Mark McCracken | Through the Shattered Lens

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, Gina’s in trouble again!

Episode 4.19 “Blood & Roses”

(Dir by George Mendeluk, originally aired on April 1st, 1988)

Frank Mosca (Stanley Tucci) is back!

In case you’ve forgotten, Mosca was the villain from the fourth season premiere, Contempt of Court. That episode ended with Mosca getting away with everything. This episode finds him killing a rival drug lord (Michael Wincott) and trying to kill Crockett. Because Mosca knows who Crockett and Tubbs are, it falls on Gina to go undercover. This becomes yet another episode where Gina starts to fall for the bad guy and ends up having sex with the target of a Vice investigation. As often happens with these type of episodes, Gina ends up shooting Mosca to keep him from shooting Sonny. Mosca’s body plummets down an air shaft and it’s hard not to notice that Stanley Tucci has suddenly become a mannequin with painted hair.

Stanley Tucci gave a magnetic performance as the charismatic but evil Frank Mosca. Watching Tucci, it’s easy to see why the show brought him but Mosca was such a memorable character that it’s shame that he was given a standard Miami Vice death scene. Mosca deserved to go out with a bit more style. Saundra Santiago gave a good performance as Gina but it’s hard not to notice that every time she’s at the center of an episode, it’s pretty much the same basic plot. As a character, Gina deserved better than to constantly be used as a sex toy by every bad guy she went undercover to investigate.

Watching this episode, I found myself wondering if the show’s writers remembered that Crockett was supposed to be married. Between his jealousy over Gina getting close to Mosco and a scene where he and Gina shared a brief but intense kiss, it was hard not to notice that Crockett didn’t seem to be thinking about his wife. Perhaps this episode was originally meant to air earlier in the season, before Crockett’s somewhat improbable wedding. Who knows? It’s been a while since anyone asked Crockett about Caitlin. Maybe they got a quickie divorce offscreen.

This episode was typical of season 4. It was well-made but everything just felt a bit too familiar. to be effective.

This week, the Vice Squad investigates the “other Hollywood” and some notable guest stars pop up.

Episode 4.3 “Death and the Lady”

(Dir by Colin Bucksey, originally aired on October 16th, 1987)

Painter-turned-filmmaker Milton Glantz (Paul Guilfoyle) is very proud to have received an Erotic Film Award for his latest movie, Death and the Lady. However, when Glantz receives his award, a man named Tulane Knox (Michael David Morrison) shouts that the violent murder that ends the film was real and that Glantz is a killer.

Knox is taken into custody by Gina and Trudy. Crockett doesn’t believe a word that Knox is saying. He’s convinced that it’s all just a publicity stunt to get people interested in the film. Crockett doesn’t have much use for all that art film mumbo jumbo. He lives on a boat with a crocodile named Elvis, after all. Actually, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Elvis. I hope he’s okay.

Still, Crockett investigates. He and Tubbs discover that the actress from the film — Lori Swann (Kelly Lynch) — is still alive and working in the movies. However, he also discovers that Lori and Glantz made another film, called Twins. That film featured Lori and a woman named Amy Ryder, who looked just like her. A conversation with Amy’s sister (Penelope Ann Miller) reveals that Amy hasn’t been seen for a while. Plus, Amy has terminal cancer….

Especially when compared to the previous two episodes, this episode felt more like classic Miami Vice, dark, moody, and fatalistic. It doesn’t take long for both the audience and Crockett to realize that Glantz murdered Amy for his film. (Amy’s dead eyes appear in Glantz’s film.) But the problem is that there’s no way for Crockett to prove it. The District Attorney (Miguel Ferrer, making an early appearance) refuses to bring charges without hard evidence. When Glantz taunts Crockett with the fact that he committed the perfect murder, Crockett snaps. He beats up Glantz but he doesn’t kill him. Crockett hasn’t crossed that line but, watching this episode, you get the feeling that it’s only a matter of time. But it doesn’t matter how many times Crockett throws a punch, Milton Glantz gets away with murder.

This was the Miami Vice of old, depressing, distressing, and very, very stylish.

(Plus, there’s a kitty in this episode! He is discovered in a cocaine dealer’s home and he’s given to Gina as a present. Even Castillo smiles when looks at the kitty. Awwww!)