"Knock, Knock... Who's There?"

Knock, Knock... Who's There?
Season	3
Episode	21 (65th Overall)
Airdate	March 27, 1987
Repeat Airdates	July 3, 1987 January 8, 1988
TV Rating	TV-14 L-V
Writer(s)	Dick Wolf Teleplay:Michael Duggan
Director	Tony Wharmby
Guest Stars	Elizabeth Ashley Jimmie Ray Weeks Samm-Art Williams Martin Ferrero and Ian McShane
Previous Episode	"By Hooker by Crook"
Next Episode	"Viking Bikers from Hell"

"Knock, Knock... Who's There?" is the twenty-first episode of Miami Vice's third season. It premiered on March 27, 1987, and and was rerun on July 3, 1987 and January 8, 1988.

Summary

Crockett and Tubbs go after a group of fake DEA agents who are raiding drug busts and taking off with the money and the product, but no criminals.

Plot

Crockett and Tubbs are making a deal with Esteban Montoya, but are dismayed to find that the cocaine is not as pure as specified, so Crockett refuses to make the full down payment of $60,000. Montoya promises that the full shipment will be of the specified quality, but Crockett and Tubbs hold fast. Suddenly, DEA agents raid the bar, cuffing and Mirandizing everyone, including Crockett and Tubbs. After calling Metro-Dade to pick them up, they leave with the drugs and cash.

Crockett is infuriated the DEA blew a two key deal when they had Montoya heading for a major sixty key bust, and on top of that confiscating $250K of departmental buy money. DEA policy states they will not release any information about ongoing operations except coordinated efforts, so Castillo escalates the buy money issue to Washington. At the local DEA office, the lead agent holds a meeting in which he expresses displeasure at being informed of a raid he didn't know about by local Vice cops, and requests reports regarding all ongoing operations by the end of the day, to determine who could be involved in the bust. In the meantime, no one is to discuss the investigation outside the office. Afterwards, agent Linda Colby accidentally knocks her coffee onto her case files, leaving her flustered and angry; when the lead asks her about time off due to care for her ill son [who is currently hospitalized] she refuses, stating that she's fine and needs the money to pay the exorbitant hospital bills.

Montoya is released from jail, owing to the drug evidence having disappeared. Tubbs and Crockett are called in for a chat with Internal Affairs, where agent Stroh questions Crockett's decision to bring the full $250,000 to a dry run and reveals there were no sanctioned DEA operations last night. He believes that Crockett and Tubbs took the buy money for themselves, fueled by his distaste for undercover vice and their dismissive attitude toward rules and regulations. When Crockett is goaded into making a harsh remark, Stroh turns off the tape recorder before vowing to destroy him and Tubbs if he finds any proof of their corruption. Meanwhile, another "DEA" raid is executed, but this time it escalates into a shootout when one of the dealers pulls a hidden gun. Linda Colby, who is monitoring the operation from her car, is visibly distraught.

Crockett questions a dealer named Balcala, who was "arrested" in the raid; he refuses to talk without the possibility of a deal, but reveals that the DEA guys didn't show any badges. Linda angrily confronts the team of fake agents, citing their sloppy procedure as what got one of their own killed; she demands to see "him" later that night. Castillo suggests the raids may be conducted by a renegade group, but DEA has placed a gag order on the case; Crockett has a contact he will check on. Linda talks with the head surgeon about her son Brian, who needs a kidney transplant, and must be on dialysis until then; he reminds her that the costs are staggering, which she dismisses. She then visits Brian, who isn't scared about what's to come.

That night Linda meets with Montoya on the waterfront, saying she changed her mind about backing out of the deal and needs cash for her son's treatment. Montoya fronts her money as an advance for assistance later. Crockett and Tubbs go to see Chuck Colby, Linda's husband. He is a former cop now confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the line of duty. Linda comes home, acting evasively upon seeing Crockett and Tubbs and attempting to excuse herself, saying she is swamped with paperwork. The conversation gradually turns to the DEA raids and Chuck is disappointed, realizing that the true purpose of Crockett and Tubbs' visit was only to gather information, and not to visit with him as a friend; upset, he tells them to leave.

Reviews of Federal court records show no DEA warrants issued and no DEA raids authorized on the individuals targeted. Crockett theorizes it could be only one rogue DEA agent with access to equipment and raid procedures, and he has an idea on how to smoke them out. Chuck and Linda talk about the money for Brian's transplant and treatments; Chuck doesn't want any quick fixes for their money issues. Crockett and Tubbs go see Izzy and ask that he gets the word out about "Burnett" carrying a load of weight. Crockett and Tubbs then meet Linda at a diner; she fills them in on the DEA side while they give her the Miami-Dade side. Linda has nothing significant to share, but once they leave is visibly unnerved. Later, she meets with Montoya, who wants her to pull Burnett's file. Crockett and Tubbs look through numerous DEA mugshots without success; Stroh stops by to let them know he's recommending unpaid suspension for the money's disappearance.

Gina and Trudy ID one of the raid crew as Porfi Avila, a Colombian national into drugs and guns and employed by Montoya. Crockett goes to Linda to let her know what's going on; when she returns home Chuck reveals the large and suspicious roll of money he found hidden in their pantry. In the face of his indignance and anger, Linda says she's only concerned with Brian, but Chuck insists she not go through with whatever it is she's doing. She tells him it's too late. Linda gives Montoya Burnett's file and Montoya, now knowing Burnett is a cop, calls Crockett to set up a "meet" that night. Linda goes to see Brian in the hospital, his condition worsening. She tearfully kisses his cheek, before leaving for the meet.

At Calle Ocho, Switek and Gina watch the crowd as Crockett and Tubbs wait. Montoya and his goons show up; Linda, emerging from the crowd, pulls her gun and orders them to freeze. A gunfight breaks out; Linda is hit in the shoulder while Crockett and Tubbs kill all the goons and Montoya flees into a hotel, where Crockett manages to get the drop on him. Linda survives, but is under arrest for the fake DEA raids and the deaths they caused. She tells Crockett he would have done the same if it were his son. Crockett is briefly shaken by her emotional plea, and haltingly proceeds to read her Miranda Rights.

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
• 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

• Elizabeth Ashley as DEA Agent Linda Colby
• Jimmie Ray Weeks as Chuck Colby
• Samm-Art Williams as Lead DEA Agent
• Martin Ferrero as Isadore "Izzy" Moreno
• Ian McShane as Esteban Montoya

Co-Starring

• James Dybas as IAD Officer Stroh
• Robert Small as Greenspan
• Tim Bice, Tony Vila, Jr., and Stefan Laurantz as DEA Agents

Uncredited

• Harold Bergman as Doctor

Notes

• The first meeting between Linda Colby and Montoya exudes a Stygian vibe. The scene's setting is inside a covered dock (it looks almost subterranean) with Montoya arriving on a speedboat like a grim ferryman accompanied by two underworld thugs. During the meet, aqua blue water shimmers off contours on Colby's face as the pair discuss her son's desperate situation. On the soundtrack "Underwaterboys" plays with lyrics inserted at appropriate moments. Montoya places money in Colby's hand followed by unsolicited advances before departing. Other moments in the episode involve thematic references including Stroh threatening to hold Crockett's head underwater until he floats and the use of the song "Ride Across the River" in the opening scene.
• This is one of two episodes ("Honor Among Thieves?" is the other) whose title ends with a question mark.
• The fourth-season episode "Badge of Dishonor" shares some of the same plotlines, in that case it's corrupt local (South Beach) police running false raids, instead of federal (DEA) agents, and the leader is one of their own.
• IAD Agent Stroh would return to investigate Tubbs in season 4's "Amen... Send Money".

Goofs

• When Linda Colby is speaking with the doctor in the hospital hallway in front of the coffee machine, the doctor‘s cup of coffee can be seen beneath the spout, already dispensed.

Production Notes

• Filmed: February 5, 1987 - February 13, 1987
• Production Code: 62028
• Production Order: 65

Filming Locations

• Club Z, 1235 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Montoya's club)
• Miami Beach Police Department, 1100 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Metro-Dade scenes)
• Miami Children's Hospital Foundation, 3000 SW 62nd Ave Miami (DEA Office)
• Glendale Memorial Hospital, 1420 South Central Ave, Glendale CA (hospital exterior)
• Miami Children's Hospital, 6125 SW 31st Street, Miami, Room 211/212 and corridor (Linda/Brian at hospital)
• Stevens Boat Yard/Merrill Stevens Dry Dock, 1270 NW 11th Street, Miami (Linda/Montoya at boat dock)
• Cavalier Hotel, 1320 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (Exterior of the Colbys' apartment)
• Puerto Antonio, 1649 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Crockett/Tubbs/Linda meet)
• So Be It Art Gallery, 925 Lincoln Road Mall (Crockett/Tubbs/Izzy meet)
• Lincoln Road Mall between Michigan Ave and Jefferson Ave, Miami Beach (Calle Ocho festival)
• Sterling Building 927 Lincoln Road Mall, Miami Beach (Vice/Montoya shootout)

Music

• "Ride Across the River" by Dire Straits (Opening sequence in bar)
• "Heat of the Night" by Bryan Adams (During second fake DEA raid)
• "Underwaterboys" by Shriekback (Linda meets with Montoya)
• "Santiago" by Fernando Villalona (Crockett and Tubbs meet with Linda in diner)
• "The Fashion Show" by Grace Jones (Linda meets with Montoya in bar)
• "La Vecina" by Belkis Concepcion y Sus Chicas (End sequence at Calle Ocho)

Quotes

• "Right hand not talking to the left?" -- Tubbs to Crockett after the fake DEA agents raid their deal
• "After all the clothes, cars, and boats are washed away, you're still a thirty-two five a year flatfoot like all the rest of us. And if I find out you're even the least bit dirty -- I'll hold your head underwater until you float!" -- Stroh to Crockett
• "This is a new technique, ask the question and get the answers?" -- Balcala to Crockett when asked if DEA raided him
• "Open your palms, Crockett...I'm about to nail you to a cross!" -- Stroh to Crockett