Crockett, Tubbs and Switek are staking out the Cruz family, and Tubbs meets with Francesco Cruz (Francesco Quinn) to discuss dealing electronics (including PC 2's), but the meeting ends abruptly when Cruz' brother Felipe (Esai Morales) appears on Francesco's boat, much to Francesco's chagrin.
Felipe broke away from the family business and has made it big as a legit stock broker; the underworld is not sure how to take his sudden return home, interpereting it as a direct threat to the balance of power in the Cruz family. Castillo wants the Cruz family taken down, Felipe or no, and assigns his team. Gina gets the role of being Felipe's best friend while Crockett and Switek (who complains of seasickness) surveill in the Scarab. At a family get-together, Maria Cruz (Rosana DeSoto) mentions this is the first time all the Cruz family has been together in a while, and her husband Jorge (Alfonso Arau) is happy for the first time in years, but Francesco makes clear he is displeased his brother has returned.
Felipe stops by a church in Little Havana run by Father Ernesto Lupe (Daniel Lugo), his uncle, and Gina follows them in, learning that Ernesto is running an AIDS hospice inside his church. Tubbs enters the Cruz warehouse and is chased by a forklift, before Francesco calls it off and the driver is kicked out by a very angry Tubbs. Francesco says he'll deal when he and Jorge are ready, bristling at the suggestion that Felipe calls the shots now and will give Tubbs a better deal. Crockett, Tubbs and Castillo have lunch and discuss the Cruz situation; Castillo suspects Ernesto (despite being Felipe's maternal uncle) is hurting the family business, because he's been involved in civil rights cases since the 60s and his AIDS clinic turns off potential customers. Castillo meets Ernesto at an outside eatery and the Father gives him a list of things needed for his hospice, being as surprised at Felipe's return as Castillo is. That night, someone breaks into Ernesto's home and shoots him.
Homicide finds no forced entry, but a neighborhood punk named Ricky Diaz (Jonathan Del Arco), who has been known to loiter around the clinic, was seen running away after the killing. Trudy runs all the pictures taken by Gina at the hospice and finds a hit -- Louie Garcia, son of Cruz' New York chief and childhood friend of Felipe, suggesting Felipe and Louie are involved in taking over the Miami operation using the hospice as cover. Ernesto's funeral includes some AIDS protesters, and Jorge tells the media that when the killer is caught, tried and punished, then they'll have to deal with the family. Gina sees Felipe and tells him she has a friend that needed help from Ernesto; Felipe wants Gina to see the hospice, as he wants Ernesto's work to continue. Father Vater Wajda (Olek Krupa) asks Castillo to keep the Homicide detectives from talking to the press and avoid Ernesto's name being further slandered by those that hated his work. Gina and Felipe arrive at the hospice to chanting anti-AIDS crowds, and the nuns evacuating the building, having received an order to vacate the premises in 24 hours due to lack of funding. The Sister spots Ricky in the crowd; Gina and Felipe chase him down and Gina arrests him.
Gina says that Diaz has lots of friends with alibis to match, but before turning him loose Gina tells him the Cruz boys are there to pick him up, which quickly changes his tough-guy attitude. When Tubbs tells Diaz that his alibi flies with the cops but not with Cruz, Diaz said he was only spray painting the building when a person in suit and tie walked in. Castillo, watching the interrogation, orders Trudy to track down Louie Garcia. Castillo is revealed to have a history with Ernesto, having in his desk drawer a bible with a picture of Ernesto, Castillo and two other men, along with an inscription written by Ernesto. He decides it is his duty to maintain the hospice after the investigation into Ernesto's death is over. No one can find Garcia, other than a phone conversation between Garcia's and Felipe's fathers that Garcia's son "made it to Miami".
Castillo goes to see the owner of the hospice building, the J.P. Moore Management Agency, who is resistant to the reopening of the building for that purpose, citing "community concerns". When Castillo starts to order a make run on the agency the woman relents, admitting that the building was rented to Ernesto through the Cruz family; however, the church pulled out of the agreement, forfeiting a large security deposit. Wajda says he urged Ernesto to relocate the hospice to a less conflicted area, but he refused, prompting him to back out of the deal. Castillo threatens to take the issue to the press unless the hospice is reopened. Crockett is in his SCARAB when Switek (posing as a telephone pole repairman) notices Felipe leaving the Cruz house in a big hurry. Crockett, who has been spotted, has him notify Castillo while he leads Francesco on a boat chase, which climaxes with Francesco being thrown out of his boat running agound on a sandbar. Felipe arrives to see Louie -- who is revealed to be dying of AIDS (prompting Felipe's return, as he and Louie were former lovers) -- comforting him before he dies, while Castillo watches from the doorway.
Felipe tells Castillo that Louie came to Miami to see Ernesto before he died, with no interest whatsoever in the family business, and now he plans to meet with his family to reveal his secret. Meanwhile, the squad concludes that Jorge may have had something to do with Ernesto's killing, because of the relationship between Louie and Felipe; Castillo wants Jorge brought in. Jorge is unsurprised with Felipe's revelation that he's gay, in contrast to Maria and Francesco's anger. Jorge admits he killed Ernesto himself, because he was poisoning Felipe's mind and caused him to become gay (despite the fact that Felipe said he knew since he was 12, and cried himself to sleep each night out of shame for his father's humiliation). Maria, in revenge for her brother, pulls a gun and starts firing; she hits Jorge in the shoulder before the Vice squad (who heard all) come in and take the gun away. Castillo arrests Jorge for the murder of Ernesto.
Miami Vice was one of the few 80s shows to cover the AIDS epidemic. It was first reported in 1981 and few TV shows then would touch the controversial subject.
According to an interview with director Jan Eliasberg, the original story was to be about the Catholic Church refusing aid for gay AIDS patients, but after a meeting between the Church and NBC, the story was altered to its broadcast form.
It was never stated that Louie was dying of AIDS, but the story and circumstances of Louie and Felipe's relationship (and the fact that Louie was visiting Ernesto's AIDS hospice) implied this was the case.
In the scene with Castillo and Ernesto at the coffee shop, Castillo laughs and holds an extended conversation in Spanish. It is extremely unusual to see Castillo emote as much as he does in this scene (this being the only time in the entire series he laughs), in stark contrast to his normally gruff, emotionless character.
The AIDS epidemic in this episode is presented in the context of a homosexual relationship. AIDS can also be contracted through heterosexual relationships, needle sharing (primarily among drug abusers) and, as in the case of Ryan White and Arthur Ashe, blood transfusions, although this last method of transmission is now virtually non-existent thanks to the extensive tests done on donated blood.
Despite Season 4's emphasis on Crockett, he appears in less than half the episode and does not play much of a part in the investigation (except the boat chase).
"Now you see it, now you don't...because the man from Wall Street takes it (money) to the cleaners and Inscription in Castillo's Bible from Ernesto Lupe
comes out venture capital! -- Crockett about Felipe's potential role in the Cruz business
"To my friend Marty, all of the answers aren't written on the wind, some are right here." -- Ernesto's inscription in Castillo's bible
"Headlines: Archdiocese evicts AIDS patients, simple?" -- Castillo to Wajda
"Sometimes even a simple cop has to be a soldier in battlefields not of his own choosing." -- Castillo threatening to sic the press on Wajda's church if the hospice is not reopened
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