Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Crockett and Tubbs get involved in a theft and a theatrical troupe.

Episode 3.23 “Everybody’s In Show Business”

(Dir by Richard Compton, originally aired on May 1st, 1987)

The theft of a valuable briefcase that belonged to drug lord Don Gallego (Paul Calderon) leads the Vice Squad to Mikey (Michael Carmine), an ex-con who is now a published poet and runs his own theater group specifically for people who have just gotten out of prison.  Unfortunately, Mikey has once again started using drugs (“Once a junkie, always a junkie,” Tubbs scornfully says) and he desperately needs the money that he can make by selling the briefcase back to Gallego.  Gallego, for his part, will do anything to get that briefcase back.

This episode had a few good things going for it.  Paul Calderon gave a strong performance as Don Gallego, a ruthless drug lord who dispenses threats and violence with style.  (Calderon was also in King of New York as the untrustworthy Joey D. and he played the bartender, English Bob, in Pulp Fiction.  Reportedly, Calderon was the second choice for the role of Jules Winnfield.)  Mikey’s young brother is played by Benicio Del Toro and, while Del Toro doesn’t really get to do much in this episode, his appearance continues Miami Vice‘s tradition of featuring future stars amongst its supporting cast.

That said, Michael Carmine’s performance as Mikey didn’t really work for me.  Mikey was meant to be wild, charismatic, and touched with a hint of genius but Carmine overacts to such an extent that it becomes impossible to take Mikey seriously as any of those three things.  A scene where he portrays his version of Elvis is meant to be a showstopper but it just left me cringing.  Sonny, somewhat uncharacteristically, is portrayed as being an admirer of Mikey’s poetry.  (I thought Tubbs was supposed to be the sensitive one.)  Unfortunately, the poetry that we hear doesn’t sound that impressive.  Sonny has been portrayed as being such a cynic in the past that it’s hard to buy the idea that he would be so moved by Mikey.  If anything, it almost feels as if Sonny and Tubbs have switched roles in this episode.  Usually, Tubbs is the one who isn’t cynical enough.

The episode ends on something of an off-note, with Mikey apparently being near death but somehow managing to escape the hospital after he’s visited by Crockett and Tubbs.  This is the sort of thing that would perhaps have worked if Mikey was a recurring character.  If they had brought back Noogie and had him as the poetry-writing junkie in over his head, this episode probably would have worked.  But we don’t really know Mikey and, from what we see of him, he comes across as being a bit of a jerk.  So, what do we care if he gets in trouble?

Next week, season 3 comes to an end!