Miami Vice: The Death of the Icon

The final, two-hour episode of Miami Vice aired on May 21, 1989 and was entitled Freefall.

The final show-down found Crockett and Tubbs heading to a mythical Latin American country called Costa Morada. Their objective-to bring back General Manuel Borbon who was a brutal dictator who they were hoping would testify against major members of South America’s most powerful drug cartel. A revolution breaks out while they are in Costa Morada which nearly collapses the hated Borbon and his strongly held leadership of the country.

Crockett and Tubbs try to smuggle Borbon out of the country, dodging both the revolutionaries and the drug lords who want to keep Borbon in power so they can continue to use the country as the main artery for their cocaine-selling empire.

The detectives return to Miami to realize they have been betrayed and together, they make a last stand. Both Crockett and Tubbs leave the force at the end of the episode, and relay back to how they came to be together with the original line from the first episode asking Tubbs if he would be interested in pursuing a career in southern Florida law enforcement. Tubbs, smiling knowingly, replies, “Maybe…maybe.”

Executive producer Michael Mann decided the fifth season would be the last for Miami Vice. The primary reason for his decision was financial-Miami Vice ran constantly over its budget. The show needed to be sold into syndication in order for Universal Studios to recoup its investment.

The final season was moved back to the 10 p.m. time slot so that it no longer competed with CBS’s night-time television soap opera Dallas, but to no avail. Miami Vice finished in 53rd place in the ratings.

The series was sold to the USA Cable Network, which began running the syndication in the fall of 1989.

This was the ultimate death of the TV icon series, Miami Vice…or was it?

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