Angel Batista

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Angel Batista
Dexter character
First appearance	Book Series: Darkly Dreaming Dexter TV Series: Dexter Pilot episode: "Dexter"
Created by	Jeff Lindsay
Portrayed by	David Zayas
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Detective sergeant
Spouse(s)	María LaGuerta (divorced)
Nationality	Cuban American

Detective Sergeant Ángel Juan Marcos Batista ( /ˈeɪndʒəl/; Spanish [ˈaŋxel]) is a fictional character in the Showtime television series Dexter and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. He is portrayed in the television series by Puerto Rican actor David Zayas.

Character biography

Batista is a Detective in Miami Metro Police Department's Homicide Division. He works closely with Dexter Morgan during cases, often teaming up with him for his expert advice on serial killers, and considers himself Dexter's best friend. Batista, while unable to share Dexter's fascination with blood, appreciates the art of murder. In the novel series, Batista is not a detective, but a forensic officer who works alongside Dexter. He is also referred by himself and others as "Angel no-relation" in reference to former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Angel is a friendly, good natured character who provides a sense of humanity and compassion in Dexter's life. While he is prone to making rash decisions and acting on emotion, he does not harbor resentment for the worst fate hands to him and is shown to care deeply for those who work around him. He is also well known for his trademark fedora which he is almost never seen without.

Season one

When Angel arrives on the scene of a foot chase called in by James Doakes, he finds the man dead. When first questioned by Internal Affairs, Batista lies for Doakes, saying the other man shot first. However, he later reveals he made a promise to his father that he would always be an honest man and tells the truth. Due to his honesty, Angel also ends up telling his wife about the one time he cheated on her, which quickly leads to their separation (something he tries to keep hidden from everyone).

One night at a club Batista sees a woman with a prosthetic hand, the nails painted in the same manner as the victims of the Ice Truck Killer. He investigates and finds out that the woman had a customer with an amputee fetish. In an attempt to chase the lead, Angel talks with Rudy Cooper about patients he may have that have the same fetish. Unknown to him, Cooper is the Ice Truck Killer—Cooper then stabs Batista. While recovering he agrees to a divorce with his wife. He also helps to uncover the true identity of Rudy Cooper by asking for Cooper's prints to be compared to mental institution files.

After three months of being on his own, Batista turns to spiritual enlightenment to lessen his pain. He claims to be Dexter's best friend, much to Dexter's confusion, as he has never given Batista any reason to think so. Dexter eventually admits that Batista is the closest thing he has ever had to a genuine friend.

Season two

In season two, Batista and the rest of the department try their best to alleviate the grief from families of the Bay Harbor Butcher victims. He becomes especially involved in one case of a man named Oscar Sota. When he talks to the man's mother in the office, he ends up having a heated and frustrating argument with her about what her son was actually doing to be targeted by the Butcher. Feeling incredibly guilty for his previous behavior with the mother, he goes to her house and offers her a sincere apology. She begins to trust Batista, and offers him more details on the case.

He eventually takes an interest in Lila Tournay and, after her and Dexter's breakup, makes advances on her, which she gladly embraces. Unbeknowst to him, he's only being used by her to get close to Dexter. After fighting with Dexter, Lila takes Rohypnol and then files date rape charges against him. Batista expresses how terrified he is if the rape charge follows through, as it will likely ruin his career. After Lila is murdered by Dexter, the charges are dropped, much to Batista's relief. Dexter admits that if he was "normal", he would want to be a man like Batista.

Season three

In season three, Batista is promoted to Sergeant and made the department's new lead case investigator to replace the now-deceased Doakes. However it appears as his life as a divorced father is beginning to take its toll on Angel, as he risks his career to get a hooker who turns out to be an undercover cop. After persistent but gentlemanly advances, Angel begins a relationship with the other officer; Barbara Gianna. He is obviously paranoid and overconscientious of the relationship, leaving her a long-winded message begging forgiveness for having to cancel dinner because of work. However, Barbara finds this hysterically funny, brings him a take-out dinner, and their relationship appears strong. One indication as to the strength of their relationship is that after she is assaulted, it is suggested that he would have tried to kill the assailant (or at the very least violently beaten him), had Dexter not intervened and subtly calmed Batista down. He attends Dexter's wedding with Barbara as his date.

Season four

By the start of season four, it appears that Batista and Barbara have amicably split, and he is now romantically involved with his Lieutenant, Maria LaGuerta. Neither wishes for their relationship to become public, in fear of losing their jobs and "defining something indefinable". He looks to Dexter for advice, who then becomes an involuntary counselor between the two. In the episode "Hello, Dexter Morgan", they secretly get married with Dexter as witness.

Season five

Batista and LaGuerta's marriage is constantly challenged by their work disagreements. At first, Batista constantly caves in to LaGuerta's demands, but grows more and more frustrated and jealous. When a drunk police officer makes sexual remarks about LaGuerta ("she gave the best blowjobs in Miami"), Batista, also drunk, beats him up and ends up being investigated by Internal Affairs. LaGuerta teams up with the investigating officer, but that prompts Batista to be even more jealous; he starts checking her cell phone for suspicious messages and finds a rendezvous appointment in a hotel room. Outraged, he walks in on them, only to find out that it was intended to be a sting operation to apprehend a corrupt narcotics cop, in which LaGuerta agreed to participate to bail Batista out of the investigation. When LaGuerta's bad judgment call leads to the killing of their informant in the Fuentes brothers case, she pins the blame on Debra, rekindling their rivalry. Upset by LaGuerta's decision, Batista decides to stick to Debra's story and does so in his written statement; he also helps Debra when she insists on reopening the barrel girls case after LaGuerta closed it too soon—although he fails to convince LaGuerta himself. Ever since, Batista's approach towards LaGuerta's bossiness has drastically changed, as he has been "cutting her off" every time she seems to try to overpower his decision. However, in the season finale they seem to have set their relationship back on track.

Season six

Angel has moved in with his little sister Jamie Batista in the apartment adjacent to Dexter's, thus allowing Jamie to babysit little Harrison whenever Dexter might need to leave in the middle of the night. It turns out that he and LaGuerta separated in order for her to secure the position of Captain in Miami Metro Homicide. However, her position as Lieutenant was left open specifically for him by her recommendation. To her surprise, Deputy Chief Tom Matthews decided otherwise due to the recent heroics of Debra Morgan and instead advanced her to Lieutenant. Debra broke this news to Angel, who took it in stride and nonetheless congratulated her, but was still hurt by constantly being involved in LaGuerta's battles with Matthews. Quinn also begins to point out that Batista is too soft, which almost results in his fighting Quinn at a crime scene. However, he manages to restrain himself, likely wanting to avoid another situation like the Lopez ordeal of the previous year. His relationship is further strained when Quinn, in a drunken state, makes degrading remarks toward Jamie and is knocked out by him.

With her budding relationship with Louis Greene, Masuka's third intern, Angel attempts to scare him away during a dinner with both of them; this fails, though Angel does respect Louis's technological investigative prowess.

When Angel approaches a suspect's house, without Quinn for backup, he is knocked out by a hiding Travis after Angel becomes too suspicious.

Differences from the novels

In the book series, Angel Batista habitually introduces himself as "no relation" (to former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista), and as a result is nicknamed "Angel-no-relation" by Dexter. He also plays a less prominent role in the novels than in the television series, and is a forensic scientist rather than a homicide detective.

External links

• Angel Batista at the Internet Movie Database