Will There Be A Reboot?

In the age of reboots and rehashing old television and movies there's one that I've been waiting for since my senior year in high school. While Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas may be past their primes and having Crockett and Tubbs on the streets of Miami running and gunning might be a hard sell, there's unfinished business with that series that has gone unanswered for too long. So, in my imagination, it would have to be a passing of the torch series. It has been done before. Hopefully, the online rumors of a project in the works might mean that they are going to do it again.

All the things that I liked about the series are the puzzle pieces of great drama in televisions' cop show drama. Miami Vice was never a procedural show, like the shows of today. But, two undercover Miami Dade Vice Cops, in the 1980s would have been nothing like the cops of today, either. In the days of the cocaine cowboys, Miami Vice hit home. America was at the height of the drug war. The lifestyle was for the glamorous. The lure of easy money, as Glen Frey put it in Smugglers Blues, had a very strong appeal.

The scenery is every bit as beautiful and attractive as it was back then. Miami Beach, filled with pretty people, the warm Florida sun, the sand, and the surf, is a hub of activity. Even during the pandemic, the beach was hard to keep clear. With palm trees, bars, and fast cars alike, Miami Beach is a center for excitement in the south Florida scene. It was used as the backdrop for many of the episodes, from the series pilot to the end of the show.

There were the hottest of cars and something for everyone. Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, Cadillacs, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. The exotic of Miami cruised the highways with style amidst the pretty woman, the fabulous music, passing by people as they enjoyed the exotic cuisine. Even the top cops of the precinct, Crockett, and Tubbs, spent most of their traveling time in an exotic. They started out in the vintage black, convertible Spyder and spent two seasons with that beauty of a ride. Car lovers cried as the Spyder bit the dust. They spent the rest of the series in that slick, white, Testarossa. It was fitting, in the end, to see Sonny keep it.

"Hey Tubbs, how about a ride to the airport. In my stolen car."

Sonny Crockett, Final Episode.

The stories were intricate at times. The series saw many stars do an episode or two. Liam Neeson, Willie Nelson, Sheena Easton to Gene Simmons. The stars of music, movies, and television all jumped on board for an episode. Liam Neeson was a terrorist, Willie a ranger, Gene Simmons a facilitator, and Sheena stuck around for a season. There were many others. Simply too many to name. We even saw Married With Children Alum, Ed Oneil take a shot and the fast and furious life of Miami Vice.

Sleek, fast, exciting, and beautiful, Miami Vice was the highlight of the week for five years. We all got invested, giving it our Friday night as we caught up with our heroes. But the show left open stories that should have been tied up. Now, more than at its' end, might be the time to do that.

Tubbs came to Miami chasing his brother's killer, the reputed crime lord, Calderone. By the end of the first episode, Calderone was on the run. Calderone would send a hitman to take out the cop that took him down. Since Crockett (Don Johnson) was the local detective, that ends up being him. When the guy misses, killing their captain, Tubbs and Crockett move heaven and earth to get to Calderone. Miami Vice cops hit the Bahamas. While undercover in the islands, Tubbs meets a woman. Their island romance hits a snag when Tubbs learns she's Calderones' daughter.

Before they leave the Bahamas, Crockett and Tubbs get their man. Calderone's story ends in a hail of gunfire. Alas, he's not the last Calderone male.

At the end of season two, Angelina is back. She comes to warn Tubbs her brother is in Miami on a mission to kill him. Angelina's visit is a big surprise to both Crockett and Tubbs. Yet, it was the biggest surprise she had with her, Tubbs had a son.

Branded a traitor, Angelina gets taken by her brother. When both mother and child are missing the entire vice squad is there. The episode ends with Tubbs, thinking Angelina and his son are in a wired car. Angelina knew better than to let Tubbs come for her. She broke free and set off the bomb. It left Tubbs believing he had seen the death of his only son. The truth was, that Calderone Jr. took the kid.

Now, here we are, it's been thirty-five years. With all the unanswered questions that were left open-ended, maybe it's time for the two ex-cops to give it one more ride. If the rumors are true, and I hope that they are, Vin Diesel is in negotiations to bring back Miami Vice in a reboot. Hopefully, that first adventure brings the two old partners back together. Solving the mystery of Tubbs son, Crockett reuniting with his boy Jack, would have been a better ending than the one that they got.