In an attempt to expose Columbian dealer Anthony Acosta and his boss Levec, Castillo must go undercover as Acosta will only deal with fellow Latinos. The first buy goes wrong in spectacular fashion however when a heavily armed group ambushes the deal and makes off with the helicopter that was delivering the cocaine. One of the attackers was killed and identified as a former member of the Special Forces who was also a member of the local Indian tribe. There are several other ex-military in the tribe so Tubbs goes to the reservation posing as an academic to find out what is going on. The chief's son, Joe Dan, was involved in the raid but his motives seem pure as he takes Tubbs into the Everglades and empties several bags of what appears to be cocaine into the swamp... meanwhile we see the chief dealing with Levec. Things soon start to escalate and it becomes clear that Joe Dan is going to war against Levec; the only question is whether his motives are as pure as he claims.
This was a fairly action packed episode with a dramatic shoot out in the opening scene, a spectacular explosion in the swamps and an attack on Levec's house where the assailants use crossbows... there is a little bit of cheating to make the action look better though; when one guy falls over a balcony after being shot he makes an impressive splash in the pool despite there being no way he'd fall that far; in fact the way he was shot made it highly unlikely he'd fall off at all! It was good to see Castillo out of the office; Edward James Olmos is great in the role so it is a pity he doesn't get out more. The scenes in the Everglades showed off some nice scenery as Tubbs was taken through on a swamp boat... I know this isn't a show one watches for the scenery but it makes a refreshing change. For a while it looked as if there was going to be a romantic subplot involving Tubbs and an Indian woman but thankfully nothing came of that. Inevitably there is some politics concerning the treatment of native people but this isn't too heavy handed.
This was a fairly action packed episode with a dramatic shoot out in the opening scene, a spectacular explosion in the swamps and an attack on Levec's house where the assailants use crossbows... there is a little bit of cheating to make the action look better though; when one guy falls over a balcony after being shot he makes an impressive splash in the pool despite there being no way he'd fall that far; in fact the way he was shot made it highly unlikely he'd fall off at all! It was good to see Castillo out of the office; Edward James Olmos is great in the role so it is a pity he doesn't get out more. The scenes in the Everglades showed off some nice scenery as Tubbs was taken through on a swamp boat... I know this isn't a show one watches for the scenery but it makes a refreshing change. For a while it looked as if there was going to be a romantic subplot involving Tubbs and an Indian woman but thankfully nothing came of that. Inevitably there is some politics concerning the treatment of native people but this isn't too heavy handed.