Miami Vice: Season 1- Episode 2: Heart of Darkness

It’s Friday, so you know what that means. It’s Miami Vice Day! First off though, I do have to say that I’m quite aggravated with Netflix. Miami Vice is no longer available! My month long free trial is still going on, so I’m rethinking things with them. Luckily, I also have Amazon Prime, and I had already bought this episode on there, so we’re good to go.

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This episode, “Heart of Darkness”, was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, and written by A.J. Edison. It aired on September 28, 1984.

Summary

From what I understand, not only is Miami Vice known for the great music, but it also has had some awesome actors making guest appearances. In the first episode, we saw a before-he-was-famous Jimmy Smits. This episode features a pre-Al Bundy – Ed O’Neill.

Crockett and Tubbs are infiltrating a porno ring, concerned that minors are being involved. There is a bust at the beginning of the episode. The possible underage girl is let free. She is then murdered. So Crockett and Tubbs really need to turn up the investigation.

One of the people high up in the organization, Artie (Ed O’Neill), may have been involved in the murder. Crockett and Tubbs learn that Artie is actually an undercover FBI agent. The witness Artie going nuts on an investor that was late on a payment. After almost beating the guy to death, Crockett and Tubbs are wondering if Artie has gone rogue and is now a bad guy. He hasn’t checked in with his unit or his wife in weeks.

We also had a fun Elvis scene. You know how your dog gets pissed off when you leave it alone at home for a bit, and it chews up the floor or leaves a big dump somewhere in the house for you? Well, apparently if you leave your pet alligator alone, and he breaks loose, he tears up the dock, swims a couple of slips over, and leaves a big ole dump on the harbor master’s boat.

Artie finds out that Crockett and Tubbs are cops and is angry that they may end up messing up his investigation of the crime boss, Sam Kovics (Paul Hecht). He has had more than enough to bust Kovics for a while. He has evidence of drugs, extortion, embezzlement, hiring under-age girls, and murder. Crockett gets the feeling that Artie is getting a little too comfortable with the rich lifestyle of a criminal. So, Crockett and Tubbs convince Artie to team up and bust this guy once and for all.

Crockett and Tubbs are still on edge with not knowing which side Artie is on.to make matters worse, it looks like Artie took off when they were supposed to meet. But, Artie calls them, and the bust is on. Of course, things don’t exactly go smoothly, and we our climactic shootout. I’m also discovering that most of the cops are totally inept, and cause a lot of problems for Crockett and Tubbs. Last episode, they came in too early to make a bust. This time, somebody screws up with Tubbs’ wire, which gives them away, leading to the shootout.

Music

“She’s a Beauty” by The Tubes

 

“Missing You” by John Waite

“Going Under” by Devo

“Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top

“This Masquerade” by George Benson

Final Thoughts

The Miami Vice pilot was awesome, as we got to meet the characters, and they got to meet each other. Now, in this episode, the Crockett and Tubbs team is established, and it is great! The chemistry between the characters is awesome. You would never know that this was only the second episode of the series. The action was great, as there was a car chase and a shootout. There were very funny parts as well. Ed O’Neill was a great guest star.  He may look and sound like a young Al Bundy, but man, was he intense in this. And you really never knew for sure what side he was on. Overall, this was a great episode, and I highly recommend it.

 

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