The BEST episodes of Miami Vice season 1

Every episode of Miami Vice season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Miami Vice season 1!

Miami Vice centers around the unlikely partnership of Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), two undercover detectives from the Miami Police Department’s vice squad battling against drug trafficking and prostitution in the city’s seamy underworld. Its use of New Wave music and colorful Italian men’s fashion was groundbreaking and the series had a defining influence on the popular culture of the 1980s.

Last Updated: 12/5/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
Brother's Keeper
star
7.96
667 votes

#1 - Brother's Keeper

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1984

Miami Vice Squad detective James 'Sonny' Crockett has just lost his partner, Eddie Rivera, in a car bombing. Crockett was investigating Esteban Calderone, a Colombian cocaine dealer, when he meets a New York City narcotics detective, Rafael Tubbs. Since they are having difficulties approaching Calderone, Crockett and Tubbs are forced to work together. Crockett later confronts "Rafael" and discovers that he is actually Ricardo, Rafael's younger brother and a New York detective, who is seeking revenge on Calderone for killing his brother. They agree to work together and Calderone is collared, but he pays $2 million bail and escapes. In the end, Crockett persuades Tubbs to enter a career in "Southern law enforcement." NOTE: This was originally a two-hour pilot movie, but in syndication it is shown as two separate episodes.

Directors: Thomas Carter
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Lombard
star
7.95
169 votes

#2 - Lombard

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/10/1985

After crime boss Al Lombard is subpeonaed to testify against the Family, Crockett & Tubbs are assigned to provide his protective custody.

Writer: David Assael
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Evan
star
7.90
151 votes

#3 - Evan

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/3/1985

A former Vice member, Evan Freed, is now working undercover with ATF to bring down an arms dealer. Sonny and Evan have a mysterious past that Tubbs is determined to learn. They must reconcile long enough to calibrate efforts in the weapons sting.

Directors: Rob Cohen
Writer: Paul Diamond
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Smuggler's Blues
star
7.89
184 votes

#4 - Smuggler's Blues

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/1/1985

Crockett & Tubbs are recruited by DEA to pose as drug smugglers in an effort to expose someone in law enforcement who is murdering drug dealers and their families.

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Calderone's Return (1) - The Hit List
star
7.71
273 votes

#5 - Calderone's Return (1) - The Hit List

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1984

Tubbs works to save Crockett and his family from falling victim to an Argentinean assassin hired by Calderon.

Directors: Richard Colla
Writer: Joel Surnow
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Golden Triangle (2)
star
7.69
184 votes

#6 - Golden Triangle (2)

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/18/1985

Castillo asks Crockett & Tubbs to help him find an old adversary, a drug smuggler who has kidnapped his former wife.

Directors: David Anspaugh
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Golden Triangle (1)
star
7.67
179 votes

#7 - Golden Triangle (1)

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/11/1985

When Crockett & Tubbs masquerade as hotel security acting as pimps, they uncover an operation to rip-off the hotel vault.

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The Maze
star
7.66
140 votes

#8 - The Maze

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/22/1985

Tubbs is taken hostage by a gang in an abandoned hotel, thanks to the would-be heroics of a cop trying to avenge his partner's murder.

Directors: Tim Zinnemann
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Heart of Darkness
star
7.62
359 votes

#9 - Heart of Darkness

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/1984

Crockett and Tubbs are skeptical of rumors that an undercover FBI agent has betrayed an operation. Switek and Zito setup a burglary sting operation.

Writer: A.J. Edison
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No Exit (a.k.a. Three-Eyed Turtle)
star
7.61
224 votes

#10 - No Exit (a.k.a. Three-Eyed Turtle)

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1984

Federal agents join Crockett and Tubbs to stop an arms dealer from selling stolen Stingers.

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Calderone's Return (2) - Calderone's Demise
star
7.52
290 votes

#11 - Calderone's Return (2) - Calderone's Demise

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1984

While on the trail of Calderone in Bimini, Tubbs falls in love with a woman who forces him to consider his loyalties.

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Cool Runnin'
star
7.43
333 votes

#12 - Cool Runnin'

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/1984

Crockett and Tubbs must enlist the help of an unreliable petty thief to bust a drug operation run by a trio of homicidal Jamaicans.

Directors: Lee H. Katzin
Writer: Joel Surnow
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Nobody Lives Forever
star
7.41
138 votes

#13 - Nobody Lives Forever

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/29/1985

While three joyriding teenage boys embark on a murderous, drug induced rampage, Sonny is distracted by a new romance.

Directors: Jim Johnston
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Milk Run
star
7.32
191 votes

#14 - Milk Run

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/4/1985

Two naive New Yorkers hope for one big score running coke from Colombia to Miami.

Directors: John Nicolella
Writer: Allison Hock
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One Eyed Jack
star
7.24
219 votes

#15 - One Eyed Jack

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1984

Crockett attempts to help an old flame free herself from a racketeer, then is framed for taking bribes. Martin Castillo becomes the squad's new Lieutenant.

Directors: Lee H. Katzin
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Rites of Passage
star
7.21
182 votes

#16 - Rites of Passage

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/8/1985

Tubbs is reunited with an old flame, an NYPD detective, looking for her missing sister. While he and Crockett are searching for a call girl's killer.

Directors: David Anspaugh
Writer: Daniel Pyne
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The Great McCarthy
star
7.16
182 votes

#17 - The Great McCarthy

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1984

Crockett's renovated cigarette boat is used in an operation to stop a man who smuggles drugs using his speedboat racing hobby.

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The Home Invaders
star
7.01
148 votes

#18 - The Home Invaders

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/15/1985

Crockett resents Castillo's attack on his mentor during an investigation of a string of brutal burglaries in wealthy neighborhoods.

Directors: Abel Ferrara
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Give a Little, Take a Little
star
6.97
199 votes

#19 - Give a Little, Take a Little

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1984

In court, Crockett refuses to identify an informant and spends more time in jail than the drug dealer he is trying to bust. Gina and Trudy infiltrate a prostitution ring. Gina is placed in a compromising position when they are suspicious that she is not a hooker.

Directors: Bobby Roth
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Little Prince
star
6.87
195 votes

#20 - Little Prince

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/14/1984

Crockett thinks that a wealthy industrialist's son nailed in a heroin bust could lead them to bigger connections in the supply network.

Writer: A.J. Edison
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Glades
star
6.41
189 votes

#21 - Glades

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1984

Crockett and Tubbs wade through the Everglades after a witness who bolted from custody and must testify in 48 hours.

Directors: Stan Lathan
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Made for Each Other
star
6.29
158 votes

#22 - Made for Each Other

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/8/1985

By day, Switek and Zito supervise a pair of jive-talking master informants; by night, they're sharing quarters with Switek's girlfriend --- who's also Zito's ex.

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