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, the second season comes to a close with …. TRAGEDY!

Episode 2.23 “Sons and Lovers”

(Dir by John Nicolella, originally aired on May 9th, 1986)

The final episode of the second season Miami Vice opens with Crockett and Tubbs getting their cover blown for what seems like the 100th time.  Seriously, has there every been an episode featuring these two going undercover in which their cover has not been blown?  This time, they’re nearly executed by the drug dealers they were trying to arrest but, at the last minute, a sniper with a laser-guided sight shoots one of the dealers.  In the confusion, Sonny and Tubbs are able to subdue most of the other dealers and disarm a booby trap that would have blown up Switek and Zito.

When Crockett mentions that they would have been dead if not for the sniper with the laser pointer, Switek says, “None of our guys have a laser.”

(Why not, Switek!?  Are you guys trying to win the War on Drugs or not!?)

It turns out that the sniper worked for Angelina Medera (Phanie Napoli), the daughter of Calderone, the Colombian drug lord whose murder of Tubb’s brother led to Tubbs coming to Miami in the first place.  Though she is still bitter over Crockett killing her father, Angelina has come to Miami to introduce Tubbs to his son, infant Ricardo, and to warn Tubbs that her half-brother, Orlando (John Leguizamo, in his first screen role), has put a contact out on his life.

Tubbs is a father!  Tubbs is in love!  Well, as Crockett could warn him, there’s nothing worse than being happy when you’re a member of the Vice Squad because it’s guaranteed that your happiness will be ripped away from you in the most violent way possible.  Orlando comes to Miami and kidnaps Angelina and little Ricardo.  With the help of a corrupt DEA agent named Harrison (J.C. Quinn), Orlando tries to set Tubbs up.  Drawing Tubbs out to a pier where Angelina is bound in a car, Orlando plans to blow up his rival.  Tubbs, being the star of the show, does manage to survive being near the car when it explodes.  Angelina is not so lucky.  Tragically, Tubbs believes that his son was in the car as well.  (Actually, Orlando set little Ricardo back to Colombia.)  At Angelina’s funeral, Tubbs receives a letter from Orlando.  “I’ll be back!” it reads.

And so, season 2 ends!

The finale was a bit of a let down, largely because a good deal of the running time was devoted to flashbacks to remind us just who the Calerdones were in the first place.  As well, John Leguizamo is not exactly the most intimidating of actors and his performance as Orlando was a bit stiff and awkward.  (It makes sense when you consider that he was only 19 years old and making his debut on a hit television show.  Anyone would be nervous.)  Much like the Frank Zappa episode, it’s obvious that this episode was meant to launch a storyline that would be revisited in the future.  While Leguizamo would return, it would appear that this episode is the only one to feature Tubbs’s son.  So, I guess Tubbs will have to live the rest of his life thinking his childhood was blown up by a Colombian drug lord.

That’s dark!

That’s Miami Vice dark!

Despite the weak finale, I thought the second season of Miami Vice was a good one.  There were a few weak episodes but, for the most part, it was a strong and stylish season and one that continued to explore just why exactly the War on Drugs proved to be unwinnable.  Episodes like Out Where The Buses Don’t Run, Bushido, One Way Ticket, Little Miss Dangerous, and Trust Fund Pirates were all examples of Miami Vice at its cynical and surreal best.

Next week, we begin season 3 with a guest appearance by Liam Neeson!