Dexter Character James Doakes

During the first half of the pilot episode, we learn that Sgt. James Doakes dislikes Dexter as much as LaGuerta dislikes Deborah Morgan. In a police station filled with law enforcement, Doakes is the only one who can see that something is not right about Dexter.

James Doakes can see that he has no emotions. He notices when Dexter stares just a little too long at a corpse or blood scene. He is serious and outspoken at all times but he never has a kind word for Dexter and constantly throws hate filled speech at the man he calls a lab geek.

Doakes has a mother and two sisters but he rarely visits them. We see this small side of his family in season one and the end of season two. He can be a good cop but he is hasty and will often feel that he's right when he suspects someone of a crime.

As he demands that Dexter does his blood quickly, he also tells him that he knows the suspect is the killer and he doesn't care what Dexter has to say about it. It turns out that Dexter was right about the man being innocent but that just makes Doakes despise him more.

Not a lot is known about Sgt. James Doakes past but we do know that he was in the military, he fought in a war or two and he may have been in Special Ops. His former partner is Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta and through a series of conversations they have during the first two seasons of Dexter, we learn that care about and respect each other and they were partners, friends and lovers.

In season one a policeman and his wife are murdered and we learn that the wife was cheating on her husband with Doakes. The wife's brother and friends proceed to give Doakes a hard time and eventually set him up to be used as bait to catch the couple's murderers.

Although James Doakes is a respected officer, others are aware that he has some secrets to hide. He has no problem abusing a prisoner or suspect and he has been in one too many questionable officer related shootings.

Sgt. James Doakes' focus is constantly on Dexter Morgan and he never passes up an opportunity to give him a hard time. This lets you know that he is always watching Dexter and waiting for him to slip up. He knows that Dexter is odd, creepy and harboring dark secrets and he aims to find the truth. He realizes that when Dexter gives advice about a serial killer, he's usually right. This makes Doakes even more suspicious of Dexter as he wonders how a lab geek could have so much knowledge on murderers.

Of all the strange reactions he notices about Dexter, his top concern is that Dexter seems to be lacking emotion. Crime scenes that will disturb even the most veteran officer, does not affect Dexter in the least. Doakes notices if Dexter looks at a body too long or smirks as he's thinking to himself. It sometimes seems like he pays more attention to Dexter than the cases he's investigating.

As the Ice Truck Killer case heats up, Doakes gets suspicious as Dexter seems to be in the middle of the investigation. After Deborah Morgan goes missing with her boyfriend Rudy, Doakes immediately suspects that Dexter knows more than he's saying. The first physical confrontation between Dexter and Doakes, takes place at a loading dock where Dexter's mother was murdered. By season two, the tension between these two characters begins to escalate.

Doakes spends most of season two tailing Dexter and digging into his past. After breaking into Dexter's home and stealing his slides that contains a blood drop of each of his victims, Doakes soon becomes the suspect known as the Bay Harbor Butcher.

By putting all his time into investigating Dexter Morgan, Sgt. James Doakes eventually brings about his own downfall as Dexter has to put plans in motion to hide his secrets. Season two saw the last of Doakes as he dies in a mysterious cabin explosion.