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in: Season 5 episodes

"To Have and to Hold"

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To Have and to Hold

Tohaveandtoholdtitle

Season
Episode
10 (100th Overall)
Airdate
February 10, 1989
TV Rating
TV-14 L-S-V
Writer(s)
Director
Guest Stars
Previous Episode
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"To Have and to Hold" is the tenth episode of Miami Vice's fifth season (and the 100th episode overall). It premiered on February 10, 1989.

Summary[]

Tubbs falls for the widow of a murdered drug lord, while Crockett helps his son work through his remarried mother's pregnancy.

Plot[]

While attending the wedding of Louis Pendroza and his arranged wife Maria Pendroza (introduced to him by a man named Guerrero), Tubbs & Gina (undercover in the Pendroza organization) are introduced to Louis' son Ramon, his sister-in-law Lucia and her son Carlos. Louis offers to meet Tubbs & Gina on his yacht after he has another drink with his new bride. Just after the marriage party leaves the church, an armored RV full of hockey-masked shooters hits the motorcade, killing most of Louis' men, then shooting Louis down in the arms of his new bride.

At OCB, the team discusses the possibility of a power struggle between Ramon, Lucia and whoever ordered the hit on Louis. Castillo thinks the DiMarco family, long fighting with the Pendrozas (and who killed Lucia's husband Carlos, Sr.), may have been responsible, but the ballistic report shows the weapons used were from South America. Castillo wants the team to check it out, and Tubbs to remain with the family. Crockett gets a call from his ex-wife Caroline that their son Billy is getting in trouble in school and acting up, and wants him to come up to see his son. Crockett arrives at the Ballard house and finds she's very pregnant with a son, a fact she failed to tell Crockett about. They talk about Billy's recent behavior and Crockett wonders if it's because of her condition and that she & Bob didn't talk about the possibility of a brother or sister beforehand. Caroline grows upset and angry, then crying to Crockett about it all, and Crockett agrees to talk to Billy. Tubbs goes to see Maria at Louis' funeral and she tells him how they met and that she hoped she would have loved him in time. Ramon asks to see Tubbs and lets him know about a shipment coming in and wants him to move it, but before that, he wants Tubbs to meet with DiMarco's main shooter Tony Murati to work out a deal to have DiMarco's muscle move to the Pendroza camp. Tubbs & Murati meet at a restaurant to discuss the deal, but before anything is discussed a female assassin shoots Murati down before Tubbs kills her.

Tubbs confronts Ramon about being setup at the restaurant. Ramon says that a truce with DiMarco has been worked out and he still wants Tubbs to handle the expected shipment--with a $100,000 bonus, and invites him to a party to celebrate the truce. Crockett & Billy talk and Billy says he feels like he's getting in the way, that all his mom & stepdad talk about is the baby, and he wants to live with his dad. Crockett would love to have Billy come live with him, but the Vice cop reminds Billy of his lifestyle and work, especially the dangerous people he's with, and lets him know that his mom & Bob both love and care about him. Billy gets angry saying that no one, not even Crockett, wants him around. Lucia gets disgusted at Carlos Jr.'s lack of interest in taking over the family business (because his father was killed for the "business"). Caroline wants to put Billy into therapy, and Crockett feels he should spend more time with him, even promising to take a month off of work to spend with his son. Tubbs & Maria start talking at the party when DiMarco shows up and a drunk Lucia gets angry about inviting her husband's murderer into their home. Ramon strikes Lucia when continues to make a scene and Maria asks Tubbs to take her away from there. Caroline & Crockett talk happily about their early experiences with Billy, including his all-night illnesses, when Caroline gets a call from Billy's school that he's been in a fight and ran off. Crockett finds him watching Frankenstein in a movie theater, then Billy tells his dad he hates that his mom & Bob are having a baby. Crockett tells Billy he'll miss out on something special, a little brother, and tells him about his brother Jake protecting Crockett from a bully at a baseball game. Billy said that's different because his dad was younger and they had the same parents, and he doesn't want his brother as a friend. Crockett asks Billy to be nice to his mom because she's having a tough time dealing with his behavior and the baby. Maria tells Tubbs about wanting to be in the city when she was younger, and how she and her father spent evenings listening to and hearing him sing Pavarotti. Maria & Tubbs nearly kiss but she turns away at the last moment. She admits she has feelings for Tubbs she wishes she didn't have, and then bids him good night. A scream rings out and Lucia is found dead. Carlos, Jr. strikes Ramon and accuses Ramon of killing his mother and threatens to kill kim.

At OCB, Tubbs fills the team in on his upcoming 50 key shipment, and on Maria's idea that Ramon had Louis killed to take over the family business. Gina confirms that the DiMarco's had nothing to do with the hit. Castillo wants Ramon after he picks up the load but Tubbs wants to stay on Maria because could be next on the hit list as being the heir to Louis' estate. Castillo cautions Tubbs about getting personally involved with her, but Tubbs laughs at the suggestion. The deal goes down, but before Tubbs can test the drugs a group of armed men show up, shooting up the money and drugs and Tubbs & Ramon barely escape with their lives. Tubbs' shoulder is injured in the attack. Ramon vows revenge on DiMarco, and Maria takes Tubbs upstairs to tend to his injury. Tubbs tries to convince Maria to leave but she refuses. Maria feels the DiMarco's are out to destroy the entire Pederoza family, and says she will not leave without Tubbs, and then they make love. After they finish, he offers to get Maria someplace safe, tells her not to let anyone in, and he'll be back ASAP. After Tubbs leaves, Maria goes to see Carlos, Jr. in his room and comforts him. Carlos Jr. then goes down to see Ramon, and Ramon finds Maria has been manipulating Carlos, Jr. all along. Maria urges Carlos Jr, to kill Ramon and he shoots him when Ramon reaches for his gun. Maria takes Ramon's gun and fatally shoots Carlos, Jr., telling him it's because he is a Pendroza.

At the morgue, they find one of the dead shooters from Tubbs' meet with Ramon has a scorpion tattooed on his neck, indicating he is a Escorpionista, a gang of Colombian assassins. Tubbs feels Maria is in more danger now if they are after the Pendroza's. Castillo reads the autopsy report and finds that the weapon used on Tubbs' hit is the same one used on Louis' hit, and is not sure if the DiMarco's are behind it. Castillo confronts Guerrero about the marriage between Louis & Maria that he arranged. He reveals Maria is part of the Escorpionistas and her family arranged for her being married to Louis with through their influence. Crockett tells Billy about keeping him for a month cruising the Keys, fishing and other father-son things, and Billy promises he will work to be better to his parents. Tubbs stops by to see Maria to get her out of the house, saying he knows who's killing the Pendrozas. Maria tells Tubbs she loves him regardless of what happens, but when Tubbs looks at her neck he sees the Escorpionista tattoo and demands to know why she set up the family. She says the Pederozas came to her village when she was younger and killed and tortured both her parents. She hid under her bed listening to her father's screams as well as the death of her mother. She says she arranged to marry into the family to exact revenge. Maria said her feelings for Louis were fake, but with Tubbs was real. Maria's brothers bust in to demand Tubbs die because he tipped the cops off but Castillo also arrives and he and Tubbs shoot both brothers down. In the cross fire, one of them fatally wounds Maria, who dies in Tubbs' arms. On the St. Vitus Dance, Crockett & Tubbs are fishing. Tubbs is talking about how he shouldn't have gotten involved with Maria, and Crockett talks about Caroline & Bob having a baby, and thinks she is "the one that got away". Tubbs talks about the dream woman he wants to find one day, but they both say "no" and laugh off the idea of a normal life as the episode ends.

Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Notes[]

  • This marks the final appearance of Belinda Montgomery as Caroline and Clayton Barclay Jones as Billy.
  • In the final season, Castillo's demeanor warms somewhat, asking Crockett, "Give Billy a hug for me," and later buying Billy a fishing rod to use with his father on a trip.
  • Tubbs' comments about being disturbed by seeing so many people being killed in the opening shootout seem a little strange, given the huge volume of death and destruction he and his partner have born witness to over the course of the series thus far. His stance would be more understandable if the victims were innocent civilians, but in reality they were exactly the kind of drug dealers and hired enforcers who routinely meet violent ends on the show, often at the hands of Tubbs himself.
  • Weddings seem to be deadly in Vice. Possibly the only wedding that doesn't end fairly immediately in death is that of Crockett and Caitlin in season 4, although she was ultimately killed around a year later.
  • This episode contains another example of a "fake" song composed by Tim Truman filling in as popular music in one or more scenes -- specifically, the music playing at the first party at the Pedrosa mansion. Such tracks would appear quite frequently throughout the final season, no doubt indicative of the show's shrinking music budget.
  • The language continues to become darker as season 5 progresses, with "bitch", "bastard", and "son of a bitch" being used freely. While this is commonplace today, in the 80s it was considered rather extreme for a television show.
  • Once again, this episode features one of the leading duo becoming involved in a romantic relationship with a woman linked to the case that inevitably ends in heartbreak by the end of the episode, a recurring plot point in the series. This time, it is Tubbs who falls into this trap, falling for Maria, only to discover she is the villain of the piece and for her to be shot dead at the end of the episode. Rather appropriately, given that this is the one of the final times this trope would be used on the show, the episode ends with Crockett and Tubbs discussing their miserable and often tragic luck with relationships. Interestingly, despite Crockett's infamous reputation for losing girlfriends on the show, Tubbs' partners actually have a higher mortality rate.
  • With five dead (Louis, Lucia, Ramon, Carlos, Jr. and Maria), the Pendrozas have the most family members killed in Miami Vice, even beating the Calderones (who lost four -- Esteban, Angelina, Orlando and Xavier). In addition, all the Pendrozas were all killed in this one episode, while the Calderones died out over three episodes across three seasons.
  • The abandoned hangar where Tubbs and Ramon narrowly escape an ambush previously appeared in season 1's "Evan", as the location where Evan Freed gives a demonstration of the MAC 10, in season 2's "Phil the Shill", as the location where Rivers has two dealers executed, and in season 4's "Missing Hours", where it portrays Lou DeLong's lab. The hangar also appears prominently in the 1995 film Bad Boys, where it is the location of the climactic shootout (and in which it is obliterated by explosion).
  • This is the fourth time Tubbs is shot in the line of duty during the series. Previously, he was hit in the arm in the pilot "Brother's Keeper", took a glancing bullet to the head in "Viking Bikers from Hell", and was shot in the chest (but saved by a bulletproof vest) by Sonny Burnett in "Mirror Image". Subsequent to this episode, he gets hit in the arm in the series finale "Freefall". In comparison, Crockett was shot only twice during the series -- in "Stone's War" and, most notably, "A Bullet for Crockett".
  • This is one of several episodes that does not end on a freeze frame.

Goofs[]

  • When Caroline blames herself for being a terrible mother to Billy and Sonny comforts her and says "her hormones are all happening and she is blowing it all out of proportion" you can briefly see a crew member leaning in the door frame on the left hand side behind Caroline. Realizing his misposition he quickly moves out of the camera frame.
  • The deceased shooter in the morgue is said to have died of a gunshot wound to the chest, yet no entry wound is visible on his body.

Production Notes[]

  • Alternate Titles: "Til Death Do Us Part" and "Second Chance"
  • Filmed: December 15, 1988 - December 23, 1988
  • Production Code: 63913
  • Production Order: 100

Filming Locations[]

  • Church of the Little Flower, 2711 Indian Mound Trail, Coral Gables (Church in wedding)
  • Crossroad Taragona Drive / Alhambra Court, Coral Gables (Shootout in opening)
  • Woodlawn Park Cemetery, 3260 SW 8th St, Miami (Pendroza's funeral)
  • 46 Star Island (Ramon house)
  • Silvio's, 8478 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA (exterior restaurant before shootout)
  • Carlyle, 1250 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (interior restaurant shootout, Castillo meets Guerrero)
  • 618 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach (Crockett/Billy walk)
  • Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach (movie theater)
  • Watson Island Marina (Crockett/Tubbs fish)

Music[]

Quotes[]

  • "I should have listened to my mother and become a doctor!" -- Tubbs to Crockett after witnessing the hit on Luis
  • "You going to name the new son "Sonny?" -- Crockett to Caroline
  • "I'm gonna find me a straight woman, not connected to the business, doesn't have a career, that will love me with all her heart!" -- Tubbs to Crockett
  • "...have babies, white picket fence, Winnebago, weenie roasts!" -- Crockett in response
  • "Naah!"--Crockett and Tubbs together
Season 5 Episodes:

"Hostile Takeover" • "Redemption in Blood" • "Heart of Night" • "Bad Timing" • "Borrasca" • "Line of Fire" • "Asian Cut" • "Hard Knocks" • "Fruit of the Poison Tree" • "To Have and to Hold" • "Miami Squeeze" • "Jack of All Trades" • "The Cell Within" • "The Lost Madonna" • "Over the Line" • "Victims of Circumstance" • "Freefall" (Series Finale)

The "Lost" Episodes:
"World of Trouble" • "Miracle Man" • "Leap of Faith" • "Too Much, Too Late"

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