Dearly Devoted Dexter, intending to "catch him in the act". Instead, Doakes himself is captured by "Dr. Danco", who tortures him by removing his feet, hands, and tongue. In Dexter in the Dark, Doakes returns briefly, but cannot communicate (Erik King, who plays Doakes in the TV series, has joked in an interview that in the second book, his character becomes "a stub"[citation needed]).
