Corrupción en Miami Down for the Count: Part II (1984–1990) Online

When I first watched this episode the opening came as a bit of a surprise; I was expecting a cop out where Zito would have merely unconscious but no; for the first time since Lt. Lou Rodriguez was killed in the early episodes of season one a major character was dead. This was harder hitting though as we'd known the character much longer and it looked as though the official version of events would state that he died of a self-inflicted drug overdose that than murder. The team, especially Switek, is understandably hit hard by the loss and vow to both clear Zito's name and bring Guzman to justice. There is a complication though; it's not just the police after Guzman; he is in the sights of the Las Vegas Mafia who consider South Florida their territory and intend to have him killed along with his associates Sonny Burnett and Rico Cooper... AKA Crockett and Tubbs!

This was a top quality episode with a great story and some impressive action. It was poignant how Zito's death was dealt with; the scene where Crockett and Tubbs were in his apartment, for the first time ever, was particularly touching. The introduction of the Mafia to the story could have been cliché but I thought it worked here. The action included the best car chase we've seen for some time; it culminated in a couple of impressive crashes too! There was also a thrilling shoot out at the end that featured cops, Mafia hit-men and Guzman's associates blasting away at each other in a shopping mall. The acting was solid as usual; Michael Talbott was particularly good playing the grieving Switek. Over all this is a superlative episode... just make sure you watch part one first though!

I was really hurt that this 2 part episode had to come at the expense of Zito dying. What I found more interesting was that a stand-in was used in one of the major action scenes. During the final action sequence in the shopping mall, Crockett and Tubbs both have driven their own cars to the scene. If you look closely, the man that jumps out of the Cadillac is not Tubbs, but some stand-in. You even see the same guy when he draws his gun. He looks nothing like Tubbs, and actually looks a lot older. Tubbs is not seen throughout the entire shooting bonanza, but later on on Crockett's boat. I wonder why PMT wasn't available for that scene?