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in: Season 4 episodes

Deliver Us from Evil

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Deliver Us from Evil

Deliverusfromeviltitle

Season
4
Episode
21 (89th Overall)
Airdate
April 29, 1988
Repeat Airdate
September 9, 1988
TV Rating
TV-14 L-V
Writer(s)
Director
Guest Stars
Previous Episode
Next Episode


"Deliver Us from Evil" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. The episode premiered on April 29, 1988 and repeated on September 9, 1988.

Summary

Hackman is back after Crockett mistakenly freed him from Death Row, and his next victim hits Crockett close to home. It is the first episode of the Sonny Burnett Arc.

Plot

Two years after getting off Death Row, Frank Hackman (Guy Boyd) returns to Miami in force. He and his crew invade a home and murder the family living there, including their young daughter.

Caitlin (Sheena Easton) is heading back to town for some sold-out shows, and needs to talk to Crockett (who by now has made a full recovery from his near-fatal gunshot wound), but Crockett is forced to put it off as he and Tubbs look at the bodies from the home invasion, finding that the victims suffered 12-gauge shotgun blasts followed by a pistol shot in the head to finish them off. Johnny Blatt (Don Opper) and his girlfriend Julia Adams (Mary Fanaro) discuss Hackman's plans for a big job, before Blatt loses his temper for petty reasons and begins abusing Julia. Castillo is ready to turn the case over to Homicide when Crockett recognizes the M.O. as unique -- as Hackman's. Although little more than a hunch, he asks Castillo for time to work on it despite a full caseload. Castillo grants him two days.

Hackman's wife (Julie Brams) wants to leave, fearing Crockett will come after them, but Hackman is confident that Crockett works Vice, and therefore has nothing to do with what technically falls under Robbery or Homicide's jurisdiction. Tubbs and Switek go see Izzy (now running a jewellery store), who tells them Blatt may have fenced some of the stolen merchandise through him. Caitlin calls Crockett back to tell him something, but Tubbs interrupts with news that Blatt has left Izzy's store, and Crockett is forced to hang up on Caitlin. Tubbs finds that Julia works for a security company, passing info on big scores to Blatt, who gives it to the rest of the crew.

On their way to see Julia, Crockett tells Tubbs how Frankel (his old partner, who was killed by Hackman) once saw a guy who'd twice beaten rape charges and wanted to "beat the living hell out of him," which caused him to realize he was losing his faith in the justice system. Crockett expresses a fear that he is getting to that point, and hopes his hunch about Hackman is wrong. Julia, who has bruises and a possible broken rib, willingly gives Blatt up to them. Crockett and Tubbs head to the warehouse hideout, but Blatt makes them and warns Hackman and his crew. Crockett and Tubbs storm in and shoot down several gunmen, but Hackman and Blatt get away. Hackman's wife is hit in the crossfire and is rushed into surgery. A visibly shaken Crockett calls Caitlin to let her know he can't make her show the next day. Sometime later, Tubbs wakes Crockett up and tells him Hackman's wife is dead.

Crockett goes Castillo for a request to transfer out of OCB/Vice, declining to disclose why or where he wants to transfer to. Castillo gives Crockett a request form, but says he will remain in OCB until his transfer is approved -- and informs Crockett Hackman's wife was killed by a bullet from Hackman's gun, not Crockett's. Blatt viciously beats Julia for selling him out to the cops. Izzy tells Switek and Trudy that Hackman is planning a hit for that night, but couldn't find out where. Crockett goes to see Caitlin in her dressing room, while Tubbs goes to see a badly beaten Julia, who knows where the hit is -- at Club 1235, which is where Caitlin is performing. En route to the club Tubbs repeatedly calls Crockett's car phone, but he's not around to answer it. Hackman kills the stagelight operator and sets up his laser-sighted rifle, taking aim at Crockett. However, due to his belief that Crockett killed his wife, Hackman instead shoots Caitlin, who falls into Crockett's arms and dies.

Crockett, drowning his sorrows in whiskey on the St. Vitus Dance and surrounded by pictures of Caitlin, finds the cross Hackman gave him when he got off Death Row. Tubbs stops by just as Crockett gets a phone call from the M.E., which Tubbs takes, to let him know Caitlin was seven weeks pregnant (which is what she tried to tell Crockett but was never able to), which sends Crockett into a drunken rage. Three weeks later, Crockett is still on the boat, cleaning and polishing everything on it (and still drowning his sorrows in whiskey), blowing off Tubbs' efforts to talk to him. Back at OCB, they find Blatt had fled to Chicago but is returning to Miami that night, and Crockett returns to work a day early. Hackman checked into the Virgin Gordor under the name "Crockett", having previously been in Martinique. Castillo returns Crockett's transfer request, unprocessed, saying he thought he'd want to review it first; Crockett expresses his gratitude before crumpling up the request and throwing it away.

Wrong

Wrong!

Crockett and Tubbs observe Blatt returning to Julia's house and take him in, saving her another trip to the ER. He quickly gives up Hackman, who is currently on Caicos Island, which apparently has shaky extradition agreements with the United States. Castillo wants Crockett to get some rest, which he does - on Caicos Island, where he faces Hackman. Hackman tells Crockett that he's set up his retirement home, including making arrangements with the local judge and police about their pensions, and refuses Crockett's demands to "get up". Crockett then gives Hackman his cross back, before pulling his gun. Unfazed, Hackman tells Crockett he knows Crockett can't shoot an unarmed man, just the way he couldn't let an innocent man be executed. He then closes his eyes and lays his head back. Crockett proves Hackman wrong by pulling the trigger, and as he walks away a gun can be seen in the dead Hackman's hand -- though how it got there is unknown.

Cast

Guest Stars

Co-Starring

Notes

  • This episode begins a story arc that runs over the final episode of the fourth season and episodes one, two and four of the fifth, regarding Crockett's near-death experience, losing his wife, and then becoming his alter-ego, Sonny Burnett.
  • The opening narration states "Previously on Miami Vice", similar to "Rock and a Hard Place", but in this case the episode referenced is "Forgive Us Our Debts", from the previous season. This is the second and final time the "previously" opening is used.
  • Caitlin's final concert was performed at Club 1235. This club still exists in South Beach (Don Johnson was reported to have visited during Vice's run). Music artist Prince bought the club late in the 1980s and renamed it; it has undergone numerous owner and name changes since, most recently called the Mansion Nightclub.
  • During Caitlin's concert, Crockett is wearing one of his classic season 1-2 outfits (white suit and loafers, pastel pink t-shirt).

thumb|300px|right|Ending with Crockett and Hackman

  • The end sequence originally had Crockett shooting and killing an unarmed Hackman, an act tantamount to cold-blooded murder, intended to show how his will to be an honourable police officer had finally been broken. However, NBC censors at the time refused to allow the episode to air unless both men had "equal arms", as Crockett was still supposed to be a hero character and therefore was not allowed to commit such an act. Consequently, the shot of the gun in Hackman's hand was added to appease them. As a result, a pivotal moment in Crockett's life is somewhat diminished.
  • When Crockett is strapping his backup to his ankle, a photograph of him in football gear with his old buddy Robbie Cann (played by James Remar in "Buddies") can be seen on the inside of his locker door. There is also a photo of Crockett, Tubbs, and Gina on the St. Vitus Dance, which looks like it is from "One Eyed Jack".
  • "Deliver Us from Evil" and the title of the Frank Hackman episode it is a sequel to, "Forgive Us Our Debts", are both passages from The Lord's Prayer.
  • Hackman's Wife, played by Julie Brams, is presumably not Felicia, played by Gy Mirano in "Forgive Us Our Debts," whom Hackman had a fling with and caused the breakdown of her marriage.
  • Jan Hammer's haunting melody used in "Buddies" for Dorothy Bain is effectively used here when Hackman's wife dies, and when Crockett asks for a transfer (and gets it back). It has never been officially released.
  • It's not known what became of the house that Caitlin and Crockett bought earlier in the season, as it's not mentioned at all after Caitlin's death. Moreover, we never find out what becomes of Caitlin's clearly considerable personal wealth; unless she had a pre-existing will that specifically stated otherwise, her assets should have gone to Crockett, but he shows no signs of having inherited any amount of money at any point during the show's remaining episodes. It is possible that Crockett had no interest in material wealth and simply gave any inheritance to good causes (which would in many respects be fitting for his character). Alternatively, Metro-Dade may have been able to take possession of Crockett and Caitlin's combined assets following Crockett's disappearance in the next episode, and subsequently used them for finances (although this seems perhaps unlikely, as Switek is turned down for promotion several times in the final season with Metro-Dade citing a lack of budget as the reason).
  • In this episode, it is stated that Hackman's signature method of execution - which is what alerts Crockett to his return - is to shoot his victims with a shotgun and then a pistol. However, in "Forgive Us Our Debts", he does not use a pistol at all when he murders Crockett's then-partner Frankel. This is made obvious in the "previously" segment that opens the episode.
  • Hackman's fixation with Crockett is shown not only in the fact that he has Crockett in his cross-hairs and cannot shoot him -- possibly rationalizing, correctly, that shooting Caitlin will hurt him more -- but also in the fact that he even calls himself "Crockett" in exile.  Crockett seems to represent for Hackman his alter ego -- everything he could have been had he chosen another path in life.
  • When Crockett shoots Hackman, Don Johnson does not flinch in reaction to the gunshot, a very unusual thing for an actor to be able to do.
  • This episode, specifically the conversation in the car between Crockett and Tubbs as they drive to see Julia for the first time, marks the first occasion that Crockett is shown to be losing his taste for law enforcement, and foreshadows the burnout story arc that runs across the fifth season.
  • Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, Crockett tells Tubbs in the same scene that once you reach the point where punishing the villain is all that matters to you (as is ultimately the case for him in this episode), you have "maybe... a year" left as a good cop; Crockett burns-out and quits the force almost exactly one year after this episode, marking the end of Miami Vice.
  • The color of Crockett's eyes changes markedly from episode to episode and scene to scene, perhaps responding to the lighting, but also to his inner feelings -- often green, sometimes brown. When he shoots Hackman, however, they are jet black, as if he is already becoming Sonny Burnett, whose eyes are usually dark. His stride as he walks away from the killing is also more constrained than his usual walk, more like his walk as Burnett. While it is unknown if these changes are intentional or merely coincidence, it could be argued that Crockett's desire for revenge against Hackman caused his Burnett side to begin to surface, making it easy for him when amnesiac to believe it was his primary identity as it was, at this time, at least partly in control.

Goofs

  • At one point Crockett says he's been on the job for twenty years, but in the previous episode his age is stated to be approximately 35 (Don Johnson was actually 38 when this episode was filmed), meaning he would have joined the force at the age of 15; not a likely scenario. In addition, twenty years prior to the episode would have been 1968 -- the height of the Vietnam War. Crockett was serving in Vietnam in 1971 (when he met Danny Allred) and again in 1975 (he was present during the Fall of Saigon), leaving him little time to join the police force during that period.
  • The film clip of the testarossa inserted immediately prior to Crockett and Tubbs' first visit to meet with Julia Adams was backwards - the single side mirror was on the wrong (passenger) side of the car. 

Production Notes

  • Working Title: "Love Means Never Having to say You're Busted"
  • Filmed: March 16, 1988 - March 30, 1988
  • Production Code: 63528
  • Production Order: 89

Filming Locations

  • 1235 Club, 1235 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Caitlin's Concert)
  • Miami Beach Marina 300 Alton Road (St. Vitus Dance)
  • The Barnacle State Historic Site, 3485 Main Highway, Coconut Grove (Crockett confronts Hackman on Caicos Island)

Music

Jan Hammer Music

  • "The Talk" (Caitlin considers discussing her pregnancy, and Crockett on the St. Vitus Dance after Caitlin's death)

Quotes

  • "Frankel...a couple of nights before Hackman killed him, we stopped into this bar, on the way home and...Frankel saw a guy in there he'd been trying to put away a couple times on rape charges. The guy had beaten him both times. Frankel said he wanted to take him out in the alley and beat the living hell out of him. He said he figured if he felt that way, maybe he had a year left in him as a good cop. I promised myself I'd quit before I got to that point... I hope it's not happening. -- Crockett to Tubbs
  • "Caitlin... was seven weeks pregnant!" -- Tubbs to Crockett after getting the autopsy report
  • "Yeah, it took him (Blatt) a long time to give up Hackman--almost 10 minutes!" -- Switek
  • "I sure as hell know the same way you couldn't let an innocent man be executed, that you can't shoot an unarmed man!" -- Hackman to Crockett
  • "Wrong!" -- Crockett in response after killing Hackman 
Season 4 Episodes:

"Contempt of Court" • "Amen... Send Money" • "Death and the Lady" • "The Big Thaw" • "Child's Play" • "God's Work" • "Missing Hours" • "Like a Hurricane" • "The Rising Sun of Death" • "Love at First Sight" • "Rock and a Hard Place" • "The Cows of October" • "Vote of Confidence" • "Baseballs of Death" • "Indian Wars" • "Honor Among Thieves?" • "Hell Hath No Fury..." • "Badge of Dishonor" • "Blood & Roses" • "A Bullet for Crockett" • "Deliver Us from Evil" • "Mirror Image"

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