In the earlier seasons Zito, along with his partner Switek were essentially the comedy relief characters but this season he has become more serious and here gets to take centre stage. Zito is working undercover at a boxing gym and invites Crockett and Tubbs to watch one of their contender's fights; while there they spot one Oswaldo Guzman; a former drug dealer who Crockett knows killed one of his informants. Refusing to believe that Guzman is clean they set up an operation to see what he is involved with now. It turns out he is into betting and is keen to see his boxers on television; this gives Crockett and Tubbs as the approach him undercover with a proposition from a cable network; although if he wants the contract he will have to get young hopeful Bobby Sykes fighting for him. It is intended that his approaches to Sykes' management will lead to Guzman implicating himself but instead it gets his manager killed. More determined than ever to catch Guzman Zito takes on Sykes' management; a position that put him in real danger.
I suspect this episode will appeal most to boxing fans but even if you aren't interested there is plenty to keep you entertained here. Guzman is a particularly unpleasant villain; the early scene where he dealt with a boxer that wanted to leave him made that clear. There isn't too much action in the conventional sense... no chases, gunfights or explosions but there are lots of boxing scenes and to my inexpert eye they looked realistic. I'm sure even non-boxing fans will recognise guest star Don King; he doesn't really interact with the other characters; just delivers a soliloquy; it is entertaining though! It was nice to see actor John Diehl take the lead as Zito; he showed he could carry the story without his sidekick always by his side. I won't spoil the ending but will say it comes as quite a shock and is followed by the words 'to be continued'.
I suspect this episode will appeal most to boxing fans but even if you aren't interested there is plenty to keep you entertained here. Guzman is a particularly unpleasant villain; the early scene where he dealt with a boxer that wanted to leave him made that clear. There isn't too much action in the conventional sense... no chases, gunfights or explosions but there are lots of boxing scenes and to my inexpert eye they looked realistic. I'm sure even non-boxing fans will recognise guest star Don King; he doesn't really interact with the other characters; just delivers a soliloquy; it is entertaining though! It was nice to see actor John Diehl take the lead as Zito; he showed he could carry the story without his sidekick always by his side. I won't spoil the ending but will say it comes as quite a shock and is followed by the words 'to be continued'.
