The prop table is prepped, featuring an assortment of cutlery and weapons for Dexter's kill. Michael C. Hall went through the tools one by one, explaining how Dexter would use each of them in a murder scene.

"If you spend this much time inhabiting a character like this, it's going to rub off," says Michael C. Hall. "I think it's made me wear different masks in different situations."

"I don't get creeped out as long as I know it's fake," says Michael C. Hall. "I'm perfectly capable to endow it with a sense of reality."

"I think fatherhood is the thing that allows Dexter to maintain the sense that he's human," says Michael C. Hall.

The crew joked about all the inappropriate soundbites being thrown around on the set, such as "We need more blood on the baby bottle," "Is the killing room ready?" and "Did we get all the blood off the wall?"

Dexter prop master Joshua Meltzer uses an average of between 7 to 10 gallons of fake blood per season.

"I think he's a very good father on one hand and a very irresponsible father on the other," says Michael C. Hall. "But he's doing the best with the affliction he has to manage."

"One of the fundamental tensions for Dexter is the desire to stay hidden combined with the desire to reveal himself," says Michael C. Hall.

Michael C. Hall was a great sport, agreeing to get into the pool even though the water was very cold.

For more on Dexter, be sure to pick up this week's issue of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Thursday, October 7!