Question: In The Goonies, what was the name of the restaurant that the Fratellis used as a hideout?
A. Shack by the Sea
B. Lighthouse Lounge
C. Summer Restaurant
D. Captain Plank’s Seafood
Last Question: Which band had it’s music featured in the very first Miami Vice episode?
A. Devo
B. The Rolling Stones
C. The Go-Go’s
D. Journey
Answer: B. The Rolling Stones (with “Miss You”)
Hi Everybody! Paul here. Today is our big ’80s extravaganza! Several ’80s bloggers and podcasters got together, and decided on a common topic that we will share. We are promoting each others work, and introducing you to some ’80s blogs that you may not have know were out there. The topic in this inaugural crossover will be on our favorite cars that were famous in the ’80s. Here is the list of blogs taking part are:
80’s Reboot Overdrive (Blog)
80’s Reboot Overdrive (Podcast)
Killer Kitsch
RealWeegieMidget
I will kick things off, and Robert has an article himself immediately following this one. So, let’s get on the road, and get this underway.
Miami Vice was a perfect fit in the ’80s. It was the age of excess – bright colors, big personalities, money flying hand-over-fist, great music, lots of cocaine, and of course, fast cars. And one of the most iconic cars was Sonny Crockett’s black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4. It was awesome seeing it flying down the streets of Miami. But, in perhaps one of the most iconic scenes in ’80s television was Crockett and Tubbs cruising in the Spyder, with Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” playing. What?!? A popular song on network TV?! NBC had a hit on its hands from that point forward. Unfortunately, the car only lasted 2 seasons. This Spyder was a modified version of the Ferrari. The suits at the Ferrari company were not happy with this, and sued for trademark infringement and trademark dilution. So, the Spyder was destroyed by a bazooka in the first episode of season 3. You can keep your Walking Dead. The death of the Spyder was far more horrifying than any death in The Walking Dead.
Awesome cars weren’t just seen in movies and television shows. The golden age of MTV had it’s fair share of great cars. Not the least of which was the Eliminator, which was prominently featured in a trio of ZZ Top songs – “Gimme All Your Lovin’“, “Sharp Dressed Man“, and “Legs“. The Eliminator was really a customized 1930s Ford coupe. Unlike other Ford cars in the ’80s, this car seemed to run pretty fine to me. I don’t believe I ever saw it broken down on the side of the road, leaking oil, with smoke coming out from under the hood. That would have been a letdown. Instead, this was one of the coolest cars around. The drivers weren’t too shabby either, right fellas? Not to mention. the car came with the best keychain ever!
For my final car, I am going outside the box, and heading to the arcade! Pole Position was a unique game in those early ’80s arcade days. Most games, you just stood at, and moved a joystick or roller ball around. In Pole Position, you became part of the game. Instead of standing at the machine, you would sit in a booth, and drive your own Formula One race car around the track, using a steering wheel and gas pedal. This was easier said than done for some of us. It could be tough navigating turns at a high speed, while avoiding other cars at the same time. One misstep, and your car would go up in a ball of flames, with your tires bouncing away on the course.
I’m not into video games anymore. But if I somehow found myself in an old school arcade, you would have a difficult time tearing me away from this game!
What were some of your favorite cars seen in the ’80s? I hope you enjoyed this series. Please let us know what you think, and if you would like to see more of these crossover events. Again, please check out the following blogs. Every one is on Twitter as well, so please give all these hard-working bloggers a follow:
80’s Reboot Overdrive (Blog)
80’s Reboot Overdrive (Podcast)
Twitter: @80sReboot
Killer Kitsch
Twitter: @killer_kitsch
RealWeegieMidget
Twitter: @realweegiemidge
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for some Miami Vice! I made it through one holiday so far, so I’d like to catch a couple of more Miami Vice episodes before things get more crazy at the end of the month. Today, we’ll check out episode 11 – “Little Prince”. There were 22 episodes in season 1, so we are already halfway through the first season! It is usually around this point in a lot of TV shows that there is a lull in quality before they kick it up a notch towards the end of the season. We’ll see if that’s the case here. By the way, I suppose that I should note that there are spoilers here. I know the show is 30 years old, but if you haven’t seen it since the ’80s, it may feel new to you.
This episode was directed by Alan J. Levi and was written by Wendy Cozen & Joel Surnow (teleplay written by A.J. Edison). The original air date was December 14, 1984. Wow, it was this week 31 years ago!
The episode begins with a big drug bust in an apartment building, involving all of our favorite Vice members. There was a shootout right off the bat. One bad guy jumped out the window (glass and all). Crockett was going to chase the guy down the fire escape. He looked out the window, goes back in the room where everything has calmed down, and tells Tubbs, “There’s no fire escape.”
Back at the station, they find out that one of the strung-out people caught in the bust was a rich kid named Mark (Mitchell Lichtenstein). Crockett and Tubbs were going to let Mark go, if he gave up some of his drug dealing friends. Just as Mark was going to sign the deal, his lawyer came in, and got him out. Then Crockett decided that he could use Mark to get to several drug suppliers who target rich kids.
We know that Mark comes from a rich family because Crockett went to go see him in order to rattle his cage. The closest I ever came to playing polo was in a pool playing Marco Polo. We also know that Mark’s father is a douchebag because he knocked his own son off of his horse.
Vice discovered that Mark’s father may be one of the big drug suppliers. They discover a warehouse where the drugs are stored, so they stake it out. Then we have drug bust #2. No shoot-out this time. It turns out that one of the people involved in the deal was Mark’s father’s girlfriend. Because of the bust, the father lost $5 million, and he could be linked to the drugs. So, he has the girlfriend killed, making it look like a suicide.
Crockett, Tubs and Castillo know that the father was involved, but didn’t have hard evidence. So they talk the son into wearing a wire, and get his father to admit what he did. It worked, and the father was arrested without any gunfire.
There were no big name stars, and hardly any action in this episode. But, they must have used most of their budget on the music.
Well, I guess I kind of called it. This was a bit of stinker by Miami Vice standards. It started so promising. But, after the opening credits rolled, this episode was pretty boring. The music saved this episode. That being said, a less-than-stellar Miami Vice episode is still better than any procedural show on television today.
Well, that’s it for this week. If you’re watching these episodes along with me, or if you remember these episodes, let me know what you think.
Follow @returntothe80s It’s been a while, but I have finally gotten a chance to watch some more Miami Vice. Wow, it looks like it’s been over 2 months since the last episode. No more waiting! Let’s get back into this!
This episode was directed by Bobby Roth. It was written by Chuck Adamson. The original air date was December 4, 1984.
This episode had a couple of big story lines. Crockett and Tubbs bust a scared, young guy who was guarding boxes of drugs. Instead of arresting him, Crockett gets information from him about the drug 
supplier, Alvarado (Michael Madsen). They catch Alvarado after a car chase, which ended in classic ’80s form – crashing into a hot dog stand. However, in order for the charges to stick, the judge wants Crockett to give up the name of the informant – which we all know, he is not about to do. So, he is thrown in jail.
In the meantime, Gina and Trudy infiltrate a prostitution ring, which is run by Lupo Ramirez (Burt Young – Paulie from the Rocky movies). He becomes suspicious when his goon/bodyguard, Cinco, finds bugs all over the place. Cinco looked very familiar to me. Thanks to imdb, I found out that he was Jefe in ¡Three Amigos! !
Ramirez forced Gina to have sex with him, since she was supposed to be a prostitute. She didn’t want to blow her cover, not knowing that he already had a feeling that she was a cop.
Crockett is freed from jail. He thanks Lt. Castillo for pulling some strings. But, he didn’t pull strings. Crockett was freed because the informant turned himself in. To make matters worse, due to a technicality, Alvarado was a free man. This led to this great Crockett quote: “Wonderful. That’s just wonderful. We’ve got a pusher, a suspected mob hit man and God knows what else and he does less time in this case than I did!” which was followed by a kick to a waste basket.
It turns out that our two stories are tied together. Our friend Noogie (Charlie Barnett) is back! Noogie brought a druggie friend to Crockett and Tubbs. The druggie had information to hopefully help put Alvarado away. It turns out that Alvarado works for Paulie Ramirez. They also had further news that Ramirez was putting out a hit that night – on Gina!
Trudy was already visiting Gina, to comfort her, when the hitman arrived. Crockett and Tubbs also made it there just in time. We had ourselves a Miami Vice shootout! Trudy shot him as he tried to escape. It was Cinco. He fessed up that he works for Alvarado and Paulie Ramirez. He wouldn’t give up any details about Ramirez, but he gave enough details about Alvarado to make the charges stick this time. El Guapo would be very disappointed.
Crockett and Tubbs arrested Alvarado at a nightclub that Ramirez owned. As part of the infilterization, Switek was performing stand-up comedy – and he was horrible at it. Zito loved it though, and was laughing hysterically. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing because Switek was bombing, or if he really thought those stupid jokes and impersonations were funny.
Crockett and Tubbs and Gina and Trudy went to arrest Ramirez since Alvarado gave him up. Ramirez started to come at them with a knife, and Gina shot him, and the screen went dark.
Then we have a nice scene of Crockett consoling Gina.
The End.
There were a few songs in this episode, but there is only one that has a video that can be found online anywhere. The songs were
It’s too bad I couldn’t find this song. I really liked it a lot. It was in the last scene of the show.
This was a great episode that had it all. Car chase. Check. Humor. Check. Awesome guest stars. Check. Gunfight. Check. Music. Check.
This episode went by so fast too. I highly recommend it, and I can’t wait for the next episode.
It’s Friday! So, you know what that means. Time for some Miami Vice! It didn’t take long for Miami Vice to rebound. While last week’s episode wasn’t horrible, I felt that it didn’t live up to the previous episodes. But, we’ve got a good one this week! So, let’s get to it!
This episode was directed by Stan Lathan. It was written by Rex Weiner & Allan Weisberger. The original air date was November 30, 1984.
We begin the episode with Crockett and Tubbs in a safe house, in a seedy part of town, protecting a witness. Switek and Zito come to relieve Crockett and Tubbs. They also have mail for the witness, Joey Bramlette (Keith Szarabajka). He silently reads the letter he got as Crockett and Tubbs were leaving, and he looked upset.
Cue opening theme:
We are in a courtroom, where Tubbs is testifying against the dangerous drug dealer, who their witness will be testifying against on Monday. The thing to take away from this scene is that Tubbs got shut down by the court recorder. When he got down from the stand, the day was over, and everybody was leaving. He walked to the court recorder and said, “TGIF, huh>?” And she replied “F-O-R-G-E-T I-T”.
Back at the safehouse, Switek had to take a leak. Zito was making a sandwich, and went into the restroom for a second to use toilet paper as a napkin. When he did this, Joey took off.
Now the gang has until Monday to get him back, or it is 4 years of work down the drain.
Crockett and Tubbs head down to the Everglades to find him. They pretend they are down for a fishing trip, and meet a few locals – Floyd, Billie Joe, and we don’t get the other guy’s name because he doesn’t have a speaking part. Floyd looked very familiar to me. Oh, he’s played by music legend James Pankow, one of the founders of the band Chicago!
Crockett and Tubbs tell them that they are looking for Joey Bramlette for their guide. Floyd says that he knows where Joey is, and he and Billie Joe will take them to him.
Instead, they drive them into the middle of nowhere, deep in the Glades, pull a gun out on them, and do their best Biff Tannen:
Billie Joe: What is it that Clint Eastman says?
Floyd: Go ahead, ruin my day.
Floyd and Billie Joe leave them there to fend for themselves.
Crockett and Tubbs eventually run into some more locals, who take them to a house in the middle of nowhere. Everybody there is carrying a gun. Then Joey turns around and says, “What took you guys so long?”
It turns out that the drug dealer’s people kidnapped Joey’s and his wife Cassie’s 9 year old daughter, and will kill her if Joey testifies.
You know what’s coming next. They want Crockett and Tubbs to help get the daughter back. Crockett asks how many people are at the house where she is being held. Well, there’s Joey and Billie Joe. Oh good, that’s only 2. This is doable. Oh, and there’s about 20 other people too – all with guns. Forget it! But then Pa, an old man who was playing a fiddle in town when Crockett and Tubbs first arrived, came in. He had overheard Floyd and Billie Joe saying that there was going to be a big drug deal going down the next day. Some Columbians are coming in, so a lot of the men will be there, and only a handful at the house. Now we’re back in business.
They hatch a plan where they will start a gunfight at the drug deal, to set up a distraction, and the others will go get the daughter.
The plan goes into motion, and we get a couple of incredible gunfights! This was probably the best showdown so far. It was about as good as any fights that you would see on the big screen. Crockett saves the daughter, and the episode ends with Joey testifying against the now-not-so-smug-looking drug dealer.
The End.
There were only a few songs in this episode, but they were good ones:
This was a great episode. There was plenty of intensity and action. It went by really fast. There were also some humorous parts. This was one of the better episodes.
Follow @returntothe80s It’s Friday! So, you know what that means. Time for some Miami Vice! There were no big names in this episode. Yet, it was still a very good episode. So, you know this is a great series if they don’t need any stunt casting for it to be a solid show. Now, let’s Return to the ’80s, and see what’s going on with Miami Vice.
This episode was directed by Georg Stanford Brown. We’ve had both Starsky and Hutch each direct episodes of Miami Vice. Now we have another director who came from a ’70s cop show. Georg Stanford Brown is best known for his role as Officer Terry Webster in The Rookies, which ran from 1972 to 1976. This episode was written by Philip Reed & Joel Surnow, and originally aired on November 16, 1984.
Just when you think you have the answer, somebody changes the question. I figured every episode would begin with a stakeout or undercover operation. But, this episode starts with a foot chase. A bank was robbed, and Crockett and Tubbs were in pursuit. They corner the guy, and it’s 
Izzy. Izzy is played by Martin Ferrero, who played the cross-dressing hitman in the pilot episode. He reminds me of Fredo Corleone. But, if you don’t know him from this show, you may know him as the lawyer from Jurassic Park.
Anyway, Crockett and Tubbs catchy Izzy literally red-handed, as he is covered in dye from the money dye pack. Queue the opening theme:
As Crockett and Tubbs interrogate Izzy, he tries to make a deal to give them Louis McCarthy (William Gray Espy)- a drug smuggler.
Next, we are at a yacht club, where Tubbs is watching Crockett riding around in a speedboat. McCarthy is into speedboat racing, and is also watching. Tubbs passive-aggressively challenges McCarthy to race in an upcoming event. McCarthy said that the race is already closed to any more participants. He told Tubbs that he could watch. Tubbs left, and got in the boat with Crockett. Apparently, they recognized one of McCarthy’s sidekicks, Dale Gifford (Charles McCaughan), and decide to pay him a visit.
They go to Gifford’s house, and through their conversation, we learn that Gifford is an informant. They ask him why he never gave McCarthy up to them. McCarthy is smart, and makes everything 
look legitimate. They go through the books, and see some money going to a suspect account. Apparently, Gifford is skimming money
for McCarthy’s girlfriend, Vanessa (Maria McDonald), without McCarthy knowing.
Crockett and Tubbs go to the high end men’s clothing store owned by McCarthy, and run by Vanessa. When Vanessa made her entrance, this is what Tubbs looked like:
So you know that there’s trouble brewing ahead.
They meet with McCarthy,and try to get him to do a drug deal, but he doesn’t bite. Instead, he invites them to a party that he is having that night.
They go to the party which has dancing. And in Miami Vice, whenever there is dancing, you know that there will be some ’80s music playing! In this case, it was Rod Stewart’s “Some Guys Have All the Luck”.
The guys go to a room where McCarthy is shooting pool, winning a game without the other guy even taking a shot. So, Crockett challenges him. If he wins, then they get to race in that speedboat race. If he loses, then McCarthy gets Crockett’s Ferrari. After McCarthy breaks, Crockett, takes his turn, and gets every shot. So, now he can race. They all go back to the party, and Tubbs and Vanessa hit it off.
Just as McCarthy is confronting Tubbs about “Getting over” with his woman, there is a scream outside. OK, whose dead body was found? It was Gifford’s body.
Crockett needed $25,000 to get into the speedboat race, but he did not get approved by the station. But, Castillo told him that he could probably get the money from Gina and Trudy as they were about to make a bust. So Crockett and Tubbs go help out as backup, even though Switek and Zito are already there. I am really warming up to those guys. I had never known about them before, but they bring a great comic relief to the show. In this instance, Zito was pretending to be a life guard, hitting on a hot blonde. I love when Crockett says to Tubbs and Switek, “Oh man, we should never put him on the beach. Hi could blind someone”.
The bust goes down, we get a mini chase, and Crockett and Tubbs get their money to get into the race.
Now, we have the boat race. It was a good way to fill up several minutes.
Tubbs, Crockett, and Zito were riding together, and noticed that McCarthy’s boat disappeared, but then reappeared in front of them. They never saw him pass them. They realized that he had two identical boats. The one McCarthy was in now, had the drugs in it. The report it in to Castillo, then go on to win the race, and the rest of the gang is there to arrest McCarthy.
But, the episode’s not over yet! While Tubbs was getting it on with Vanessa, Crockett was having a cuddly evening with Gina, when Izzy showed up a Crockett’s boat. He found the gun that killed Gifford. They found out Vanessa was the one who killed him. Crockett and the gang arrive at Vanessa’s house just as Tubbs is leaving. They give him the news. He said that he would make the arrest. So, he went back to the door, and told her that he didn’t want to arrest her, but he had to. The End. It seems like these episodes have had sudden endings lately.
This episode had some good music. There are four featured songs:
OK, I’m going to have to get real here and say that this wasn’t the greatest episode. There were still some fun parts, but overall, this wasn’t very well written. There were no big chase scenes and no gun fights. They put all their energy into the boat race, which wasn’t that great. I much prefer the boat race from the John Candy movie, Summer Rental. But, I did watch this a couple of times, and I would still watch it over most things that are on television now.
Follow @returntothe80s
It’s Friday! So, you know what that means. Time for some Miami Vice! This week’s episode features a guest star, who everybody knows – Bruce Willis! It looks like this is the first time we had seen Bruce Willis in anything. He had some uncredited parts in a few movies. But, I believe this was his first speaking role. It was a year before Moonlighting came on the air. Let’s get into the episode.
This episode was directed by David Soul. Paul Michael Glaser had directed part 2 of Calderone’s Return”. Now, both members of Starsky and Hutch have directed a Miami Vice episode This episode was written by Charles R. Leinenweber and Maurice Hurley. This originally aired on November 9, 1984.
I’m getting used to this now. The episode begins with a stakeout. This time, the whole gang is there. Crockett, Tubbs, Switek, Zito, Gina, and Castillo. Well, it’s more of an operation than a stakeout. Crockett is in his car, pretending to be buying grenades from a couple of bad guys. He opens a briefcase, and when they let their guard down, Crockett grabs one of the guys by the arm and speeds off, while the other cops arrive and go after the other guy. That guy has a machine gun, and shoots his way out, narrowly missing Tubbs (who saved a woman from being shot as well). Machine gun guy got away, but they have the guy that Crockett grabbed. Tubbs is not too happy about being shot at by a machine gun. He is beyond angry, and grabs Crockett’s guy in a headlock. He looked and sounded just like an angry Richard Pryor. It made me laugh. Opening theme!
During the interrogation, the guy says that machine gun guy works for somebody called Tony Amato. So, they bug Amato’s house, and do some surveillance from Crockett’s boat. Then they get company in the form of the FBI. One of the agents starts snooping around the boat. Crockett says, “I wouldn’t do that.” The agent didn’t care, until he came across my buddy Elvis. I love how Tubbs cracks up laughing whenever somebody runs into Elvis. The FBI is also after Amato. Apparently, Amato just stole surface-to-air missles, and plans to sell them. So Crockett and Tubbs work with the FBI.
That night, they are keeping an eye on Almato’s house. We see Tony Almato (young Bruce Willis) verbally abusing his wife, then pushed her in a pool.
Tony leaves for a meeting, and while he’s out, his wife, Rita (Katherine Borowitz) makes a call to make a hit on Tony.
The FBI finds out that Tony has a meeting planned with a buyer. Coincidentally, the buyer looks a lot like Tubbs. So, Zito and Switek grab the buyer at the airport, and Tubbs replaces him.
In the meantime, Crockett hears Rita schedule a meeting with a hitman. So, he goes to where the meeting is to take place. He sees the hitman, and tells him to ‘beat it’, before Rita can see him. Then Crockett pretends to be the hitman for a little bit. Rita is second guessing herself, and Crockett tells her that he’s a cop, and they need her help to put Tony away.
Tubbs meets with Tony and a couple of his men, to get a demonstration of the missiles, then negotiate a price. Next, Crockett is watching the house again, where Tony smacked the shit out of Rita. He would have never done that to Maddie! This was all being done to the tune of “Stay With Me” by Teddy Pendergrass. The smooth, romantic sounds seemed kind of out of place in this scene.
Time for the final shootout! Tubbs meets Tony and his men to make the transaction. Meanwhile, Crockett was sneaking around getting into position, when the FBI arrives and goes on the loudspeaker telling the gang to surrender. That initiated the shootout. Tubbs was inside with Tony and one thug. He knocked the thug out and told Tony to freeze, while holding two guns to him. The shootout was pretty quick, but good. Then Crockett called Rita to say that they got Tony. She asked if he was dead. He wasn’t. But, while they were bringing him into the station, they were stopped by the FBI and 
some mysterious guy. They said that Tony wasn’t going to be charged, and to release him. As they were uncuffing him, Rita arrived, and saw that they were letting him go. Then we have a Law & Order style ending. You know how it goes. The bad guy gets off on a technicality, then is shot outside by a person they victimized. Well, Miami Vice did it first here. We don’t actually see it 
though. Crockett sees Rita pull out a gun, then screams “No!”, and starts to jump in her direction. But we get a freeze-frame of Crockett screaming, and we hear the gunshot go off. The End.
There were only two featured songs in this episode. But, man were they good ones!
This was a pretty fun episode. There wasn’t as much action as I would have liked. But, Bruce Willis was awesome. I could see how this would launch his career. The episode went by pretty fast. The action was good at the beginning and at the end, and there were a few very humorous parts. This was another great episode.
Once again, I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or on Miami Vice in general.
Follow @returntothe80s It’s Friday! So, you know what that means. Time for some Miami Vice! I’ve been waiting for this episode. It features the arrival of Edward James Olmos’ Lieutenant Martin Castillo. Now, let’s get into another awesome episode of Miami Vice!
This episode was directed by Lee H. Katzin, and was written by Alfonse Ruggiero, Jr. This originally aired on November 2, 1984.
This episode opens with Crockett and Tubbs performing a stakeout on a gambling ring. I’m noticing that quite a few of these episodes start off with a stakeout. There’s a woman getting into an argument about money she owes. Then a big guy comes in and gets physical with her. In comes Crockett and Tubbs to the rescue! They fight the guy, and they look the same as I probably would, if I had to take him down. It looked funny seeing Tubbs jumping on the guy’s back, then getting thrown off. They all went tumbling through a window. After a bit of a struggle, our heroes finally subdue the guy. As they are cuffing him, Crockett looks up and sees the woman they saved. They look at each other like they already know each other. Cue the theme song!
I was right. They do know each other. They hadn’t seen each other since she got married 8 years earlier. She’s $11,000 in debt with some dangerous people. So she asks for Sonny’s help. She wants him to get her husbands equipment back from Vincent DeMarco (Joe Dallesandro), a loan shark.
Back at the precinct, the new lieutenant comes in. There’s a lot of activity going on, and nobody’s paying attention to him. So he lets out a whistle that shuts everybody up. He asks where his office is. In the corner, of course! After a little while, Crockett arrives. Lieutenant Castillo is walking by and Crockett introduces himself. Then Castillo asked if he filed his report yet, for the takedown they just did. He said no, not yet. Castillo stares him down. If looks could kill, Crockett would be dead, many times over.
Crockett meets up with DeMarco, and tells him to give the equipment back, or he’s going to make DeMarco’s life a living hell. After Crockett leaves, DeMarco’s boss, Al Lombard, appears. Lombard is played by one of the big guest stars this week – Dennis Farina.
Oh man Elvis is at it again! We see two wildlife cops on the dock, trying to take him away. Apparently, some Dr. Lindeman was having a party, and Elvis decided to crash it. Crockett arrives in time, and tells them that they can’t take Elvis because he’s part of the police department.
Next, Sonny is being arrested by an internal affairs officer, Ben Schroeder (Dan Hedaya, known best for playing Carla’s husband, Nick Tortelli, on Cheers). They all go to Castillo’s office to try to hash things out. Schroeder is sticking to his guns, and Crockett is insisting that he’s being set up. And if Castillo thinks that Crockett is going to just stand on the sidelines while this is going on, he’s crazy!
Sonny sees Barbara’s husband, Jerry. Apparently Barbara, Sonny’s friend that he was helping, is missing. Next we see Barbara going into DeMarco’s car.
Now we’re in a casino, with Tubbs doing well. He ends up setting up a meetup with Lombard. Tubbs sees Crockett in the morning to tell him. Then Crockett gets a call saying that Barbara is dead.
Tubbs get’s in business with Lombard. He goes to a cockfight with DeMarco to collect money from the guy who runs it. They give the money to Lombard, at a club. While DeMarco is dancing, Tubbs is talking to Lombard, and hints that DeMarco is skimming money. When DeMarco comes back to the table, Lombard invites both of them for lunch the next day. After Lombard leaves, Tubbs tells DeMarco that it’s not going to be a social hour. Lombard thinks DeMarco is skimming money, so he’s a dead man walking. Meanwhile, Castillo has been looking into Crockett, and is pretty sure Crockett’s not the type to take bribes. He goes off on Schroeder, who’s been busting Crockett’s balls all episode. So Castillo proves to be tough, but sticks up for his guys.
The next day, they get DeMarco, who is fearing for his life, to come into the police station. Apparently, DeMarco is the one who set Crockett up. So, they make him fess up and sign a confession. And he is to wear a wire during their “lunch” with Lombard.
While following them around on a boat, Crockett sees that somehow Jerry (Barbara’s husband) got on the boat, and has a gun. Things are going south now, so in moves the cops.
Crockett arrives just as Jerry shoots DeMarco. They arrest Lombard, who says he’ll be out in time 
for his 2:00 racquetball game.
The episode concludes with Crockett and Tubbs performing some “sanity maintenance” by fishing off Crockett’s boat at 10:00 at night. The end.
There were some good song choices in this episode.
Once again, this was a really good episode. There were no chases, and there was no big shootout. It didn’t matter. The acting was great. Dennis Farina and Dan Hedaya were outstanding guest stars. And I’m so glad that it looks like Edward James Olmos is going to be a great addition.
Once again, I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or on Miami Vice in general.
Follow @returntothe80s It’s Friday! So, you know what that means. Time for some Miami Vice! I’ve been looking forward to this all week! This is really making me feel like I am Returning to the ’80s. I am really trying to avoid the current trend of binge-watching. It is actually really fun just taking my time and soaking it all in. Now, let’s get to the conclusion of “Calderone’s Return”
This episode was directed by Paul Michael Glaser. You know him as Starsky from the ’70s television show, Starsky and Hutch. He also directed the movie that prompted me to begin this series – Band of the Hand. This episode was written by Alfonse Ruggiero, Jr. and Joel Surnow. The original air date for this episode was October 26, 1984.
When last we left, Crockett and Tubbs were ready to go to the Bahamas to get Calderone. One small problem. There are many islands in the Bahamas, so they need to find out exactly which island. So we open with Tubbs and Crockett interrogating Mendez (who they caught last episode). They finally find out from Mendez, that the hit man, from the last episode, still had the other half of his pay coming to him. He was supposed to have a meetup on St. Andrews Island. So, away we go. We see Crockett and Tubbs on a speedboat en route to 
the Bahamas. There is basically a music video, set to “Voices” by Russ Ballard. In this video, we see all the events that led to this moment. Normally, these days, before an episode, somebody says “Previously on xxx”, and we see the important stuff. I love the Miami Vice approach, in this episode, so much better.
Upon their arrival, Crockett and Tubbs meet Jimbo at a tiki bar at the place they are staying at. Jimbo is played by this week’s biggest name guest star, Sam McMurray. You may not recognize the name, but you have seen him before. He looks a lot like Jason Segal in this episode. But, I was going crazy trying to remember where I had seen him before. He has guest starred on many, many shows, including Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, 21 Jump Street, Head of the Class, and Empty Nest. Then I finally 
realized who he was. He played Doug’s (Kevin James) boss, O’Boyle. Crockett shows him a picture of a woman that has been seen with Calderone, and asks who she is. Jimbo recognizes her. Her name is Angelina,and he says that she’s a nice person. It’s a small island, so they should be able to find her.
Crockett meets with the local police chief. He says that Calderone isn’t on his island. Ya, I believe him! Meanwhile, Tubbs finds Angelina (Phanie Napoli). She’s on a beach painting. You can see the sparks begin to fly. She leaves to go on a yacht. Crockett catches up with Tubbs, and they see through binoculars, that Calderone is on the yacht.
Crockett, pretending he is the hit man, meets up with one of Calderone’s men. Crockett demands more money and that Calderone meet him face-to-face.
And we have our obligatory car chase. And it was a good one! Instead of Crockett and Tubbs doing the chasing, they were the chasees.
After they manage to get away, the police chief sees Crockett and Tubbs, and apologizes. He said that Calderone’s boat was refueling at the island, and he left and could be anywhere. Crockett knows that something’s not right, since Calderone obviously knows who they are, and the only other person on the island, who knew who they were, was the police chief.
Last episode, Crockett hooked up with his (soon to be ex?) wife. This episode, Tubbs gets himself some nookie with Angelina. During their pillow talk, Tubbs sees a picture of Angelina with Calderone. He says “Isn’t he too old for you”. But, it turns out that Calderone is her father. Duh-duh-duh. There’s going to be a masquerade party tonight, so maybe she can introduce Tubbs to him there.
Both Tubbs and Crockett go to the the masquerade beach party. They see Angelina, so Tubbs goes to her and they dance. Then Tubbs goes to get them drinks and is confronted by a thug. Tubbs takes care of business with a beer bottle. Then he sees Crockett being led away on a boat by gunpoint.
The next time we know Tubbs is in a screaming match with Angelina as he tells her all about her father. She didn’t believe him, until he tells her that her father killed his brother.
Crockett is at Calderone’s hideout, with Calderone and some of his men. Oh, and whaddya know!?! The police chief was there too puffing away on a cigarette (or more likely, ganja). One of Calderone’s thugs comes in and says that Tubbs got away. Again, this guy gets clocked with a beer bottle. Calderone orders to have this guy killed, and Angelina walks in. She said that somebody’s been telling her things about him. He asks who. Then 
Tubbs makes his appearance with a gun, and says “me”. I smell a Miami Vice shootout! And they don’t disappoint! I thought for sure that Angelina was going to get caught in the crossfire, but she didn’t. But she freaks out as Crockett guns down her father.
As we close out, Angelina leaves Tubbs. Then we get a closing video to the sound of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, and we get a montage of events from this episode blended in with Crockett and Tubbs back in the speedboat, heading back home. This song was still pretty new at the time that this episode originally aired.
There were only two songs featured in this episode. One was towards the beginning of the episode, and the other closed out the show.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this episode was great too. There didn’t seem to be as much action as in other episodes. But, there was plenty of action anyway. And this episode went by really fast. I was missing all the side characters from the vice squad this week. And I got teased because Edward James Olmos’ name was in the opening credits. But, he was not on this episode. Maybe next one? Ah, something to look forward to!
Once again, I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or on Miami Vice in general.
Follow @returntothe80s It’s Friday! You know what that means! Miami Vice day! I’ve loved every episode so far, and today is no different. Each episode is like a really good movie. Let’s get into this, and see what’s up with Calderone, who was the bad guy in the premiere episode, and this hit list.
This episode was directed by Richard Colla, and written by Joel Surnow. Surnow also directed the last episode, “Cool Runnin'”. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he co-created the hit shows, La Femme Nikita and 24. The original air date for this episode was October 19, 1984.
The episode begins with Tubbs doing surveillance from a hotel room. While he’s doing that, Crockett is in the room getting dressed and ready to meet with his wife, Caroline, and her lawyer about their upcoming divorce. Switek and Zito come in to relieve Crockett and Tubbs, and Switek says, “What’s new today with America’s favorite couple.” I thought that was hilarious. At the time this aired, everyone must have been talking about this awesome new show, and Crockett and Tubbs were probably getting to be household names already.
Next, Sonny and Caroline are meeting outside the courthouse with their lawyers. Caroline wanted to move to Atlanta, and take their son with her. So, both of their lawyers were playing hardball with each other, and Caroline’s lawyer was a real jerk. Sonny and Caroline go off to the side while the lawyers are arguing. Caroline changed her mind about moving. So, they fired both of their lawyers on the spot.
Back to Switek’s and Zito’s surveillance. We see some creepy dude getting into a limo to drive and pick somebody up. We know he is creepy, because there is some creepy music playing. It is almost Michael Myers Halloween music. He goes to pick up a couple of guys who Vice has been watching. They get in the limo. Then the “driver” gets a crazy shotgun, and kills both
men. A cop on the ground was there instantly (since they had been watching those guys), and Creepy eventually shoots him as well. He gets in another car with another creepy dude and takes off just as Switek and Zito get down there. 
Switek calls it in, and says where the car is headed. Somebody gives chase, but the bad guys got away.
However, the car is seen parked at another building. Tubbs arrives with a couple of other cops. He tells them to wait for backup. Then another police car arrives with sirens blaring. So much for waiting for backup! Tubbs grabs a shotgun and heads in. The main creepy guy takes off on foot, and Tubbs gives chase, but loses him.
All the cops are searching the building for any kind of evidence. The bad guys left behind a briefcase with weapons and a little black book. Somebody gives the commander, Lou, the book. Lou shows Tubbs the book. He looks upset. Then Lou says, “Where is he?” – He being Sonny. Sonny is in bed with Caroline. He was right – their divorce was as much a failure as their marriage was.
Tubbs and Lou catch up with Sonny at Caroline’s house, and fill him in on what happened. And that black book? It’s a hit list, and Sonny’s on it – #8…and the first 6 have already been killed. Cue creepy Halloween music.
They discover that the first six were drug dealers. Somebody is out to eliminate competition. Lou wants Sonny to go into protective custody, but of course Sonny is being stubborn about it. They have no idea who the killer is. They only have one set of fingerprints, and they don’t know whose they are. They belong to somebody on Interpol’s list, but there is no name. [He was the one that was driving the car that Creepy got away in. There is a picture though. Tubbs looks at the picture, and sees that he is with Calderone.
Lou and Sonny are at Sonny’s boat to pick up some things before he goes into protective custody. But, Creepy is staking them out. Lou catches a glimpse when the guy was going to shoot Crockett. So, he went and knocked Crockett out of the way, and got hit himself.
In the hospital, Tubbs fills Crockett in that it is Calderone behind all of this. Since, Lou’s life is on the line because of a bullet meant for Crockett, Crockett cannot just stand by. So, he and Tubbs try to figure out how to get Calderone.
They find out that Linus Oliver, who is #7 on the hit list, has a drug deal in the works. Crockett and Tubbs figure that Calderone is behind it. So, they grab Linus, and have him set up a meeting for that night with Mendez – the name of the guy he was supposed to meet.
They meet at a night club. This means we get music! “Let’s Get Excited” by The Pointer Sisters is playing while they are waiting for Mendez to arrive. Since this is the ’80s, and we are in a club with alcohol, we get a big bar fight (with ZZ Top’s “Tush” playing). Linus manages to point out Mendez, and they get him.
While they are questioning Mendez, they find out that Linus was killed. So, Mendez was not the hit man. And there is one person left on the hit list. Tubbs races to get to Crockett before the hit man does. An awesome song, I had never heard before, is playing during this sequence – “In the Night” by Russ Ballard.
Sonny, Caroline, and their son Billy get home, and the hitman is waiting for them. Now we get our obligatory shootout. Tubbs arrives, and the 
shootout gets even better. The hitman jumps out a window to get outside, only to find himself surrounded by the rest of the police. He goes out in a blaze of glory.
If there was hope for Sonny and Caroline to stay together, it is now dashed. Oh, and we find out that Lou died. Man, this is ending on a bummer. Then Crockett and Tubbs find out that Mendez finally broke, and said that Calderone is in the Bahamas. Crockett says that it’s only 60 miles away. He asks Tubbs when he can be ready. Tubbs replies, “I am always ready.” Holy crap! That was so awesome!
Oh man! Freeze-frame. To Be Continued…
There were only three songs on today’s episode. But, man they were good ones!
This show has me hooked! These episodes just keep getting better and better. There were a lot of funny parts, and there was some intensity. And of course, there were some great action sequences. There were no big name guest stars in this episode. Maybe the biggest guest star (pardon the pun) was Ron Taylor, who played Linus. The best known movie he was in was Trading Places. I kid you not, imdb credits him as “Big Black Guy” in that movie. We mainly get to see the vice squad. I am warming up to Switek. He is pretty funny. He and Zito have had great chemistry with Crockett and Tubbs right from the beginning of the series.
I kind of feel bad for Lou. But not too bad, because I know who is coming to replace him. Lou was serviceable as captain, but there was nothing about him that really stood out. He wasn’t the tough, grizzled type of captain, and he was not a flabbergasted, whiny one neither. So, he wasn’t bad. But he wasn’t great. I’m really looking forward too see the arrival of Edward James Olmos (and not just because he was the first celebrity to follow me on Twitter).
Now I can’t wait to see the next episode! I am going to try to have some self-discipline though, and hold off watching it until next week.
Once again, I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or on Miami Vice in general.
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