"Bushido"

Bushido

Season	2
Episode	8 (30th Overall)
Airdate	November 22, 1985
Repeat Airdate	February 28, 1986 July 17, 1987
TV Rating	TV-14 V
Writer(s)	John Leekley
Director	Edward James Olmos
Guest Stars	Dean Stockwell David Rasche Thomas G. Waites Tom Bower Jerry Hardin Rosana DeSoto as Erendira and Natasha Detante
Previous Episode	"Tale of the Goat"
Next Episode	"Bought and Paid For"

"Bushido" is the eighth episode of Miami Vice's second season. It premiered on November 22, 1985, and was rerun on February 28, 1986 and July 17, 1987.

Summary

Castillo helps an old CIA friend get his Russian wife and son to safety from the KGB.

Plot

The Vice squad is undercover in a park (Trudy as a rollergirl, Gina a homeless person with a cart, Switek a bum on a bench, Zito buried in the sand, and Crockett/Tubbs doing surveillance), observing a deal between a man named Herrera and DEA Agent Thompson, who is carrying $500,000. Crockett observes the boat coming in with the drugs and the deal goes down in the men's room. Herrera's men are systematically arrested while they wait for the restroom to empty of civilians. They finally move in to find Thompson tied up on a toilet with his pants down, Herrara dead in the next stall with the cocaine in the toilet, and the money gone.

Whatthehell — "What the HELL is going on here?!"

At OCB, Thompson and the squad review what happened. Thompson absolves himself of blame and pushes the responsibility of recovering the money on Castillo's team; after a tense exchange with Crockett, Thompson leaves, but not before saying he never saw the third man in the room. They review the surveillance tapes and Castillo recognizes the last man out of the men's room. He is Jack Gretsky, a CIA agent of the highest level who worked with Castillo in the Southeast Asian Golden Triangle. By Castillo's standards he is a very dangerous man, and the squad is ordered not to approach him, with Castillo choosing to get the money back himself. He goes to see CIA Agents Hardin and Carter, who don't know why Gretsky is in Miami but suspect he has gone over, having a Russian wife and a son; what confuses them is that the Russians are after him as well. The agents present photos of Gretsky and his family, and warn Castillo that if he tries to help Gretsky he can expect to be treated like any other National Security risk.

With Carter and Hardin watching, Castillo searches for Gretsky, and locates him at his home. They talk about the Golden Triangle days, and how Castillo thought Gretzky was killed in the ambush, when in actuality was "left for dead". Gretsky tells Castillo his wife and son are in Miami, and they are with a mutual friend named Erendira. Castillo finds out Gretsky is here to ensure his family lives a safe life, and asks that Castillo will see to it they do. Suddenly, Gretsky pulls out an automatic weapon and fires at Castillo, who is forced to shoot and kill his friend. Crockett and Tubbs show up, along with Carter and Hardin, who are pleased Gretsky was killed, as they believed him to be an out of whack agent and his death at Castillo's hands means there will be no questions asked.

Castillo goes home to meditate and find inner peace. At OCB, Tubbs finds out that Gretsky had advanced terminal cancer; the M.E. couldn't understand how someone with that much pain could even walk. Crockett and Tubbs go to Castillo's place, finding his badge and a note. They go to Hardin and Carter's front business but are met by a guy named Surf, who tells them KGB is after Gretzky's wife and son, and may now be looking for Castillo as well. In reality, Surf is working for the KGB; he and his two men have killed Hardin and Carter, hacked their computer and placed a homing device on Tubbs' Cadillac. Castillo goes to see Erendira, and she introduces him to Jack's wife Laura and her son Marty (named for Castillo). Laura wants to wait for Jack; Castillo initially lies that he has gone on ahead and they need to leave. In private Castillo tells Laura the truth, but says only that he was there when Jack died. Castillo decides take Laura and Marty to Key Largo for protection. While driving, Castillo tells Marty stories about the Samurai Tochi. Metro-Dade police were tailing Castillo but lost him; Crockett and Tubbs manage to find the road he took.

Castillo takes Laura and Marty to a safe house on Key Largo. While Crockett and Tubbs speak with a Metro-Dade policeman a 4x4 roars up guns blazing; the cop is shot and Crockett and Tubbs dive into the ocean as the 4x4 rams the cop car and blows both vehicles up, the two occupants escaping in time. Laura explains why she and Gretsky were together: she is former KGB, and they were forced to lie to their respective agencies, until Gretsky got them out after Marty was born. Castillo asks Laura to rest while he checks in on Marty, and tells him more about the samurais and shoguns, giving Marty his father's samurai sword. Laura approaches Castillo and stabs him in the back with a knife, telling Marty that he killed Jack, but as they leave Surf shows up with his accomplices.

Laura and Marty flee after shooting Surf in the shoulder. Although wounded, Castillo takes the sword and manages to kill Surf's accomplices with it. He rescues Laura and Marty from the wine cellar and they escape onto the front lawn, hiding behind the many trees there. Surf drives through the lawn in Tubbs' Cadillac, trying to scare them out with threats. Laura gives herself up, and Marty runs to her side. Castillo challenges Surf with his sword; Surf promises that no one will hurt Laura and Marty in Russia, but Castillo has to die. Crockett and Tubbs arrive and shoot Surf before he can kill Castillo, and they get Laura and Marty on a waiting boat to safety. Castillo has the recovered money (which was given to Laura by Jack), albeit at a slight loss, which he vows to replace out of his own pocket.

Cast

Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett
Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs
Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese
Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek
John Diehl as Metro-Dade Detective Larry Zito
Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin
Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo

Guest Stars

Co-Starring

Robin Kapustin as Marty Gretsky
Marc Macaulay as Cuzko
Jay Amor as Andrei
Ric Bond as Greaseball

Uncredited

Unknown as Herrara

Notes

This episode was directed by Edward James Olmos, also his directorial debut. Although Olmos never directed another episode of Miami Vice, he would later direct several episodes of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, in which he also starred.
As with "Golden Triangle (Part I)" and "(Part II)" from season 1, this episode both provides an insight into Castillo's background (we find out he is skilled with a Katana) and expands slightly upon his typically taciturn character (he goes so far as to crack a smile when meeting with Jack Gretsky). Such insights were rare and occurred infrequently throughout the series.
The story in fact ties in to "Golden Triangle (Part II)" in more ways than one -- when reunited with Gretsky, Castillo mentions that Gretsky was also involved in the ambush that decimated his anti-drug taskforce in Southeast Asia. This ambush was a plot point in "Golden Triangle (Part II)", wherein it was revealed that it had been set up by General Lao Li after he was tipped off by Dale Menton.
This story references the then-ongoing Cold War between the former Soviet Union and the United States.
The portion of "Hello Earth" played is the choral section of the Georgian folk song "Tsintskaro" sung by The Richard Hickox Singers, during the scenes with Laura, Marty, Castillo, Surf, and the KGB operatives.
This is the first of two times Castillo is stabbed in the line of duty during the series. He is later stabbed again by the Savage in "Duty and Honor".
"Bushido" refers to the code of honour of the samurai warrior class in Japan. As Castillo mentions in the episode, literally translated, it means "the way of the warrior".

Goofs

When Laura falls and drops Castillo's gun in the cellar, it is obviously within her reach and visible within the shaft of light coming into the cellar. In a subsequent cut, the gun has disappeared. When Surf arrives later, it is back in the light and plainly visible again. NOTE: This not a "Goof." This is an ancient theatrical technique used to heighten drama. The audience can see that the gun is easily within her reach if only she would move her hand in the right direct. This is done to increase the suspense of the scene. This technique has been used onstage and in film and television shows since pretty the beginning. And the gun never "disappears." The camera angle changes and the shot tightens making it impossible to see the gun.
When Martin, Laura, and the boy are running from the mansion to escape from Surf, they are about to enter the palm tree grove between the 1st and 2nd palm trees. The scene then cuts to them just entering the grove, but now they're between the 3rd and 4th palm trees.
As Martin, Laura and the boy were hiding behind the palm trees, Surf, drives, steers, stops and cuts the ignition off to the cadillac in the middle of the palm tree grove while sitting on top of the headrest in the cadillac.
For an abandoned estate, on an island few people go, the lawn was mowed.

Production Notes

Filmed: October 9, 1985 - October 18, 1985
Production Code: 60042
Production Order: 32

Filming Locations

Winter Haven Hotel & public restrooms, Ocean Drive/14th Street, Miami Beach (Opening drug deal at men's room)
600 91st Street, Surfside (Erendira's House)
Card Sound Road, Homestead (Surf and KGB sends Crockett/Tubbs and MDPD into water)
The Deering Estate, 16701 S. W. 72nd Avenue (Ending scenes where Castillo confronts Surf with sword)

Music

"Boys and Girls" by Bryan Ferry (Opening sequence at beach)
"Hello Earth" by Kate Bush (during Laura's escape from Surf)

Jan Hammer Music

"Russian Story" (throughout episode, Hammer received Emmy nomination for his score)

Quotes

"What the HELL is going on here?!" -- Crockett in the men's room
"You're the guy who walked into the toilet with a ton of dough and ended up with his pants around his ankles!" -- Crockett to Thompson

"You're the guy who walked into the toilet with a ton of dough and ended up with his pants around his ankles!"
"Surf's up, pal!" -- Crockett to Surf before he shoots him

Season 2 Episodes:

"The Prodigal Son" • "Whatever Works" • "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" • "The Dutch Oven" • "Buddies" • "Junk Love" • "Tale of the Goat" • "Bushido" • "Bought and Paid For" • "Back in the World" • "Phil the Shill" • "Definitely Miami" • "Yankee Dollar" • "One Way Ticket" • "Little Miss Dangerous" • "Florence Italy" • "French Twist" • "The Fix" • "Payback" • "Free Verse" • "Trust Fund Pirates" • "Sons and Lovers"