Cool Runnin' (Miami Vice)

"Cool Runnin" is the 3rd episode of the 1st season of Miami Vice. It aired on October 5, 1984, making it the 3rd episode of the series. The episode was written by Joel Surnow and directed by Lee H. Katzin.

Plot

It's 5:00 in the morning, and Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs are on a drug stakeout. The parties to the deal show up, but then shooting starts and people are killed. The bad guys take off in a van, with Crockett and Tubbs in pursuit in their own van. The thugs fire into the windshield of the cops' van, causing them to crash. The bad guys get away. When Vice Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (Gregory Sierra) shows up at the scene of the wrecked van, we learn that there have been a series of similar drug rip-offs over the past month, and things are getting nasty. The particular stakeout Crockett and Tubbs were involved in came about as a result of wiretap information received by Switek and Zito. We next see Crockett hosting a party on the St. Vitus Dance, with a number of his fellow officers, including two undercover detectives, Jake and Bobby. Some good-natured ribbing occurs, in which Crockett bets Jake and Bobby that he and Tubbs can score more dope in busts over the next month than Jake and Bobby can.

The next day, Crockett and Tubbs visit Switek and Zito, who are working a stolen goods operation, in search of more information about the botched drug deal that occurred a few nights earlier. They learn that a middleman named Desmond Maxwell, a Jamaican, set up the drug buy. At this point, we're introduced to one of Vice's more memorable characters - Noogie Lamont (Charlie Barnett), who saunters in hoping to sell some stolen merchandise to Switek and Zito. Noogie is arrested and dragged off to the OCB.

As Noogie is coming in, Jake and Bobby are leaving, heading out for a meeting with a dealer. Crockett asks where their backup is, but they reply that no backup is needed, since this is just a preliminary meet.

Crockett then makes contact with Gina and sets up a date for a romantic evening on the St. Vitus. In the process, Trudy walks in and hands him an envelope containing divorce papers filed by Caroline (Belinda Montgomery). Although Crockett is obviously upset by the news, he rejects Gina's offer of a rain check.

Noogie, meanwhile, is searching for a way to deal himself out of trouble. He swipes a report off Crockett's desk while he is gone, and comes across the information about Desmond Maxwell. Now, all of sudden, Noogie is willing to talk. He claims to know Desmond and offers to set up a buy with Crockett and Tubbs, in order to regain his freedom.

They head to a local bar in search of Desmond. Noogie claims to have spotted Desmond's right hand man and weasels $60 from Crockett with which to buy some information. He heads to a back room and escapes out a window. When Crockett and Tubbs finally catch up with him, Noogie tells them he doesn't really know Desmond at all. They stuff him in the trunk of their car with the intent of returning him to the OCB.

Crockett goes to a restaurant to meet Caroline and her lawyer. Much to his dismay, he finds out that Caroline has accepted a job in Atlanta and plans to move there with Billy, their son. He's upset, but eventually agrees, as Caroline is standing firm on her decision. As Crockett storms out of the restaurant, upset and angry, he's hailed by the maitre d' to receive a phone call. It's bad news; Bobby has been killed, and Jake is badly wounded and in the hospital - another drug deal gone bad.

As it turns out, Bobby and Jake audiotaped their meeting with the dealers, and Crockett and Tubbs listen to the tape back at the OCB. After the shooting occurs, Jake attempts to identify their assailants on the tape, but it's difficult to make out what he's saying. Crockett asks a technical colleague to clean up the tape.

Noogie continues to be full of surprises. Trudy and Gina have run a background check on him, only to find that he's done time with Desmond Maxwell; Maxwell is no stranger to him after all. Crockett and Tubbs now threaten Noogie with the horrors of prison if he doesn't cooperate and introduce them to Maxwell. Noogie reluctantly agrees. The meet occurs at a local reggae club, and a deal is set up between the two Vice cops and Maxwell. Crockett gives Maxwell Noogie's phone number as the point of contact. This upsets Tubbs, who feels Crockett is endangering a private citizen, but Crockett feels obligated to do the best he can for Bobby and Jake by catching Bobby's killers, even if it does put Noogie at risk.

It appears, however, that Tubbs's fears are a moot point, when Crockett and Tubbs receive word that Homicide has arrested one of the shooters driving the van used in the earlier shootout. Noogie is released, and Crockett and Tubbs return to the OCB. The alleged shooter is Haitian, which confuses Tubbs, who feels sure that the voices on the tape were Jamaican, not Haitian. The Vice squad now has an opportunity to listen to the cleaned up audiotape and, at this point, are able to hear Jake identify the shooters as three Jamaicans driving a red El Dorado, not a van. Crockett and Tubbs recontact Noogie, only to find that the Jamaicans are in Noogie's apartment.

With the help of the SWAT team, the Vice squad prepares to move on the apartment. But Crockett sees this as too risky for Noogie, and proposes an alternate plan. Crockett goes into the apartment, as if planning to go through with the deal. The SWAT team is strategically positioned but unobtrusive. The Jamaicans want to see the cash which, Crockett says, is in his car. He's escorted out by one of the Jamaicans, and when they open the trunk of Crockett's car, Tubbs hops out, subdues the Jamaican, then dresses in his clothes. He now escorts Crockett back to the apartment.

As soon as they knock on the door of the apartment, gunfire erupts. Noogie is shot, as is one of the Jamaicans. The other, who tries to use Noogie as a shield, is shot by a SWAT sniper from outside the building. In the final scene, Crockett and Tubbs go to the hospital to visit Jake, who has come out of his coma. As they enter the building, they encounter Noogie, whose arm is patched up. He's back to his old vibrant self again.

Guest Cast

Additional Cast

Lionel Pina
Jerry Mayer
Parris Buckner
Cynthia Caquelin
Maria Chavez
Raymond Forchion
Dana Mark
Julio Oscar Mechoso
Afemo Omilami
Melanie Rodgers

Featured Music

"Reality Dub" by Linton Kwesi Johnson
"Jammin'" by Bob Marley and The Wailers
"King Tubby" by Augustus Pablo
"Well of Souls (Feel the Spirit)" by Wailing Souls

References

Miami Vice at tv.com