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"Prodigal Son" always strikes me as an unusual choice of opener for the second season of "Miami Vice" as it takes Crockett and Tubbs to Manhattan. Fans who had waited a long time to see the glorious Miami scenery, Sonny's Ferrari, Elvis and so on, would have to wait 'til the next episode before things returned to normal. Interestingly, the BBC in the UK chose to show things in a completely different order, opening the second season with Episode 11 "Phil the Shill"! Anyway, "Prodigal Son" is a good episode, let down by a rather weak plot from the pen of Daniel Pyne. There are plenty of memorable scenes and a genuine "jump" moment thrown in for good measure. Seeing Crockett walk the night streets of New York accompanied by Glenn Frey's "You Belong To The City" is simply superb. There's a smörgåsbord of great songs in this feature-length episode including tracks from Billy Ocean, Huey Lewis & The News, U2, Phil Collins and Bryan Ferry to name just a few.In terms of talent, Penn Jillette appears as dodgy Jimmy Borges and Gene Simmons plays a multi-millionaire playboy with the excellent name of Newton Blade.Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, this is a reasonable tale but it's a little rambling and convoluted. The action, however, is top-notch and the production values are through the ceiling.Sonny shows he has a real weakness for bad ladies - a theme that will continue to run through the show. Here, we have the slightly nuts Margaret, played by Susan Hess.An ambitious but somewhat disappointing start to the season - 8 out of 10.
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