Brother's Keeper (Miami Vice)


"Brother's Keeper" is the pilot episode of the first season of the American television series Miami Vice. The episode premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two-hour season premiere. The episode was received well critically, winning two out of three Emmy Awards for which it was nominated.
NBC would rebroadcast the episode in 2006 during the opening weekend for executive producer/director Michael Mann's theatrical remake starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.

Plot

is a Metro-Dade vice detective who has just lost his partner Eddie Rivera due to a car bombing while they were trying to arrest a small-time drug dealer. He also is in the middle of an ugly divorce, since his wife can't stand the stress of having a husband working undercover with criminals.
Crockett is investigating a Colombian drug dealer, named Calderone, when he meets a New York police detective named Rafael Tubbs. Since they are having problems approaching Calderone due to a traitor, Crockett and Tubbs team up, after a suggestion from Crockett's Lieutenant Rodriguez to work together, even though they don't like each other.
Crockett is also dating a colleague, Gina Calabrese. But he is not very fortunate, since he whispers his wife's name to Gina, while they were in bed. Gina and her colleague Trudy Joplin still help Crockett for all job matters, and they discover that Rafael Tubbs is actually a dead New York officer. Crockett confronts "Rafael" and discovers that he is Rafael's brother Ricardo who wants to catch Calderone, his brother's murderer.
They still decide to work together and it pays off, and discover the traitor to be Scottie Wheeler, a DEA Agent who works closely with the Vice squad. Calderone is arrested, but within a matter of hours gets a judge to sign his release on $2 million bail. Sonny and Rico arrive just in time to see Calderone get into a seaplane and fly off. Crockett and Tubbs decide that they like working with each other after all, and Tubbs decides to transfer to Miami.

Style

This episode started developing the trademark Vice style. Aspects of Miami Vice considered revolutionary lay in its music, cinematography, and imagery, which made large segments of each episode resemble a protracted music video. A good example of combining these three aspects is found in this episode when Crockett and Tubbs are in the Ferrari Daytona Spyder, driving through a damp, nighttime Miami downtown heading to a somber showdown with a sinister, murderous drug lord as "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins surrealistically plays along. As Lee H. Katzin, one of the series' directors, once stated, "The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions and energy than plot and character and words."
The pilot included some of the series trademarks, such as Crocketts' Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4, his boat, the St. Vitus Dance and Elvis, his pet alligator. Other stylistic accents, such as Crockett's famous tortoise shell Ray-Ban Wayfarers or Tubbs's 1964 Cadillac Coupe de Ville were still missing.

Awards and nominations

This episode was nominated for three Emmy awards and won two Emmy's, for best sound editing and cinematography.
YearResultAwardCategoryRecipient
1985NominatedEmmy AwardOutstanding Writing in a Drama SeriesAnthony Yerkovich
1985WinnerEmmy AwardOutstanding Cinematography for a SeriesRobert E. Collins, Cinematographer
1985WinnerEmmy AwardOutstanding Film Sound Editing for a SeriesBruce Bell, Sound Editor; Jerry Sanford Cohen, Music Editor; Victor B. Lackey, Sound Editor; Ian MacGregor-Scott, Sound Editor; Carl Mahakian, Sound Editor; Chuck Moran, Supervising Sound Editor; John Oettinger, Sound Editor; Bernie Pincus, Sound Editor; Warren Smith, Sound Editor; Bruce Stambler, Sound Editor; Mike Wilhoit, Sound Editor; Paul Wittenberg, ADR Editor; Kyle Wright, Sound Editor

Music