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EPISODES / SEASON 5
Episode 110 – Too Much, Too Late (The "Missing" Episode) – Synopsis The episode opens with a glance at the sleazy underbelly of Miami – hookers, drug dealers, pimps, and junkies. It then moves to an apartment (Music = “Help Me Through the Night”). Lynette’s Mom needs a fix. She’s begging a man named Swain, to whom she owes money. The situation grows violent; he hits the woman and breaks her glasses. Lynette, just a young girl of about 12, calls a family friend, Valerie – Tubbs’ Valerie. Valerie calls Rico, who heads for the apartment; as he’s dashing in the front door, Swain is scrambling out the back. Val and Rico go to dinner together. It turns out that the woman in the apartment, Yvonne, is an old neighborhood friend of Val’s. Val would like to get her into a drug program, but she’s not confident that Yvonne will stay in it. While Val and Rico are getting reacquainted and rekindling their romance, Yvonne pays Swain the money she owes him, giving him some extra for more dope. Swain, however, says that she’s too much trouble and that he doesn’t want to do business with her any more. She pitifully begs him, and he offers her a deal. She gets the dope if he gets the privilege of “turning out” Lynette. Unfortunately, Yvonne is too much of a junkie to refuse the deal, though she makes a feeble attempt. Swain then proceeds to rape Lynette. Presumably, he also kills Yvonne, because we see Val, after a frantic call to Tubbs, standing over Yvonne’s body in the living room of her apartment. Lynette has disappeared. As often happens on Miami Vice, the vice cops look to Izzy for information. Tubbs hunts him down on the beach this time, where Izzy is plying his latest trade – tango instructor/financial counselor! Throughout this episode we also see snatches of someone else’s addiction – Stan Switek’s problem with gambling. Although we see him going to Gambler’s Anonymous meetings, we also see him making more bets, losing more money, and piling up more and more debt. Rico and Val have another dinner together, and their romance heats up even further. Tubbs is falling for Valerie yet again, and he is falling hard. After the evening with Val, Tubbs tells Crockett that he wants to marry Val. When Crockett expresses his doubts, Tubbs accuses him of being soured on everything since Caitlin’s death. Val, out of the blue, has a hunch she knows where to find Lynette. She and Tubbs head to a local park and, sure enough, find the girl, who claims to have been raped and is obviously distraught (Music = Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl, by Mink DeVille”). They take Lynette to the hospital, where Val refuses to allow any one – not cops, not social workers, not rape counselors – to talk with her. Meanwhile, Switek is dealing with his own problems. Some of the men to whom he owes money show up at his apartment and attempt to tow away his car. Switek angrily pushes them out of the way and takes off in the truck with his own vehicle in tow. Later, Stan is paid another visit by these men. They’ve decided they don’t want his car any more, but they do want some other favors. Rico proposes to Valerie in the midst of all this mess, and she puts him off. An upset Rico meets Sonny at a bar. Crockett tells him that something’s screwy with Valerie. How did she know exactly where to find Lynette? Who won’t she allow anyone to talk with the girl? Tubbs isn’t in the mood to hear it. Izzy shows up and, given Rico’s state of mind, gingerly tells him where he can find Swain. Crockett and Tubbs pick up Swain, haul him in, and put him in a line-up for Lynette to identify. Curiously though, she denies recognizing anyone in the line-up. Lynette disappears yet again, and this time she’s taken Valerie’s gun with her. She goes to see Swain, and it becomes clear in the ensuing conversation that Swain has no idea that Yvonne is dead. At this point, Lynette tells Swain that she killed her own mother for allowing Swain to rape her. She pulls a gun on Swain. Luckily, Val and Rico show up in time to stop her from killing Swain, too. Valerie knew exactly what was going on and is in a certain amount of hot water herself. She’s a burned out cop and tells Rico that, when the dust finally settles, she will be returning to New York. This spells the end of their relationship. Note: NBC never aired this episode of Miami Vice; it was aired only on USA cable (1/25/90), well after Miami Vice had finished its network run. It’s not clear exactly where it fits in the episode sequence or exactly when it was shot, but the obvious place for it, continuity-wise, is just before Episode 98, Hard Knocks. Why NBC didn’t air it is somewhat of a mystery. My guess is that the themes were a bit too disturbing for the censors. It’s one thing to show adults raping or being raped and committing murder. But in this case, we’re talking about a child. In the late 80’s, this may have been deemed unacceptable fare for network television.
Episode 111 – FREEFALL (The Final Episode) - Synopsis There is violence in the streets of Costa Morada. A tyrant general named Manuel Bourbon is in charge of the country and has killed thousands of political prisoners. He, in turn, is controlled by the drug dealers, and revolutionaries are plotting to overthrow him. Though Bourbon tells reporters he is handling the unrest, in truth, he would like to flee the country. A man named Guzman, who works for Bourbon, is trying to escape the country with two millions dollars. However, Guzman’s detained at the airport by men in the drug trade, who take him to the jungle and tie him to a tree. When the leader of group, Cesar Montoya, pressures Guzman to say where he’s taking the money, Guzman refuses. Montoya has him killed and the body delivered in a coffin to Bourbon’s residence, along with a note warning Bourbon not to try to leave the country. Back in Miami, Crockett and Tubbs are shadowing a two-bit gangster named Johnny Raymond. When Johnny takes off in his car, Sonny and Rico follow. (Music = “Year Zero” by King Swamp). Moments later, two vehicles pull out of nowhere and force them to stop. They’re dragged out of their car and into one of the vehicles. They’re whisked away to a meeting being conducted by one Andrew Baker, head of a special drug enforcement task force. As it turns out, Miami Police Chief Heisman has also been hauled into this meeting. Baker tells them that Manuel Bourbon is the key to bringing down the Medellin cartel. Bourbon wants out of his country; in exchange, he’ll talk. Baker wants Sonny and Rico to accept the mission of getting Bourbon out of the country. They’ve been highly recommended by (guess who?) Johnny Raymond, who will be their local contact for the job. Crockett and Tubbs flatly turn him down in disgust. Later, the two meet in a bar to talk things over. (Music = Lyle Lovett’s “Cryin’ Shame”). Though Crockett smells a rat and believes this could be a suicide mission, both he and Rico decide to reconsider and accept the mission Baker’s proposed. Even getting into the country is not simple. (Music = “No Way Out,” by Don Johnson). The problems start at the Costa Morada airport, where Crockett and Tubbs are momentarily detained, presumably because of a visa problem. But a man from the Bureau of Tourism quickly handles that little problem with a little bribe of the airport officials. Everyone in the country is maneuvering, it seems. Bourbon’s closest confidant, Captain Jimendez, is talking with the drug kingpins. They say they can’t trust Bourbon to stay in the country, so he must die. They want Jimendez to kill him, and they threaten to kill his family if he doesn’t comply. Meanwhile, Sonny and Rico are escorted by car through the middle of town, where a menacing mob is protesting. Their driver stops and goes into a building, supposedly to return with their contact. But a few seconds later, Crockett and Tubbs spot the driver sneaking away on foot. They realize their car is about to blow up and hop out just in time. Another car pulls up, and they’re urged to get in it by some armed men and a beautiful young woman. It’s this….or the mob….so they get in the car. The car heads out of town to a place where the revolutionaries have camped. Crockett and Tubbs begin to make plans with the beautiful young woman, Felicia. Crockett goes back into town to meet with their inside contacts – Captain Jimendez and General Bourbon’s daughter, Bianca. Crockett tells them he wants to move the operation ahead to that very evening. Jimendez hedges and says he’s not sure whether he can mobilize his men in time. However, he finally relents. They decide that the escape will take place during a movie that’s being shown at the palace, following a meeting Bourbon will be having with a group of businessmen. Crockett and Tubbs will meet the general at the palace and transport him to a boat that will be waiting to take him out of the country. As Rico spends more time with Felicia, he comes to trust and admire her. He also discovers that she’s a nun. Crockett, too, admires Felicia but tells Tubbs that he’s a little wary of Jimendez. Back at the palace, Bianca overhears Jimendez’ plans to kill her father. She seductively approaches Jimendez with the intent of killing him at an opportune moment, but he figures out what she’s doing. She confronts him with the knowledge she has of the planned assassination, but he warns her to stay out of it so she won’t also be hurt. That evening, Crockett and Tubbs are threading their way into the palace, taking out enemies stationed by Jimendez as they approach. When they finally reach the palace, they confront Jimendez, in the presence of Bourbon, about the plot to kill the general. Jimendez draws a gun, and they kill him. Then Crockett, Tubbs, the general, and Bianca make their way out of the palace complex. When they reach the road, a truck comes to pick them up. Jimendez’ men are shooting at them, but they scamper into the truck as Felicia fires back to cover them. Felicia is shot dead in the gunfight, and the truck takes off into the night. They reach the boat – a safe haven, temporarily. The boat is supposed to rendezvous with a seaplane for the trip back to Miami, but Crockett doesn’t want to take chances on the seaplane, and they proceed to Miami on their own in the boat. In Miami, Baker meets with the local police chief, a man named Heisman (Music = “Ship of Fools”). The two disagree on how to stash Bourbon. Baker threatens the chief, saying that if he doesn’t cooperate, Heisman will see his political aspirations go up in smoke. Upon their return, Crockett and Tubbs go to see Baker, but won’t tell him where Bourbon is. Crockett says that something stinks in Baker’s organization, and that until its found, he and Tubbs will keep the general’s whereabouts a secret. Montoya, obviously irate that Bourbon has escaped the country, arrives in Miami. Looking for any information he can find about Bourbon, he attempts to take advantage of Stan Switek’s gambling debts, by buying out the debts, then leaning on Stan for information about Bourbon. The safe house where Bourbon is stashed is raided. Although the vice cops kill most of the invaders, Bourbon is whisked away. How did anyone know where he was? Bianca says her father made a telephone call from the safe house during the day, which might be how the invaders were tipped. Bianca doesn’t know much more that can help the vice squad, but she does tell them her father used to wire her money when she was in school in Europe, from a particular bank in Miami. Crockett and Tubbs find the bank, then wait for Bourbon and his friends to show up (Music = Genesis’ “Land of Confusion”). A woman arrives at the bank and withdraws some money from Bourbon’s account. Sonny and Rico follow her to an apartment, where they find Bourbon. A hit squad also turns up at the apartment, but some quick thinking and quick shooting manage to keep them alive. At the OCD, Castillo questions Switek about a possible leak that may have given away Bourbon’s location to the hit squad. Switek says he clean and has not leaked any information inappropriately, but Castillo suspends him from the force anyway because of the risk created by Switek’s gambling debts. It turns out, however, that Switek was telling the truth, and he sets a trap for Montoya’s men. When they show up at a building where they expect to find Bourbon, they find Stan instead – on a video. Stan tells them that the building, perhaps, is going to blow up. They flee the building, but outside they encounter Stan in the flesh. Stan plans to arrest them, but they attempt to shoot it out with Stan instead. Stan wins; the men are dead. The next day, in one of the few light-hearted moments of this final episode, we see Izzy, involved in his latest scheme – the channeling business. Crockett and Tubbs pay him a visit with some questions about Montoya. Izzy tells them that a man named Johnny Miranda is recruiting for Montoya’s little drug army. Tubbs pays Miranda a visit. Miranda claims, at first, never to have heard of Montoya, but just then Montoya walks in the door. Montoya takes control of Tubbs, calls Crockett, and tells him that if he doesn’t turn over Bourbon in twelve hours, Tubbs is dead. Crockett, who has been doing some investigating through Bourbon’s accountant, finds out that Police Chief Heisman has been taking payments from Montoya. Sonny goes to the Chief’s house and tells him that the accountant sold out Bourbon to Montoya, and now has sold out the chief to Crockett. The Chief knows where Rico is, and he also knows that Sonny will kill him if he doesn’t cooperate in freeing Tubbs. Heisman, with the vice squad and plenty of back-up stationed nearby, goes to see Montoya, who is holed up in a trailer. He yells to Montoya that he’ll hand over Bourbon, if Montoya will allow him to see that Tubbs is still alive. Montoya allows Tubbs to appear at the door of the trailer, and the shooting starts. Crockett manages to drag Tubbs away from the scene, but Chief Heisman is killed and so are most of Montoya’s people, as the trailer is completely riddled with bullets until it collapses. Sonny and Rico are now transferring Bourbon to another facility. En route, they encounter what appears to be a police roadblock. They stop, only to find that it’s not a roadblock at all. It’s Johnny Raymond. He forces Crockett, Tubbs, and Bourbon out of the car, then shoots the general and stuffs him in the trunk of his own car. He takes off, and Bourbon’s body is later found in a ditch. Back at the OCB, a day or so later, Crockett peruses the autopsy report on Bourbon, and finds it curious that there’s no mention of a gunshot wound in the report. He calls the ME’s office, only to find that no autopsy was performed on anyone named Bourbon; the report has been faked. Crockett and Tubbs return to the apartment where Bourbon had been staying with the woman. She’s there, but he’s not. She tells Sonny and Rico that she was tricked, and so were they. Baker always intended to free Bourbon because Bourbon had information about someone very high up in the U.S. government that no one wanted exposed. Crockett and Tubbs can’t live with this. They make the decision to go after Bourbon, even though it’ll probably mean the end of their careers (Music = “Bad Attitude” by Honeymoon Suite). They arm themselves for a major confrontation, and plan to stop Bourbon before he can take off in a seaplane out of the country. After a major shoot-out with the men protecting Bourbon on the ground, they manage to shoot Bourbon’s plane out of the air. As they’re leaving the scene in the early light of day, Baker shows up with all of his goons. Baker says he can kill them and no one would care. As proof, Baker’s men raise their weapons. But Crockett and Tubbs start to walk away anyway. Baker says he could have their badges. Sonny and Rico promptly throw their badges on the ground. At this point, Castillo shows up. He tries to talk them out of quitting and says he’ll back them all the way, but it’s too late. Crockett and Tubbs have had enough. In the final scene, Crockett and Tubbs meet one last time near the St.Vitus, as Sonny is preparing to leave. He offers Tubbs a ride to the airport in his “stolen” car, and they talk briefly about where they’re headed – Tubbs back to the Bronx, and Crockett to some place “where the water’s warm, and the drinks are cold, and I don’t know the names of the players.” The car heads off down the coastal highway, followed by a montage of memorable scenes from all five seasons of Miami Vice (Music = “Tell Me” by Terry Kath).
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