Asian Cut (13 Jan. 1989)

Director:

James A. Contner

Writers:

Peter McCabe (teleplay), Robert Ward (story),

Stars:

Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Saundra Santiago

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Don Johnson	...	Detective James Crockett
Philip Michael Thomas	...	Detective Ricardo Tubbs
Saundra Santiago	...	Detective Gina Calabrese
Michael Talbott	...	Detective Stan Switek
Olivia Brown	...	Det Trudy Joplin
Edward James Olmos	...	Lieutenant Martin Castillo
Russell Horton	...	Stuart Orr Whitley
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Tegoro
Steve Ryan	...	Mr. Dyson
David Schramm	...	Professor Eric G. Halliwell
Alfredo Álvarez Calderón	...	Carlos Escobar (as Alfredo Alvarez Calderon)
Julie Brams	...	Sandy Dyson (as Julian Brams)
W. Paul Bodie	...	Pimp
Kim Faze	...	Monica
Steve Gladstone	...	Motel owner

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

foot torture

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Release Date:

13 January 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa plays Tegoro, a suspect interviewed by Crockett and Tubbs. The same actor would be Don Johnson's boss a few years later in the series Nash Bridges.

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Goofs

When Gina is talking to the caller on the phone, she sets up a date for 9:00. She never mentions the name of the girl he will be meeting, and only gives him a phone number. The guy calls the number he was given and asks for Trudy.

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Soundtracks

"Under The Milky Way"
(uncredited)
Performed by The Church

User Reviews

A good episode let down slightly by a silly ending

When the body of a prostitute is found with Asian symbols cut into her body Castillo calls on an expert who tells him the markings are Japanese; this ties in with witness reports of her leaving a nightclub with a Japanese man on the night she was killed. When it becomes apparent that he has a thing for bladed weapons it looks certain that he is involved. When a second murder takes place another suspect appears; the second girl's father who she claimed abused her. The girl's diary leads the team to an escort agency; they arrange for Trudy to have a 'date' with the only man the second girl saw; a move which will ultimately put her in real danger.

This was a pretty solid episode for the most part; it was nice to see Trudy taking a larger role than usual; Olivia Brown did a fine job in the role. The drama was pretty tense for the most part although it did descend into rather silly melodrama at the end as the clearly insane killer planned to torture Trudy in front of an audience of manikins. There were a few twists although I'm sure plenty of viewers will suspect the main one before it is revealed. Some comedy was added by sleazy tabloid journalist Stuart Orr Whitley… although I'm not sure why the character was meant to be Australian when the actor clearly wasn't!