Miami Vice (TV Series) The Great McCarthy (1984) User Reviews

High speed thrills!

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 14 March 2012]

After a robbery small time crook Izzy Moreno is caught red handed... and red faced after getting covered in dye; he is going down a long time if he can't provide the police with information on somebody much higher up the criminal food chain. The name he drops is Louis McCarthy; a man with a taste for fast boats and the sort of lifestyle that is funded by the importation of large quantities of cocaine. The problem is nobody knows how he is doing it; there is no where he could possibly be hiding it on his boat. Crockett and Tubbs want to get into his private boat race in order to get closer to him but he doesn't want them there and if they lose they are out several thousand dollars. They manage to get in when Crockett bets his Ferrari in a game of pool but the money is still a problem; they borrow it from Gina but she has to have it back in a few days so they have to be sure they can win! While trying to get into the race Tubbs gets acquainted with McCarthy's girl friend, Vanessa, and quickly they fall in love, something that could make things difficult for him later.

This was another exciting episode; there was no real threat that any of the team would get hurt; McCarthy never showed any propensity for violence; indeed he didn't even struggle when finally caught. The reason it was exciting was the boat race; it was great watching several high speed boats powering through the water to the song 'Born to be Wild'. It was also fun to see the return of Martin Ferrero; his first character died in the pilot but now he is playing Izzy the informant. On the down side a bit too much time was spent on Tubbs and Vanessa's relationship; Miami Vice should be about busting bad guys while looking sharp; not romance with long love scenes! Still the relationship story had a twist at the end that made it almost worth while.

Miami Vice: The Great McCarthy

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 12 March 2010]

This time drugs are being smuggled through the use of powerboats with Crockett and Tubbs hoping to catch McCarthy(William Gray Espy), a prominent businessman whose elaborate operation uses speed races on the water as a front for moving the merchandise. Crockett and Tubbs will worm their way into the race, hoping not only to win but catch McCarthy in the act on the water, since the means for his smuggling has remained a great mystery eluding the Vice cops. The finale of this episode has an exciting powerboat race set to the rock tune, "Born to be Wild." Tubbs gets intimate with McCarthy's squeeze, Vanessa(Maria McDonald), who might be involved in the murder of a talented money launderer and informant, Gifford(Charles McCaughan), a Yale grad with a knack for skimming from his clients, having helped the Vice nab crooks before. Included is a scene where Crockett takes McCarthy to school in a game of pool. McCarthy is one of the more gentlemanly(..and less difficult and dangerous) big city criminals that Crockett and Tubbs have had to shake down. Martin Ferrero's first episode as Crockett and Tubbs' go-to stool pigeon, Izzy.

A good vibe.

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 6 September 2018]

The Great McCarthy is a good vibe episode. The Vice series evolves into the formula which works great. Crockett is the tough/sarcastic realist which drives the series. The Great McCarthy episode introduces Izzy the comic relief informant. A weasel which Crockett is so so sarcastic too! There is great back ground characters with lines like " you look delicious!" is a great vibe. Clothes, cars, parties all for back ground about the excess of Miami in the 80s another great vibe. McCarthy the smart hard core criminal is the staple of a Vice episode. Rest of the Vice cast is starting to add comedy, and balance of insight for the series. Not a great episode, but has a good vibe. There is something there that is magic. 7 out of 10 stars.

Escapist entertainment of the finest order

[DVD_Connoisseur · 9/10 · 10 March 2007]

"The Great McCarthy" is indeed a great episode of "Miami Vice". We are introduced to the off-the-wall Izzy Moreno in the fast-moving opening sequence, an eccentric character that was to prove to be a popular regular in the show.

With Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" accompanying an exciting powerboat race, this is stirring stuff. You just don't get big-budget thrills like this on television these-days.

Possibly the only weak point to the episode is a seemingly endless love scene between Tubbs and his love-interest Vanessa, played by the beautiful Maria McDonald. Just when you think, "Surely this can't go on any longer? This must have been on for ages," the scene continues from another camera angle. It's almost like the episode had been completed and the director had been informed it was 60 seconds too short and he'd have to re-cut it.

William Gray Espy is a decent baddie in this tale, the great Mccarthy himself.

Superb. 9 out of 10.

The great '80s

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 7 April 2016]

Tubbs just can't catch a break. Every time he finds love, someone comes along to ruin it for him. Angelina didn't work out because Crockett ended up shooting her father to death, and hell, his partner even "cop-blocked" him in favor of an early a.m. stakeout. And here we have 'The Great McCarthy' in which his love prospects are struck down when he falls for a murderer. It gives new meaning to Rod Stewart's "Some Guys Have All The Luck", which, speak of the devil, is featured in this episode.

But more than a statement on Tubbs' hard luck with women, this episode rides on our Vice cops being players. This thing's got excess written ll over it. Power boats, big-end men's fashion, post-modern real estate, all of the good stuff. The bad guy's not all that interesting, but the high style is entertaining.

Also, Izzy Moreno, in one of his more likable appearances.

7/10

Abysmal Episode of a Great Show

[NitroPressPro · 3/10 · 28 June 2010]

I don't really understand the positive reviews of this episode. Miami Vice is a great show and, taken as a period piece, holds up quite well almost thirty years later. However, this episode is hands-down one of the worst episodes made, and one of the worst big-budget show episodes I've ever seen. The script is terrible, the acting is wooden, the directing inept and lifeless, the audio is mumbled and echoing in many spots, and the director fills in the extremely thin and predictable story with endless shots of the tacky band, the tackier bed and the silly, go-nowhere boat "race." The tacked-on chase scene by Gina and Trudy is straight out of an episode of "I Love Lucy," if not pure Stooges. The only good thing was that we laughed ourselves sick for the entire forty-five minutes... Honestly, even the biggest MV fan can give this episode a pass unless it's watched with a big crowd and beers all around.

The worst episode so far

[xbatgirl-30029 · 2/10 · 12 May 2021]

I'm rewatching the series for the first time since the Eighties and this is, by far, the worst episode so far. My biggest impression is that someone dropped a mountain of cocaine on the director and everyone involved while making this. I actually had to look up who directed this episode. I was shocked to see this wasn't the first thing he'd made. It doesn't help that the script was a complete mess. The first writer listed has only done one other show. I have to think Joel Surnow was brought back maybe to try to fix it but it is beyond help. Surnow does love a white interrogation room though. That scene was so poorly staged and acted it might as well have been part of a high school play. People mention the love scene as long and boring - but the boat race is twice that. Zero drama. All (cheesy) style and no substance. Didn't care about a single character. Too much going on. I'm actually angry at the show after watching. I think the director used this episode as an excuse to hire a bunch of models (who can't act) and hang out at the beach. And probably do a ton of cocaine.

The Great McCarthy

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 6 April 2021]

Crockett and Tubbs enter the world of powerboat racing.

They try to ingratiate themselves with businessman Louis McCarthy. He is using the powerboat racing as a cover to smuggle drugs.

His accountant is also one of Crockett's informants.

This is a middling episode that tries to show other facets of Miami Beach.

However I felt that several songs from the band at the party and Tubb's romance was pure filler.

It used to be the case in the 1980s that some shows particularly glamour soaps used extended lovemaking scenes.

The powerboating scenes were poorly staged.

No wonder there was a comic scene featuring Switek and Zito to add some variety.

The fake boat race was the worst

[polite-45692 · 2/10 · 22 July 2019]

The fake boat race was the worst. No real purpose.