"Heroes of the Revolution"

Heroes of the Revolution

Season	3
Episode	24 (68th Overall)
Airdate	May 8, 1987
TV Rating	TV-14 D-L-V
Writer(s)	Dick Wolf Teleplay: John Schulian
Director	Gabrielle Beaumont
Guest Stars	Jeroen Krabbe Shawn Elliott George Dickerson George Gerdes and Larry Block
Previous Episode	"Everybody's in Showbiz"
Next Episode	Season 4 "Contempt of Court"

"Heroes of the Revolution" is the twenty-fourth episode and season finale of Miami Vice's third season. The episode premiered on May 8, 1987.

Summary

An East German spy uses Gina to bring out a killer who may have been responsible for her mother's death 26 years earlier in Cuba.

Plot

In Havana, Cuba in 1961, Castro's revolution has succeeded. Elena Obregon, a nightclub singer with a young

daughter, Gina, accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Klaus Herzog (Jeroen Krabbe), in her dressing at the nightclub where she performs, the El Gato Negro. Orrestes Pedrosa (Shawn Elliott), a Castro Revolutionary Soldier, is a cruel, possessive man who desires Elena. As he watches her perform, his jealousy is so strong that he pulls a gun and shoots her dead. He storms out as Herzog, who is restrained, screams vows of revenge.

In 1987, the Vice team is staking out Pedrosa, snapping pictures of his entourage, before realizing that another person is doing the same. At OCB, the team runs a make on Pedrosa, finding he arrived in Miami in 1980 during the boat lift and is owner of Equinox Transfer, an import/export company which is obviously a front for moving major drugs; his right-hand man is Garbey, who gets a majority of the action. Switek gets a call that Garbey is on the move to the airport, where he is due to catch a plane to New York. Crockett and Tubbs quickly arrange for their own flight. Switek develops the pictures taken at the stakeout and finds the unknown picture taker is a professional of some kind. Castillo sees the local FBI and is referred to agent Chet Blakemore (George Dickerson), who knew Pedrosa was a main man with Castro during the early days, before he disappeared and resurfaced during the boat lift. They do not know the mystery man, but promise to fax Washington about him. The mystery man comes to the attention of Pedrosa, who furiously orders him found and killed. In New York, Crockett and Tubbs trail Garbey in a taxicab until he enters the Cuban mission, beyond their jurisdiction. Pedrosa's men try a hit on the mystery man but are stopped by Gina and Trudy, and the man escapes.

Gina and Trudy give their reports; Gina thinks the mystery man was hit in the gunfire, so Castillo alerts all hospitals and clinics in the area. Crockett and Tubbs confront Garbey at the Miami airport, but he kills himself by chewing a cyanide pill. Pedrosa's men actively search the neighborhood for the mystery man, who gets the drop on one of them and strangles him after forcing out of him that Pedrosa still listens to jazz at the nightclubs. Crockett feels that Pedrosa has a diplomatic pipeline for his drugs, but Castillo needs more to run with. When Gina gets home

she finds the mystery man waiting for her; he turns out to be Herzog, her mother's former boyfriend, now an East German assassin and intelligence operative. FBI Agent Nick (George Gerdes) thinks he's in Miami either because of an East German connection to the drugs...or because he wants to bring Pedrosa down. Herzog and Gina talk about her mother and how Pedrosa killed her; Herzog says he is here to make good on his vow of revenge.

Castillo discusses Herzog but Gina doesn't reveal she has made contact with him. She and Herzog talk more about her mother and his life with her. Gina tells him about the arrest order and Herzog suggests Gina start singing to bring Pedrosa out, because Gina and her mother look so much alike. Gina auditions at a club, and sings well enough to get a job there. She admits to Castillo she has seen and spoken to Herzog; when he asks why she didn't arrest him she tearfully tells him the truth. Castillo grants Gina a week off to deal with the situation. Gina continues to sing at the club and attracts the attention of Pedrosa, who starts to see the resemblance between Gina and her mother and storms out in distress.

Gina sees Herzog, who still wants to avenge Elena's death and at first will not settle for his going to jail, but agrees to act as bait in exchange for Gina securing an arrest. The FBI finally admits that Pedrosa is Cuban intelligence and want him arrested for drug dealing. Pedrosa decides he must kill Herzog himself to maintain his honor, and plans to wait every night at the club where Gina sings, knowing that sooner or later Herzog will go to hear her. The team raids Pedrosa's place but he's left for The Blue Note, where Gina is singing. Pedrosa spots Herzog and starts firing; Gina shoots him down as Crockett and Tubbs arrive. In the confusion Herzog slips out the back door, sharing one last look with Gina as she watches him leave.

Cast

Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett
Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs
Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese and Elena Obregon
Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek
Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin
Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo

Guest Stars

Jeroen Krabbe as Klaus Herzog
Shawn Elliott as Orrestes Pedrosa
George Dickerson as FBI Agent Chet Blakemore
George Gerdes as FBI Agent
Larry Block as FBI Agent

Co-Starring

Bob Gerchen as Taxi Driver
Joe Rivero as Garbey

Notes

Saundra Santiago played Gina's mother Elena in the opening sequence as well as her normal role of Gina the rest of the episode.
This is the only episode where all of the non-Jan Hammer music is sung live.
At one point, Crockett tells the FBI agents, "You boys are gonna need a little work before you look like James Bond." A month after the episode aired, Krabbe would appear as the main antagonist in The Living Daylights, the fifteenth official James Bond film, playing treacherous Soviet General and drug dealer Georgi Koskov.
This marks the final time a member of the regular cast would sing live on the show, after Philip Michael Thomas' "Livin' The Book Of My Life", in "The Maze", and Don Johnson's "Streetwise" in the episode of the same name (although Johnson did not sing in "Streetwise", Olivia Brown performed her lines from the song).
This episode, the season finale, bookends the third season with Gina episodes -- the season premiere, "When Irish Eyes Are Crying" also had Gina as the focus of the main storyline.
This episode features one of Crockett's rare trips out of state on Miami Vice. Over the course of the series, he also travelled to Saint Andrews Island (in "Calderone's Return (Part II)"), Colombia (twice, in "Smuggler's Blues" and "The Prodigal Son"), Los Angeles (in "Rock and a Hard Place") and Costa Morada (in "Freefall"), as well as a previous trip to New York in "The Prodigal Son". He also mentions trips to Orlando and Atlanta that happen off-screen.
Furthermore, this is no less than the fifth time Tubbs has been to New York during the course of the series -- he starts out there in "Brother's Keeper", is said to be there on leave spending time with Valerie Gordon in "The Home Invaders", returns with Crockett in "The Prodigal Son", and goes there to interview Lucas in "Better Living Through Chemistry".

Goofs

The opening scene in Havana is dated as taking place in 1961. However, Castro's revolution succeed in January 1959.
During the attempted hit on Herzog by Pedrosa's men, some of the civilians on the sidewalk can be seen jumping out of the way long before the shooting actually starts.
The information revealed in this episode would make Gina 27 at the time of the present-day events. This would mean she was only 24 at the time of the pilot episode "Brother's Keeper", which seems far too young for her to have attained the rank of Detective.

Production Notes

Filmed: March 9, 1987 - March 17, 1987
Production Code: 62033
Production Order: 68

Filming Locations

Hotel Victor, 1144 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (El Gato Negro club in Havana, Blue Club in Miami)
South of 5100 Pinetree Drive, Miami Beach (Pedrosa's House)
Corner Washington Avenue / 14th Street, Miami Beach (Gina/Trudy shootout with Pedroza's men)

Music

"Begin the Beguine" by Saundra Santiago (Sung live at nightclub by Gina's mother)
"Stormy Weather" by Saundra Santiago (Gina auditions in nightclub and end sequence where Pedrosa is killed)
"The Jazz Singer" by Nancy Reed (Sung live at nightclub)
"Someone To Watch Over Me" by Saundra Santiago (Sung live at nightclub)

Quotes

"You're a dead man! You're dead! I'll kill you! You're a dead man! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!" -- Herzog vows revenge on Pedrosa
"Do I look like a Russian to you?" -- Tubbs to Ivan the cab driver who thought he was KGB

Season 3 Episodes:

"When Irish Eyes Are Crying" • "Stone's War" • "Killshot" • "Walk-Alone" • "The Good Collar" • "Shadow in the Dark" • "El Viejo" • "Better Living Through Chemistry" • "Baby Blues" • "Streetwise" • "Forgive Us Our Debts" • "Down for the Count (Part I)" • "Down for the Count (Part II)" • "Cuba Libre" • "Duty and Honor" • "Theresa" • "The Afternoon Plane" • "Lend Me an Ear" • "Red Tape" • "By Hooker by Crook" • "Knock, Knock... Who's There?" • "Viking Bikers from Hell" • "Everybody's in Showbiz" • "Heroes of the Revolution"