The Checklist: Miami Vice (S3 Ep20) “By Hooker by Crook”
It is no stretch to say that Miami Vice was a cultural phenomenon. Premiering on NBC on September 16, 1984, the show with a strong MTV vibe, looked and sounded like no series that came before it. Miami Vice made Don Johnson a household name and a fashion influencer. The show even sparked a South Beach renaissance that the Miami Herald called The Vice Effect.
Now the time has come to put an episode of Miami Vice to The Checklist test, specifically Episode 20 from Season 3, “By Hooker by Crook”…
- Synopsis: A madame finds herself in the thick of things as Crockett and Tubbs investigate the murders of an accountant and the call girl he hired.
#1. Did Crockett and Tubbs go undercover and use the same aliases they always use?
Three seasons in and Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) had been on a lot of undercover assignments and every single time our crime fighting duo use the aliases Sonny Burnett and Ricardo Cooper. Every. Single. Time.
The fact that they were able to continue to do this and nobody in Miami’s criminal world had picked up on the fact that they were undercover cops debunks the old saying “thick as thieves”. If these thieves were thick, you would think the word would have gotten out.
The episode kicks off with “Sonny Burnett” and his Bahamian banker partner “Ricardo Cooper” at a casino night fundraiser on board a luxury yacht… Sonny is making some serious moves on one of the party goers, Christine von Marburg (Melanie Griffith), when Ricardo interjects with some bullshit reason they have to leave the party, in actuality the shifty accountant they were at the party scoping out just left with a voluptuous young lady. This means instead of rubbing elbows with Miami socialites, Sonny and Ricardo would be sitting outside the accountant’s apartment building waiting for him to make his next move. Side note: The accountant makes a really big move and he had some help doing it as he plunges from the high rise apartment building 1/1
#2. Were there any notable guest stars?
Melanie Griffith (Cherry 2000) is pretty notable but I’ll get to her in a bit. The voluptuous young lady who was partying with the accountant was played by Vanity of Action Jackson and Never Too Young To Die fame. Vanity’s character, Ali Ferrand is a hooker/model who finds herself in a world of trouble since she saw the guys that sent the accountant plunging to his death. This makes her a target for Kenneth Togaru (George Takei, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), the guy who instructed his two henchmen to kill the accountant that was caught embezzling money from Togaru. Old school wrestling fans will recognize the henchman as Captain Lou Albano and Afa of the Wild Samoans. 2/2
#3. Was this an Izzy episode?
Martin Ferrero played recurring character Izzy Moreno. Izzy always had his finger on the pulse of Miami’s criminal underworld and was usually involved in some less than ethical activities, making him the perfect reluctant informant of Crockett and Tubbs.
In “By Hooker by Crook”, Izzy is posing as an international photographer that specializes in boudoir photography and it just so happens he had a recent photo shoot with one Ali Ferrand. 3/3
#4. Was Crockett given a romantic subplot?
Don Johnson in addition to being a trend setter was also a bonafide sex symbol. So it was never a shock when his character Sonny Crockett was given a romantic subplot so women around the world could live vicariously through Crockett’s on screen love interest. But in the case of Melanie Griffith’s Christine von Marburg, she was more than just an on screen love interest… she was both the former and future Mrs. Don Johnson!
Griffith and Johnson had a six month marriage back in 1976 and the two would marry for a second time in 1989.
There’s no wedded bliss for Sonny and Christine as it turns out Christine is a madame and Ali worked for her. Christine is also in business with one Kenneth Togaru… this turn of events leads to Christine, looking to avoid prison, helping Crockett and Tubbs infiltrate Togaru’s compound and gives the show an action boost. 4/4
#5. Was popular music featured?
In addition to Jan Hammer’s Grammy Award winning and Billboard charting music, Miami Vice featured popular songs… which helped give it that MTV vibe I mentioned in my introduction.
In a recent discussion with a Miami Vice enthusiast I learned that the production spent in excess of $10,000 per episode to license music by popular artists of the time like Phil Collins, Billy Ocean, ZZ Top, Tina Turner and INXS. “By Hooker by Crook” features music by Steve Winwood and wraps up with “Holding Back The Years” by Simply Red… the perfect song for Crockett to sulk to on his boat thinking about the love he lost. 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) Miami Vice was still riding the wave of popularity in Season 3 and they weren’t about to tinker with their winning formula. After not seeing Miami Vice for years, “By Hooker by Crook” was a reminder why this show owned pop culture in the mid-80’s.
