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"Hell Hath No Fury..."

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Hell Hath No Fury

Season
Episode
17 (85th Overall)
Airdate
March 11, 1988
Repeat Airdate
July 29, 1988
TV Rating
TV-14 L-V
Writer(s)
Director
Guest Stars
Previous Episode
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"Hell Hath No Fury..." is the seventeenth episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. It premiered on March 11, 1988, and was rerun on July 29, 1988.

Summary[]

The release of a convicted rapist has Trudy fearing he plans revenge against his accuser.

Plot[]

A tabloid show hosted by Murray Phillips is doing a story on Alan Beaks, a convicted rapist, who is being paroled and seems to be a changed man, having founded a prison choir and expanded the library system. D.A. Freida Lewis, who prosecuted Beaks, feels he is being released too soon, having only served 18 months of a three year sentence (and implying he got that reduced from a 7-10 year normal sentence because of his family's money). The show asked Beaks' victim, Ellen Mason to be on the show but she declined, so Phillips decides to call her on the show live, but Trudy (who was with Ellen during the original arrest, trial and conviction) is there with Ellen, telling her not to answer it. Beaks decides to call her himself from a payphone, and this time she does answer; he tells her she should have accepted his apology, and now he will have to teach her a lesson.

Castillo orders Trudy away from Ellen, saying her involvement in the case ended when Beaks was convicted, but Trudy is resistant, saying Beaks threatened to kill Ellen at sentencing; she doesn't believe Beaks is reformed and strongly suspects he will come after her again. Castillo cautions her about personal vendettas, and urges that she know the boundaries. The press, provoked by Philips, begins hounding Ellen at her school and home, forming an enormous crowd on her front lawn.

Ellen's neighborhood quickly turns into a media circus, and Trudy forces her way into Ellen's house, upsetting Castillo. Phillips fuels the frenzy by putting on his show there, claiming Beaks will be there to apologize to Ellen; he is clearly milking the situation for all it is worth, interviewing random citizens who don't have a clue what's going on and portraying Beaks as the wronged person. Beaks arrives and uses a bullhorn, given to him by Phillips, to try and reach Ellen. Trudy snaps and storms into the front yard, shoving around a couple of cameramen and screaming at Beaks until Crockett & Tubbs arrive and drag her inside.

Crockett & Tubbs speak to the parole board psychiatrist, Deborah Finley, who feels Beaks has been rehabilitated and is ready to resume a normal life. Trudy is still at Ellen's home (Ellen now reduced to hiding behind chairs); Gina & Tubbs stop by to convince Trudy to leave and stop babysitting Ellen; Trudy refuses to leave or to have anything to do with either of them if they won't help. Back at OCB, Crockett tells Tubbs they have to remain professional about the situation. Tubbs asks Crockett what he would do if it had been Caitlin; Crockett doesn't reply, but they both know the answer. Ellen does nothing but watch videos of the news reports over and over, then gets an idea from the end of Phillips' last show. She buys a copy of American Mercenary and, provoked by another call from Beaks, sets up a hit on him with Charles Hatch, whose ad she found in the magazine.

Trudy finds the magazine and confronts Ellen, who orders her out of the house. Hatch attempts to strangle Beaks outside his apartment, but is forced to flee when a group of people show up. Castillo orders Trudy off the Beaks case, and has Gina & Switek monitor Beaks until he can obtain a court order. Tubbs tries to reason with Ellen, but she won't admit to hiring the hitman; she tells him he would do the same thing if someone he cared about was being threatened the way she is. The judge denies Castillo the court order, telling him it would only exacerbate the media circus, and so Castillo calls Switek & Gina off of Beaks. Seeing the reporters surrounding his apartment, Beaks calls his psychiatrist and complains that he's getting treated badly for a rehabilitated ex-con, before leaving with Switek & Gina on his tail. Beaks goes to Ellen's school to harass her again; Ellen freaks out and attacks Beaks with a pair of scissors. When Beaks grabs her and tries to take the scissors away Gina and Switek storm in and arrest Beaks for "trespassing."

Beaks is released because Ellen was holding the scissors, angering her. Crockett & Tubbs visit American Mercenary's headquarters to get the names & addresses of their advertisers; they go down the list and find Hatch, who is currently at a firing range honing his skills. Hatch leaves before Crockett & Tubbs get there, but they learn he is "on a mission" and head over to Beaks' place. Unfortunately, they arrive too late to stop Hatch from shooting Beaks dead through his apartment window. In the ensuing gunfight Crockett tries to appeal to Hatch through their shared history as Vietnam Vets, but Hatch keeps firing, then feigns being hit to lure Crockett out; Trudy arrives and shoots Hatch down.

Castillo confronts the team in the briefing room and expresses his disgust with their emotional actions in the Beaks case, asking for their transfers by the end of the day if they cannot do their duties professionally. Trudy is angry and upset by what an unrepentant Ellen has done, but can't tie her into Beaks's death or the hiring of the hitman. Ellen, to her horror, gets a call from someone who sounds like Beaks, telling her she "should have accepted the apology!"

Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

"Ripped From The Headlines"[]

This episode shows the inherent cracks in the judicial system and the press' involvement in creating circus-type atmospheres with high-profile crime cases, as well as exploring the rehabilitation of a convicted rapist.  There is still a debate today as to whether a sexual deviant can be rehabilitated.

Notes[]

  • This is the only episode of Miami Vice to contain no popular music whatsoever, the soundtrack consisting solely of Jan Hammer and John Petersen's score.
  • The title refers to the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".
  • Normally a rape victim's name is never released to the press (though with the internet today, it is possible to locate the victim's name).
  • "Murray Phillips" may be a reference to Maury Povich, who hosted the tabloid show A Current Affair in the 1980s, and had his own talk show (produced by Comcast-NBC-Universal) from 1991-2022, recently focusing mainly on paternity and lie-detector tests for his guests.
  • This is another season 4 episode that seems to suggest that the Vice unit is the only functioning police unit in the area. There should at least be uniformed officers at the scene at Ellen's house since it is clearly trespassing, disturbance of the peace and a potential mob scene. In earlier seasons, uniformed units were seen and some of the Vice team members are even uniformed on occasion, but that happens infrequently in season 4.
  • Tubbs mentions Caitlin while in conversation with Crockett, the first time she has been referred to since her last appearance in "Rock and a Hard Place".
  • Frank Logan, who plays Judge Borges, previously played the judge overseeing Joey Wyatt's bail hearings in Season 3's "Theresa". Given that his character is never explicitly named in "Theresa", it is possible he is meant to be the same individual in both instances.
  • Trudy's wild attack on the reporters outside Ellen's house seems entirely out of character; it is impossible for her to disperse them this way and nothing in her previous portrayal has suggested that she is likely to act out like this.
  • Nothing is made of the fact that Gina was previously the victim of an incident essentially tantamount to rape (when she was forced into sex by Lupo Ramirez in season 1's "Give a Little, Take a Little").
  • After shooting Hatch, Sonny stares at Trudy. This stare was possibly given to see if she's ok, in light of the events that took place in season 2's "The Dutch Oven".
  • Beaks' casual entry into the school and the lack of consequences for his trespassing seem strange today, reflecting a time when schools were wide-open areas without security.
  • The supernaturally-tinged ending with the phone call from the dead lifts the episode from its otherwise realistic basis, putting it in line with other season 4 episodes such as "Missing Hours". Interestingly, many of these episodes are Trudy-centric. Of course, it is possible the episode is simply trying to imply Ellen is imagining the phone call, having been driven over the edge by her experiences in the episode. Another explanation is that a high-profile case like that often attracts various mentally unstable people, like the attacker who earlier tries to strangle Beaks, and that caller harassing Ellen is another one. In line with numerous other episodes that makes for a very bleak ending since it means Beaks died in vain as he wasn't harassing Ellen after all and was honest at seeking forgiveness.

Goofs[]

  • The sign outside the "Metro Dade Parole and Rehabilitation Dept." misspells "Rehabilitation" as "Rehabilatation".
  • After leaving the mercenary magazine editor's office, one shot of the Testarossa shows it missing its rear bumper (a frequent occurrence this season). A few seconds later, a shot showing front of the car is flipped (the lone side view mirror is on the passenger side when it should be on the driver's side).  This inversion is also proven by the green and white street sign reading "Florida Av." backwards as "VA ADIROLF".
  • After Hatch shoots Beaks through the window, Crockett and Tubbs clear the room, and Crockett is clearly not wearing his sunglasses. However, when he jumps out of the window, he suddenly has his shades on -- he is even seen quickly taking them off when he lands after the first jump.

Production Notes[]

  • Filmed: February 8, 1988 - February 17, 1988
  • Production Code: 63521
  • Production Order: 85

Filming Locations[]

  • 705 14th Street, Miami Beach (Ellen's apartment)
  • The Tides Hotel, 1220 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (Beaks' Apartment. Ellen buys magazine)
  • Alexander Montessori School, 14400 Old Cutler Road, Palmetto Bay (Ellen's school)
  • Collins Avenue / 12th Street, Miami Beach (Ellen walks home to the media circus)
  • 1200 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (Crockett/Tubbs cafe, Miami Parole and Rehabilitation Center)
  • Side street 100 Collins Court, Miami Beach (Gina & Switek follow Beaks)
  • 1221 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach (Crockett/Tubbs visit mercenary's apartment)
  • 7266 SW 24th Street, Miami (shooting range)

Quotes[]

  • "What if the evaluation is wrong, and Beaks isn't rehabilitated...who's going to admit to that failure?" -- Crockett to Deborah Finley
  • "First Beaks raped me, then the courts raped me, and now the press is raping me!" -- Ellen Mason
  • "I really thought I was protecting her. I didn't think she would go this far." "That's what rules are for, so you don't have to think." -- Trudy and Castillo
  • "Your behavior in the Beaks case was abominable...you allowed your personal feelings to influence your performance as police officers. I have to be able to treat you like professionals...if you're not prepared to act like professionals in the future, I would like your transfer requests on my desk by the end of the day." -- Castillo to his team
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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