Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 5.6 “Line of Fire”

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 are assigned to protect a witness.

Episode 5.6 “Line Of Fire”

(Dir by Richard Compton, originally aired on December 16th, 1988)

Carlos Cantero (Aharon Ipalé) is on trial for murdering Ian Sims, one of Crockett’s confidential informants. Crockett is the number one witness against him, which is a problem because Crockett just spent the last few months under the impression that he was Sonny Burnett, one of Miami’s biggest drug dealers. Cantero’s defense attorney dismantles Crockett’s testimony by pointing out that Crockett had a “psychotic breakdown.”

(And you know what? The attorney is actually very correct about that. Crockett acts shocked when his mental health history is brought up but why wouldn’t it be?)

Luckily, there is an eyewitness to the murder of Ian Sims. The FBI asks Crockett and Tubbs to keep an eye on Keith (Justin Lazard), a heavy metal fan who is willing to testify against Cantero.

I have to admit that I nearly gave up on this episode because my first impression of Keith was that he was the most annoying character to ever appear on a television show. However, I’m glad that I didn’t because this episode actually introduced a very clever twist. Keith is not actually Keith. Instead, he’s DEA agent Joey Hardin, who has been assigned to pretend to be Keith to keep Cantero from going after the real Keith. It turns out that FBI Agent Bates (Kevyn Major Howard, the “Do you believe in Jesus?” guy from Death Wish II) is crooked and he’s giving information to Cantero.

Unfortunately, Crockett doesn’t find out the truth until Joey has already been shot multiple times by Bates. (Tubbs and Crockett proceed to gun down Bates.) Joey nearly dies while the prosecutor chortles about how all of this is actually going to help him get a conviction. It turns out that the prosecutor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The real Keith is now too terrified to testify against Cantero, leading to Cantero going free. Joey does recover from being shot but, at the end of this episode, it’s hard not to feel that it was all for nothing.

This is one cynical episode! But that’s okay. Miami Vice was always at its best when it was being cynical and this episode is a throwback to old school Vice, back when the emphasis was on how no one could trust anyone and the government was often its own worst enemy. Miami Vice was definitely a left-wing show but occasionally, it did reveal a libertarian streak. That was certainly the case with this episode, in which the war on drugs is portrayed as being unwinnable because the government is naturally incompetent. Young idealists like Joey Hardin are sent off to battle and are ultimately abandoned once they’re no longer needed.

This was a good episode. I’m still having a hard time buying that Crockett could just go back to being a cop after being Miami’s top drug lord but whatever. It’s the final season. I’ll suspend my disbelief a little.

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.22 “Mirror Image”

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, season 4 comes to a close.

Episode 4.22 “Mirror Image”

(Dir by Richard Compton, originally aired on May 6th, 1988)

Trying to recover from the assassination of his wife, Sonny Crockett throws himself back into his Sonny Burnett persona. As this episode starts, Sonny has managed to get close to a ruthless drug dealer named Gutierrez (Antonio Fargas). When Guiterrez blows up a boat that is full of rival drug dealers, the Vice Squad assumes that Gutierrez died in the explosion. They also assume that Sonny was lost as well.

They are incorrect. Gutierrez got off the boat before the bomb went off and somehow, Sonny was able to survive being blown up without suffering any sort of physical injuries. However, mentally, he wakes up with amnesia. When Gutierrez’s doctor tells Sonny that he’s a drug dealer and this his last name is “Burnett,” Sonny believes him.

In Ft. Lauderdale, Sonny quickly moves up in the organization of drug lord Miguel Manolo (Tony Azito). Now believing himself to be a criminal, Sonny has no hesitation about murdering anyone who he views as being a threat. He kills Gutierrez in cold blood about halfway through the episode. At the end of the episode, he shoots a corrupt detective (Chris Cooper) in cold blood. Tubbs, who has been investigating Manolo, witnesses that final murder. “SONNY!” he yells as Sonny escapes in a speedboat and season 4 comes to an end.

Season 4 was truly uneven, featuring some terrible episodes and also some episodes that were good but not particularly memorable. Before I started this season, I read that it was considered to be the worst of Miami Vice‘s five seasons and, having now watched every episode, I can see why. Sonny marrying Caitlin never made any sense. Most of the villains were either generic or ludicrous. Most of the episodes just didn’t have the style that made the first three seasons so memorable. Even worse than the boring episodes were the ones that tried too hard to be quirky. Trudy going into space was definitely not a great idea. With all that in mind, this final episode was great. The action was stylish, Don Johnson actually seemed invested in the story for once, and Phillip Michael Thomas got to show off his own skills as an actor. If only the entire season had been this good!

As well, I should mention that, along with Chris Cooper as a bad cop, this episode also featured Julia Roberts as Manolo’s girlfriend. Roberts didn’t really get to do much but, even in a small role, her screen presence was obvious. It’s not a surprise she became a star.

Next week …. we’ll start the final season of Miami Vice!

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.2 “Amen …. Send Money”

Posted on April 28, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Miami Vice takes an unwelcome detour.

Episode 4.2 “Amen …. Send Money”

(Dir by James Quinn, originally aired on October 2nd, 1987)

This was pretty dumb.

Tubbs, working undercover, busts Leona Proverb (Anita Morris), who just happens to be the wife of Billy Bob Proverb (Brian Dennehy). Billy Bob is a television preacher who continually asks his followers to send him cash so he can live the lifestyle that he says God wants him to live. On paper, this sounds like a great role for Brian Dennehy but this episode’s script lets him (and, for that matter, everyone else in the cast) down. Somehow, the fact that the guy is named Billy Bob Proverb is the least heavy-handed aspect of this episode.

Faye Nell (Jo Anderson), who is one of Billy Bob’s followers, calls Tubbs to the studio and says she has information on what the Proverbs are doing. As soon as Tubbs shows up, Faye tosses herself on him, rips her dress, and starts to yell, “Rape!” Tubbs finds himself being investigated by Internal Affairs while Faye claims that God told her to call Tubbs down to the studio and she even passes a lie detector test.

“I’m being set up by a preacher!” an angered Tubbs says but it turns out that Billy Bob Proverb is not the one behind all of Tubbs’s problems. In fact, Billy Bob is actually sincere, in his own strange way. Instead, the villain turns out to be another television preacher, Mason Mather (James Tolkan). Mather has the ability to make himself go into a coma, which makes it difficult to arrest him.

Before I started watching this season, I read online that season 4 featured some of Miami Vice‘s worst episodes. Amen …. Send Money feels almost like a parody of Miami Vice. The episode itself is meant to be largely comedic and perhaps if this episode had centered on Switek and Zito instead of Crockett and Tubbs, it would have worked. Unfortunately, the show killed off Zito last season so instead, it’s Crockett and Tubbs making odd jokes and rolling their eyes in shock. The thing is, Miami Vice has — up until this episode — been a show about ruthless dealers and the futility of the War on the Drugs. The thing that set Miami Vice apart from other 80s cop shows was that it was thematically dark, the endings were frequently unhappy, and Crockett and Tubbs were always the epitome of cool, no matter what happened. This episode features cartoonish villains and a silly plot and both Crockett and Tubbs come across as being a little …. well, dorky.

(On the plus side, the show does continue its tradition of featuring future stars by giving Ben Stiller a small role as a con artist.)

Oh well. Not every episode can be a great one. Hopefully, next week will be an improvement.

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 2.23 “Sons and Lovers”

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!