Episode #002

Air Date: 28 Sep 1984 (NBC)
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: A. J. Edison

A young woman is exercising in an apartment [She's A Beauty]. There’s a knock at the door, and a man walks in whom she has supposedly called to fix her air conditioner. The “repairman”, however, comes on to her. Burnett and Cooper continue to watch the porno scene play out as it’s being filmed, posing as buyers and distributers of adult films. The film maker, Jimmy, accepts some money from them; then Stan and Larry storm in to make the bust and arrest everyone at the scene.

Burnett and Cooper, after they get bailed out of jail, meet up with Jimmy again and quiz him about why they can’t meet the top dealer, Sam Kovics, directly. Instead, they are forced to go through a middleman, Artie Rollins, whom they also have yet to meet. Jimmy, Sonny, and Rico are riding in a
car, and it soon becomes obvious they’ve picked up a tail. Jimmy’s driver immediately drives Sonny and Rico back to the place they’ve left their own car, eliminating any immediate chance for continuing work on the porno deal. After Sonny, Rico, and Jimmy exit the car and it speeds away, Jimmy tells them that Artie was actually the driver.

Back at the OCB, Crockett and Tubbs are visited by two FBI agents, Dennis Doyle and Mark Russo. They were responsible for providing the less than subtle tail on Burnett and Cooper, and are looking for Artie Rollins. Crockett and Tubbs, however, don’t offer them any help or information.

The young porn actress, Penny McGraw, is sprung from jail by Sam Kovics, but she’s found dead a few hours later. A large amount of drugs were found at the scene, suggesting that Penny may have died of an overdose. She was a 16-year-old runaway from Salina, KS. A background check on Artie Rollins shows that he is actually Artie Lawson, an undercover agent for the FBI. Lt. Rodriguez, however, is unable to find out anything more about Lawson, and an autopsy shows that Penny McGraw was murdered by strangulation.

Switek has a contact with the Feds, and Rodriguez tells Crockett to use Switek’s contact to get more information about Rollins. Crockett and Tubbs go to see Switek and Zito, who are preparing for a burglary sting operation in South Dade. Switek doesn’t want to “use up” his contact, but Crockett
uses a little subtle blackmail to get Switek to call the contact. Meanwhile, Tubbs advises Zito how to better prepare for their sting operation. Switek contacts Kalman Claiborne, the Fed, and sets up a meet between Claiborne and Crockett. As Crockett and Tubbs leave, we hear Zito reiterating to Switek, the advice Tubbs gave him for improving the sting operation set-up. The way Zito presents the ideas, one would think that the idea were his. Crockett meets with Claiborne, and finds that the FBI suspects Artie Rollins of going over to the other side.

Sonny gets a call setting up a meet with Rico, Rollins, and Kovics, for that evening at a local restaurant. The four meet, and at one point, Sonny, Rico, and Artie go outside to meet a contact, Rene, who is bringing a payment. Artie appears to lose control and starts beating up on Renee for being late with the delivery of the money. Sonny and Rico have to pull Artie off of Renee, and they’re rather disturbed by Artie’s overly violent actions.

The next day, Crockett and Tubbs go to visit Artie’s wife. She hasn’t heard from Artie in three weeks. The last time she talked with him, he sounded confused. He’d asked the FBI to bring him back in, but they refused and insisted he complete the work he was doing. Artie’s wife is upset and wants him to come home.

Crockett and Tubbs go out to the St. Vitus Dance, only to find that Elvis, has broken his chains and has been wreaking havoc around the neighborhood. The two FBI agents choose this moment to show up in search of Artie. Crockett and Tubbs refuse to cooperate. The agents tell Crockett and Tubbs that Sam Kovics is moving his operation to Mexico almost immediately. Rico convinces the FBI to allow him and Crockett to continue their work on the case, since Kovics is planning to sell all his merchandise to them.

Burnett and Cooper pay a visit to Artie’s condo. Artie has figured out that Burnett and Cooper are really cops, and he calls their bluff. Crockett and Tubbs tell Artie the FBI thinks he’s gone over. Artie denies this and tells them he’s got enough on Kovics for a huge bust that will put him away for a long time. Crockett suggests they bust Kovics as soon as possible. Artie says he didn’t know that Penny McGraw had been murdered.

Crockett and Tubbs are concerned that Artie’s “on the edge”, but decide to support him, even after Rodriguez informs them that Artie’s porno queen girlfriend has tickets for her and Artie to flee to Mexico, making the move with Kovics. Tubbs is concerned that Crockett is not seeing Artie’s
“shakiness’ clearly because Crockett sees too much of himself in Artie. Nevertheless, Tubbs supports Crockett’s decision to give Artie a little more slack.

Crockett and Tubbs go out to Artie’s condo again, only to find that he’s cleared out completely. Crockett and Tubbs return to the St. Vitus Dance, believing that both Artie and Kovics are gone. Crockett goes below deck and comes out fuming because Elvis has now devoured his whole Buddy Holly record collection. Artie finally calls, and tells Crockett the deal is once again on for that night. Miami Vice cops set up the bust, and Tubbs is outfitted with a wire to collect incriminating evidence on tape.

Burnett and Cooper are picked up in a car by Artie and Sam. Sonny and Rico show Kovics the money, but then Tubbs’ wire malfunctions, and his chest starts broadcasting music, giving Sonny and Rico away. Artie tells Kovics he knew nothing about this. The other vice cops quickly realize that Sonny and Rico are in danger, and they closely pursue Kovics’ car, but lose it at a drawbridge. The car stops at a place near the docks, and all four men get out. Kovics gives Artie the gun to kill Crockett and Tubbs. But Artie quickly pitches one of his guns to Crockett, and a gunfight ensues. In the end, Kovics and all his men are killed.

In the aftermath of the shootings, Artie tells Crockett and Tubbs that he’s done some marginal things, but that he didn’t kill Penny McGraw, and that he can take the heat from the FBI. He’s not sure, however, that he can go back to his wife. The group winds down at a bar, with Zito and Switek talking about how they’re going to write a how-to book about burglary sting operations, and Crockett telling Tubbs how he feels he’s been staring at some warped image of himself for the past three days. Tubbs says he doesn’t know how Sonny has been doing the undercover work as long as he has. Then, Lt. Rodriguez walks in and tells them that after three hours of FBI debriefing, Artie Lawson walked into a restroom and hung himself [This Masquerade]

– Daryle Gardner-Bonneau