Viewing Order for Miami Vice Episodes
Unless a particular series is serialized, we all know how much the TV networks have liked to shift episodes around to time with sweeps weeks, etc., and Miami Vice was no exception. After a few go-rounds watching the DVD sets, I've decided to share my preferred order for watching, and my reasons for shifting them out of original broadcast order. I start with Season 2 because I found no glaring continuity issues in Season 1. Enjoy!
List activity
2.8K views
• 2 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
73 titles
- DirectorPaul Michael GlaserStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs travel to New York to take down a powerful Colombian cartel.Season Two two-hour premiere. John Diehl(Det. Zito) returned sporting a full beard, which he shaved off midway through the season. After the first few weeks, NBC began airing episodes where he's clean shaven one week, then the beard is back the next, so I shuffled them around to watch all the "bearded Zito" episodes before the rest.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe murder of two beat cops outside their jurisdiction immerses the team in the Santeria religion, while Crockett tries to recover his repossessed Ferrari.
- DirectorJim JohnstonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs stake out a drug dealer, an investigation that is being helped along by an ex-cop that seems to know a bit too much about the case.
- DirectorHarry MastrogeorgeStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs race to find a young mother and her baby when they are targeted for death by mobsters.Originally Episode 2-5; bearded Zito.
- DirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen Crockett and Tubbs bust the owner of a bordello (Miles Davis), they discover that one of his drug-addicted prostitutes is the object of a powerful drug dealer's twisted obsession.Originally Episode 2-6; bearded Zito.
- DirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs escort a coffin containing a criminal to his final Miami resting place ... until its learned that he has risen from the dead and has a similar zombie fate scheduled for Tubbs.Originally Episode 2-7; bearded Zito.
- DirectorEdward James OlmosStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCastillo is forced to choose between friendship and duty when Jack Gretsky, his best friend from his days in Vietnam with the CIA, reemerges from the criminal underground complete with a Russian wife who is being pursued by the KGB.Originally Episode 2-8; bearded Zito.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoGina's cleaning woman gets raped in Gina's home by the spoiled son of a wealthy man, who thinks he's above the law. Despite evidence being circumstantial, Gina wants to have the man arrested. Izzy steals Switek and Zito's bug van.Originally Episode 2-9; bearded Zito.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA British television personality who has dealings with a major cocaine dealer is targeted by Crockett and Tubbs.Originally Episode 2-11; bearded Zito.
- DirectorCraig BolotinStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA district attorney is killed at a wedding for getting too close to a French-Canadian drug lord that's operating in Miami. Since the victim was a close friend of the criminal's lawyer, Sonny tries to make the lawyer do something about it.Originally Episode 2-14; bearded Zito.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTrudy's old boyfriend has ties to a drug lord and enlists Crockett's help investigating him.Originally Episode 2-4; Zito clean-shaven for remainder of episodes.
- DirectorDon JohnsonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett flashes to his role during the Saigon evacuation as he and a war correspondent uncover heroin smuggled in body bags. Ten years later in Miami the H resurfaces and so does the reporter looking for the CIA connection.Originally Episode 2-10.
- DirectorRob CohenStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett finds out first hand about Charlie Basset as a violent drug runner with an enticing wife that Sonny just can't get out of his mind.Originally Episode 2-12.
- DirectorAaron LipstadtStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen Crockett sees his stewardess girlfriend die from smuggling balloons of cocaine into the country, he and Tubbs go undercover to expose the ring.Originally Episode 2-13.
- DirectorLeon IchasoStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrocket and Tubbs visit Miami's kinky Sex World parlor when a sailor shows up murdered. The trail leads to a mysterious underage dancer Tubbs tries to straighten out - but is this more than social work?
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs track a Grand Prix race-car driver after the body of a slain prostitute is thrown from his speeding car. Guest star: Danny Sullivan.
- DirectorAaron LipstadtStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra Santiago-Crockett goes undercover to take down Mario Fuente (Frank Zappa), a dealer of 'weasel dust'.Originally Episode 2-19. In 1986, construction began on Bayside Marketplace, the shopping center that surrounds the marina where the sailboat St. Vidas Dance, Crockett's undercover residence, was moored. At some point late during production of Season 2 they were forced or chose to move the boat elsewhere until construction was finished. The episode that originally aired in this spot, French Twist, shows the St. Vidas moored in front of a condo building nowhere near here, but in Payback it's still at Bayshore. It fits well as an unspoken plotline, since his cover was blown in Payback anyway.
- DirectorDavid JacksonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen a known terrorist comes to Miami the team tries to find him. And an Interpol operative comes to assist them. Crockett is taken with her but Tubbs thinks there's something odd about her.Originally Episode 2-17; see above.
- DirectorDick MillerStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoAfter Crockett and Tubbs arrest a dealer, at the bail hearing the judge sets a low bail. Crockett is curious if there's something wrong with him. So he investigates. It seems the man has a gambling problem. And now he's being told to tell his son, who's the star player of his school, to throw a game to settle his debts.Originally Episode 2-18.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe team is assigned to protect a renowned poet who has come to the US seeking political asylum. With sexy Carmen in the mix, things get complicated.
- DirectorJim JohnstonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA Bolivian cruise ship is attacked by pirates leading Crockett and Tubbs to enlist the help of a renegade pilot in the contraband business to solve the case.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe son of Tubbs' arch-enemy Calderone oozes to the surface with a $1 million contract on Tubbs, while Calderone's sister Angelina says Tubbs he is the father of her child.
- DirectorAaron LipstadtStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs have their hands full with an impatient old-timer (Willie Nelson) anxious to make a deal with a deadly Bolivian cocaine importer.3-1; Originally Episode 3-7; The only episode this season featuring Crockett's Ferrari Daytona from start to finish, so it has to take place before the actual "premiere", where it's destroyed.
- DirectorMario DiLeoStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoGina falls for an Irish pacifist who believes there is no point fighting fire with fire anymore - or so she thinks.3-2; Originally Episode 3-1; see above.
- DirectorDavid JacksonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTubbs goes undercover in a penitentiary to try and smoke out a group of corrupt prison guards.3-3; Originally Episode 3-4; the only early season episode where Crockett doesn't drive any car, so I consider it a good bridge between Irish Eyes and Stone's War, where he gets his Testarossa.
- DirectorDavid JacksonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen Ira Stone films a video of American forces on illegal operations in South America, Crockett must protect him from their old nemesis Maynard, who will stop at nothing to silence Stone.3-4; Originally Episode 3-2; see above.
- DirectorLeon IchasoStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTubbs' attempts to stop synthetic cocaine of the highest purity from hitting the streets are threatened by his ex-NYPD-partner, whose career was destroyed by Tubbs' testimony regarding a confused shooting.3-5; Originally Episode 3-8; John Diehl(Det. Zito) left the show mid-season, but NBC aired a few episodes without him before his last appearance. I just put those off until after his departure, to enhance the fact he was no longer present.
- DirectorDaniel AttiasStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe team learns of a baby selling ring when one of the children's mother comes to Miami looking for her child. The trail leads them to a sleazy lawyer. When the lawyer manages to tie up any loose ends, they decide to use the mother to trap him.3-6; Originally Episode 3-9; see above.
- DirectorJan EliasbergStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoNew evidence leads Crockett to fight against the execution of Frank Hackman, put on Death Row for murdering Crockett's old partner.3-7; Originally Episode 3-11; see above.
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoZito goes undercover as a boxing manager to take down a crooked bookie, but pays the ultimate price for it.3-8; Originally Episode 3-12; John Diehl's last episode.
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoShaken and angered by Zito's death, Switek and the squad pull out all the stops to take Guzman down.3-9; Originally Episode 3-13.
- DirectorLeon IchasoStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA major drug dealer that's being investigated and his ruthless partner, a brothel madam, frame a professional jai alai player for murder of a prostitute to blackmail the athlete's customs agent brother into selling Crockett and Tubbs out.3-10; Originally Episode 3-3; no Zito.
- DirectorMario DiLeoStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett attempts to help a high-school football star achieve his dream, while others pressure him to help bring down a teenage drug lord.3-11; Originally Episode 3-5; no Zito.
- DirectorChristopher CroweStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett risks his sanity to try and enter the mind of a creepy, bizarre serial home invader, who might change his exhibitionist m.o. to murder or worse unless he's stopped in time.3-12; Originally Episode 3-6; no Zito.
- DirectorFred WaltonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA prostitution bust at a motel snares an officer from another precinct. Castillo wants to take his badge, but Crockett haves him hold off and uses the officer to find the source of pure cocaine found on one of the prostitutes, a girl the wayward cop is in love with.3-13; Originally Episode 3-10; no Zito.
- DirectorVirgil W. VogelStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs go undercover to move on a major Miami dealer and stumble into a runaway paramilitary group with blood in their sights and plans of their own for the deal money.3-14
- DirectorDavid JacksonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTubbs wins a free vacation and he brings his girlfriend with him. But when he arrives, he discovers a man he arrested. He eventually learns that he's been set up by Calderone, who is arriving on the next plane. Tubbs is trapped and with no weapon and no one is willing to help him. He also eventually discovers another woman he knew who is now with Calderone.3-15; Originally Episode 3-17; This was aired just one week after the episode "Theresa", which ends with Crockett's devastation over his doctor girlfriend's drug abuse. The intro to this episode has him talking about dating a "personal injury lawyer" rather gleefully, too much so for someone who should still be feeling a loss. But when watching carefully, you can see he has his back to the camera when he says those words, meaning they could have easily been dubbed in, in place of "doctor", which would completely fit it with the rest of his dialogue with Tubbs. Therefore, I conclude this episode belongs ahead of the next two.
- DirectorJohn NicolellaStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen some prostitutes are being killed, Castillo recognizes the M.O. as similar to some killings he saw when he was in Vietnam and working with a Vietnamese investigator. And the investigator shows up in Miami.3-16; Originally Episode 3-15; See above; first appearance of Crockett's girlfriend Dr. Theresa Lyons.
- DirectorVirgil W. VogelStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett plans to marry his latest girlfriend, an ER doctor from the UK. However, she has a dark secret. A major drug dealer whom Sonny has recently busted uses it to both free himself and make Crockett look dirty.3-17; Originally Episode 3-16.
- DirectorJames QuinnStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs' investigation of a paranoid dealer is complicated by a surveillance expert who decides to play both sides against one another.3-18
- DirectorGabrielle BeaumontStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs along with a couple of other cops were about to make a bust but instead are ambushed and one of the cops is killed. It seems that this was not the first time this happened. It's evident that someone on the inside is giving dealers info on busts. Tubbs then loses it. Later he is approached by a cop who wants him to work with him. The partner of the cop who was killed is determined to find out what happened. And when he sees Tubbs with the cop, he follows him.3-19
- DirectorDon JohnsonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA call girl witnesses two henchmen take her client and ultimately murder him, causing her to go into hiding, confiding and staying with a friend, a woman Crockett falls for big time. Unknown to him, there is far more to her than he knows.3-20
- DirectorTony WharmbyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhile Crockett and Tubbs are meeting undercover with a dealer, DEA agents raid the buy and take the cash and drugs. The DEA admits to nothing, setting in motion an Internal Affairs investigation into Crockett himself. Crockett decides to talk to someone he knows in the DEA, who, unbeknownst to him, is the one responsible for stealing the money.3-21
- DirectorJames QuinnStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA member of a violent biker gang is accidentally killed during a drug sting by Crockett. The other members of his biker gang avenge his death by killing everybody that may have been a part of it until they find the wire.3-22
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhile under cover, Tubbs and a powerful drug lord are robbed and taken in the process is a brief case. Now the two brothers are marked for death by the drug lord.3-23
- DirectorGabrielle BeaumontStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe team is working on a Cuban named Pedroza. They discover another man keeping tabs on him. They learn that he's a Communist agent. He goes to see Gina and tells her that he knew her mother when she was still in Cuba and that she was murdered by a jealous ex-lover, Pedroza.3-24
- DirectorJan EliasbergStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrocket goes to jail to protect his source when he and Tubbs tackle organized crime.4-1
- DirectorJames QuinnStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe wife of a televangelist is arrested on drug charges by Tubbs who finds himself the target of preacher's vengeance. However, a rival televangelist makes his play.4-2
- DirectorVern GillumStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTormented by his shooting a 13-year-old kid, Crockett tries to reconnect with his estranged son while attempting to take down a gun runner.4-3; Originally Episode 4-5; Not a big thing; this episode has a stock shot of the St. Vidas still moored outside of the marina at Bayside Marketplace.
- DirectorColin BuckseyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett attempts to prove that a murder in a snuff film was real.4-4; Originally Episode 4-3; The first episode to show Crockett's undercover sailboat, the St. Vidas Dance, moored back at the marina now surrounded by Bayside Marketplace.
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasEdward James OlmosA cryogenically frozen Reggae star comes to Miami to be unfrozen by Switek and Izzy.4-5; Originally Episode 4-4
- DirectorJan EliasbergStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe good son of a crime boss returns to Miami for some reason. Castillo fears he's there to take over the business but the tragic truth surprises him. A caring priest related to the criminal and Castillo's close friend is soon murdered.4-6 to 4-22; I keep the rest of Season 4 in order.
- DirectorDon JohnsonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett, as Burnett, murders and manipulates his way to the top of the crime organization he works for.5-1
- DirectorPaul KrasnyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoBurnett begins to remember who he really is, as Tubbs and the rest of the squad decide he must be taken down.5-2
- DirectorPaul KrasnyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA conflicted Castillo protects his ex-wife from a drug lord who is trying to kill her and her new husband.5-3
- DirectorVern GillumStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTubbs and Switek go undercover and pose as drug dealing middlemen to take down Borrasca, a very dangerous counter revolutionary who uses drug money to fight the war against communism in his country.5-4; Originally 5-5; The only episode of the series without Don Johnson. Since Crockett was still recovering from his "amnesia", it makes sense that he was out for a little while longer
- DirectorVirgil W. VogelStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTrying to come to grips with himself after the trouble with Burnett, Crockett takes a vacation that becomes a pursuit with three escaped convicts and their hostage.5-5; Originally 5-4; see above.
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoA drug kingpin on trial for murder puts a million dollar contract out on a punk rocker who is the star witness for the prosecution. The FBI want Crockett and Tubbs to safe house the witness, but keeping him alive is going to be a challenge.5-6
- DirectorJames A. ContnerStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTrudy poses as a prostitute to help Crockett and Tubbs catch a serial killer who they suspect is Asian because of the ritualistic way in which he mutilates his female victims.5-7
- DirectorVern GillumStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoSwitek sinks into drunkenness and self-destructive behavior after a dangerous mobster forces him to talk his indebted quarterback buddy into throwing a game to pay off his own enormous gambling debts.5-8
- DirectorMichelle ManningStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs' efforts to bust a major drug dealer are repeatedly thwarted in court by a shady big-shot southern gentleman attorney and his loyal protege Lisa, whose father was a prosecutor murdered for crusading against drugs.5-9
- DirectorEugene CorrStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett goes on leave to spend some time with his young troubled son Billy, who can't adjust to the unexpected new situation in the household. Tubbs falls for the widow of an assassinated drug lord, whose family is now being targeted.5-10
- DirectorMichael B. HogganStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoTubbs is held prisoner by a "reformed" psycho he put away years ago, who is obsessed with eradicating crime through extreme methods.5-11; Originally Episode 5-13; I shifted the rest of the episodes with Edward James Olmos(Lt. Castillo), except for the series finale, ahead of the Episode "Miami Squeeze", where he's shot and critically wounded. Figured I'd give him more time to recover!
- DirectorChip ChalmersStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen a drug bust nabs artwork instead of drugs, Crockett and Tubbs enter the underground art scene, but a cop from New York (Michael Chiklis) takes control of the operation to protect the artwork.5-12; Originally Episode 5-14; see above.
- DirectorRuss MayberryStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoWhen a routine bust goes bad, the team gets approached by a group of rogue cops who have their own vigilante justice in mind. Castillo approves Crockett and Tubbs decision to infiltrate the group, but when one good cop is killed, that decision comes into question.5-13; Originally Episode 5-15; see above.
- DirectorMichelle ManningStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett recruits the young cop from the Line of Fire episode to assist in an investigation of a dandy British drug lord and his operation in Miami, which includes the son of an anti-drug legislator. Also, Sonny visits a shrink.5-14; Originally Episode 5-11; see above.
- DirectorVern GillumStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett's estranged cousin Jack, the swindling but lovable black sheep of the family, needs Sonny's help after he unknowingly robs the underboss of a dangerous, flamboyant drug lord obsessed with Shakespeare to pay off a debt.5-15; Originally Episode 5-12; no Castillo
- DirectorColin BuckseyStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoSonny infiltrates a KKK-like hate group to catch the serial killer responsible for the death of several Holocaust survivors. However, he might be looking at the wrong place.5-16
- DirectorAlan MyersonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoExperimental EMP railgun is stolen by the son of Al Lombard, Sonny's recurring frienemy and former mob underboss, who vanished after his boss Librizzi sent hitmen after him. When Al reappears to visit his kid, the hitmen find them.5-17
- DirectorAlan MyersonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe team has double trouble, first with a strung out vigilante (Miracle Man) messing up their busts, and second, a TV crew who wants to film it all for a reality TV show.5-18
- DirectorRobert IscoveStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoThe Young Victims Unit, a new squad of undercover officers, are put to the test when a new deadly drug begins to circulate on a college campus in Miami. They suspect a reputable but dangerous college professor.5-19
- DirectorRichard ComptonStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoValerie returns to Miami to help a friend turned junkie, whose teenage daughter is being preyed upon by her abusive drug dealer. She also hopes of possibly rekindling her romance with Tubbs. Meanwhile Stan returns to his gambling ways.5-20; never aired until it was included in reruns on USA Network.
- DirectorRuss MayberryStarsDon JohnsonPhilip Michael ThomasSaundra SantiagoCrockett and Tubbs, figuring they're on their way out, are recruited by the government to help a dictator escape from his war-torn country - with double-crosses at every turn.5-21; series finale.