Beware of spoilers, only spoilers from the seventh and eighth seasons are meant to be blacked out. All character sheets contain major spoilers. Proceed reading at your own risk.note
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As a Whole
- Childhood Friends: They have known each other since they were teenagers and have some special bond because of their long history.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The women they capture are subjected to unspeakable acts of violence and the immense level of pain. They're confined and repeatedly beaten and raped by them.
- Creepy Souvenir: Boyd, the killer of the women and the last link in the chain, keeps numbered strands of their blonde hair. Another member took a piece of their jewelry. A third made videos of torturing and raping them and kept the numbered DVDs, and finally, their leader Jordan Chase has a vial with the blood of their first victim.
- Hate Sink: You don't get any more hideous and hatable than being Serial Rapists who not any are remorseless about the act, but actively enjoy doing them. These guys are made out to be as loathsome as possible, which is evident when Dexter himself is disgusted by their actions.
- Lack of Empathy: So much that even Dexter is sickened by their actions.
- Serial Rapist: The women they abduct are repeatedly raped and tortured by them. They have 14 victims (2 survived).
- Serial Killer: The women they capture are subjected to rape, beatings and horrible torture and then they are sent to be killed by the last link in their chain, to be stored in a barrel on the bottom of a lake.
- Visible Victimology: The Barrel Girl Gang targets white blonde women to torture, rape, and kill. It's not clear if this is a pattern set by their first victim (Emily Birch, who they gang-raped, but who survived) or if she was merely an extension of this preexisting impulse.
- Would Hit a Girl: To a disturbing extent. All their victims of rape and torture are young women.
Jordan Chase (AKA: Eugene Greer)
Played by: Jonny Lee Miller
"It's time to tap into your primal selves and seize the power of instinct. We're gonna cast off those shackles that bind us to jobs we hate, people we don't love, lives that aren't worth living. We are going to... Take It!"
A charismatic and popular motivational speaker, known for his 'Take It!' approach to life. He's also a demented sociopath and ringleader of the Barrel Girl Gang.
- Big Bad: Of Season 5. His cult's brutal rape and torture of Lumen ultimately sets in motion the conflict that underlies the season's plot.
- Character Catch Phrase: He has two phrases he's fond of repeating: "Tick, tick, tick. That's the sound of your life running out." and "Take it!" Used in his motivational speeches and business, and also creepily when he's 'coaching' his mates to torture, rape and murder.
- The Chessmaster: Easily able to manipulate people into serving his interests - he's shown and noted, in-universe, to have a knack for getting into people's heads and getting what he wants out of them. This can be seen most clearly in his relationship with Emily Birch (whom he manipulated into thinking they have a "bond" and helping him despite his horrible crimes against her) and his actions after learning of Dexter and Lumen's Roaring Rampage of Revenge, when he manipulates the two of them and the police against each other, even "sacrificing a pawn" (by snitching on one of his cohorts) for it like he's playing chess.
- Control Freak: He must absolutely keep control of a situation at all times, and he freaks out pretty viciously when anything goes wrong.
- Devil in Plain Sight: One hundred times more evil and famous than Dexter, with legions of fans to whom he's a hero and who have no idea he's a monster underneath it all.
- Die Laughing: Dies cackling after his facade has crumbled completely.
- Enfant Terrible: If Emily Birch's story serves as any indication, Chase's depravity and grandiose sense of entitlement cannot be traced to any Dark and Troubled Past or Freudian Excuse. Rather, even as a child, Chase seems to have disdained social interaction in general let alone any level of emotional intimacy. It was only when he experienced the thrill of manipulating others to do his bidding that he went from being an egocentric introvert into a charismatic, megalomaniacal cult leader.
- Faux Affably Evil: His public image is that of an extremely charismatic and polite self-help guru who is genuinely committed to turning his clients' lives around for the better. In reality, he is a sociopathic megalomaniac who uses his program as a means to completely dominate other people's lives for his own gratification.
- Formerly Fat: Dexter tries to taunt him over his fatness. Jordan merely remarks that he is proud of that phase since he managed to come out of it and lose so much weight and become so successful.
- For the Evulz: His motivation for his crimes amounts to "because he can."
- Freudian Excuse: Downplayed; it's vaguely hinted that his actions have something to do with him being overweight as a kid, but it's oddly never brought up again.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He was just a fat kid at a summer camp who others felt sorry for. Fast-forward and he's a rich, popular motivational speaker with a side project in kidnapping, rape, torture and murder.
- Hates Being Touched: Chase is portrayed as being averse to emotional or physical intimacy of any kind. When Emily Birch places her hand on his, he coldly disregards this sign of affection by irritably pulling his hand away. Similarly, rather than touch his victims himself, he manipulates others to do it for his own voyeuristic gratification.
- Hapless Self-Help: Jordan Chase is a wealthy and handsome motivational speaker who encourages people to grab hold of their lives and take control. He is a Control Freak who tortures and murders women with a gang of fellow men, most of whom are in fear of him or at least dominated by him, and who was at one point a Formerly Fat Nerd. However, when Dexter tries to invoke this trope, Jordan is unfazed, simply stating that he's proud of how he rose above his circumstances.
- It's All About Me: As a consummate megalomaniac, he views himself as a god deserving of unwavering praise and obedience from others without returning any of their loyalty.
- Karmic Death: Stabbed by the woman he victimized and tortured, in the place where he did it.
- Kick the Dog: As an adolescent, he organized the gang-rape of a young camp counselor named Emily Birch whose only crime was trying to befriend him because she thought he seemed lonely. By the time he has become an adult, he is revealed to have completely brainwashed her since then and reduced her to being a slave for his ego.
- Lack of Empathy: Despite clearly deriving amusement from dominating others' lives, Jordan shows no signs of emotional attachment or gratitude towards his "friends" regardless of their affection or loyalty towards him. This is most clearly evidenced by his relationship with his right-hand man, Cole, whose unwavering devotion he repays with barely concealed contempt and annoyance. Additionally, when the Miami P.D. begins to close in on his cult's activities, he doesn't show the slightest trace of hesitation or remorse when sacrificing his followers to facilitate his getaway.
- Manipulative Bastard: Jordan is one of the uber-examples in the entire series. He controls an entire group of men since they were children, reduces a former rape victim into becoming a virtual slave, and manipulates Lumen's movements.
- Meaningful Rename: The site of the first time he manipulated the Gang into raping a woman, where he developed his Take It philosophy? Camp River Jordan. We don't find this out till the season finale, when he drives past the camp's entrance sign... and then past an old Case backhoe.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Chase's character is an amalgam of many famous cult leaders throughout history who attracted countless followers through appeals of self-empowerment and carpe diem. His megalomaniacal and deranged personality is based primarily on Aleister Crowley
, a self-proclaimed sorcerer who indoctrinated his "disciples" to discard all their inhibitions while performing sacrifices and sadomasochistic rituals in order to discover their "True Will." - Rousing Speech: He's made a career out of rousing speeches.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Always extremely well-dressed as befitting a man of his self-assigned importance.
- The Sociopath: A high-functioning case yet one of the more textbook examples seen in the series. (See Enfante Terrible, It's All About Me, and Lackof Empathy above).
- Start of Darkness: Emily Birch recounts this. She tells Lumen about how he convinced the other members to gang-rape her, and describes momentarily seeing a 'look' on his face...and goes on the say it's the same look he has all the time as an adult.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Has the creepy and funny habit of finishing Dexter's mental sentences.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Without his influence, the others (with the possible exception of Cole) probably wouldn't have gone on to become rapist superfriends. Of course, this doesn't mean they're any less monstrous. Not to mention that Jordan doesn't seem to care about any of them, being perfectly willing to sell them out to save himself. More than likely, he retains their company solely to derive gratification from wielding total control over their lives and being a figure of unquestioned idolization.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he gets angry and kills Emily Birch with a fireplace poker.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He's a well-known public figure and motivational speaker. Subverted in a realistic way, where he has legions of fans but it's clear he isn't well-thought of by most normal people. Still, they hardly think he's evil, just another run-of-the-mill motivator.
Cole Harmon
Played by: Chris Vance
The loyal head of security for Jordan Chase.
- Asshole Victim: A sadistic serial rapist and torturer, his death garners little sympathy.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He's a former marine who can go toe-to-toe with Dexter and always wears a sharp suit.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: It was his fetish when hurting Lumen.
- Defiant to the End: He spits insults at Dexter and Lumen when they try to interrogate him.
- The Dragon: He's Jordan's most trusted bodyguard.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Lumen nicknamed him 'Suit-And-Tie' since he carefully folded his clothes before raping her.
- Undying Loyalty: Even though Jordan doesn't seem to like him much, he's crazily loyal to the guy. He almost seems to worship him, considering the fact he has framed pictures of Chase in his hotel room.
Boyd Fowler
Played by: Shawn Hatosy
The 'cleaner' for the Barrel Girl Gang, he works in dead animal pick-up and is responsible for disposing of the gang's victims.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's pretty affable and cool until his whole murder, rape and torture hobby is revealed.
- Clean Up Crew: His role within the Group.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Dexter underestimates him, thinking of him as just an ill-educated victim. He's not.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses, is a serial rapist and killer.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Dexter thinks he's just another slide-in-waiting, but Boyd thwarts him and causes plenty of trouble before and after his death.
- Serial Killer: Technically. He works with four other men, but he's the one that does the killing for them, and collects locks of the victims' hair for himself.
- Smarter Than You Look: Dexter mistakes him for a poorly-educated dead animal scooper, but he's actually quite cunning and observant.
Dan Mendell AKA "Dan the Dentist"
Played by: Sean O'Bryan
A dentist and scout for the group.
- Alliterative Name: Not actually, but once it's revealed he's a dentist, Dexter, Lumen, and Debra all call him "Dan the Dentist."
- Asshole Victim: A serial rapist who dies in the middle of calling one of his victims a cunt.
- Country Matters: Calls Lumen this, twice (once offscreen). The first time, it got him shot by her. The second time, it gets his neck broken by Dexter.
- Depraved Dentist: He's a member of murderous gang and a serial rapist, and a dentist in his everyday life.
- Dying Smirk: Realizing he's about to die, Dan smirks at Lumen and taunts her, saying the others will get her.
- Honey Trap: His role in the group... a little odd, since he's a schlubby middle-aged guy.
- Neck Snap: Courtesy of Dexter, after he called Lumen a cunt.
Alex Tilden
"I-I never wanted to do any of it!"
Played by: Scott Grimes
A banker and weak-willed flunky of Jordan Chase.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He begs and cries for his life.
- Asshole Victim: For all his insistence that Jordan pushed him into it, he nevertheless took part in the torture, rape and murder of young women.
- Creepy Souvenir: He collects pieces of jewelry from his victims. Lumen is able to identify him as one of her attackers by recognizing a piece of her jewelry that he has.
- Dirty Coward: He panics at the first sign of trouble, instantly calling Jordan after being interviewed by Deb and Quinn.
- Karmic Death: Murdered by one of his victims.
- Nervous Wreck: He's constantly terrified that he'll be caught.
- Unwitting Pawn: In the end, this was all he amounted to as far as Jordan was concerned.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: His appearance is very brief, since he only turns up in person when Lumen and Dexter shorten the list.
Emily Birch
Played by: Angela Bettis
The first victim of Jordan Chase and the rest of the group. She's been kept alive by Jordan, living a solitary, damaged existence while still manipulated by Jordan.
- The Alcoholic: She has a history of drunk driving.
- Broken Bird: She lives alone, drunk and submissive and eager to please Jordan.
- Rape as Backstory: She was gang-raped at Jordan's command when she was a camp counselor.
- Sixth Ranger: Sort of, since she assists the group, she can be considered this.
- Stockholm Syndrome: She comes to see Jordan as a protector, believing they have a 'bond'.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The reason why Jordan kills her.
