User Reviews

Ever since I first watched 'The Fix' - it's been a good ten years - I've focused on the negatives; namely, the guest stars (b-ball pros Bill Russell and Bernard King), and blotted out the positives. For one, it's one of Miami Vice's bleaker episodes, which fits in well with the show's M.O. Two, it's Crockett and Tubbs actively trying to help Russell's trapped character instead of just nailing some bad guy. And the other guest stars (Michael Richards and Harvey Fierstein) really lend color to the skeevy underworld.

I still think Russell and King are its weak points, but it's a good episode overall. And that look on Don Johnson's face at freeze frame is a hell of an ending.

6/10

The Fix started out with an excellent opening scene in an exotic bird sanctuary at the Miami Metro Zoo. The sheer excellence of that scene was only helped by Jan Hammer's heavenly "Cool Runnin" score, which paralleled the action and the flying/squawking of the birds. That was a quintessential Miami Vice scene.

Judge Roger Ferguson (Bill Russell) couldn't get out of his own way in terms of gambling and paying off debts; which included asking his own son Matt (Bernard King) to throw a key basketball game.

Michael Richards (Pagone) turned in a solid performance as a loan shark/thug. I really thought he was pond scum in this episode but he was only doing his "job" as an enforcer of paying what you owe.

Don Johnson as always turned in a top-shelf performance. Particularly in the scene where he had a special talk with Roger at a ghetto stand-in park (the producers, director, etc. wanted the viewer to think it was taped in Overtown or one of the other ghettos of Miami proper) that was actually taped in Coconut Grove. Then of course the ending scene (I'm not going to give away the scene) where Crockett's eyes get as big as saucers due to what he just saw happen in front of him. What a scene and what a freeze-frame by Mr. Johnson.

Also I enjoyed the usage of music in this episode. A scene that was another testament of Hammer's musical gift was the 24:18-24:23 mark of the episode. In this scene, Judge Ferguson walked to the basketball awards area of his house and proceeded to pick up a picture of him and Matt in happier times, with Hammer's "Dutch Oven" hitting a sentimental chord/keys as the camera zoomed in on the picture.

Using Madonna's "Gambler" song at the race track just after the opening credits was perfect for the fast paced action of horse and dog racing. Also Jim Gilstrap's "The Water's Too Deep" was a very good musical touch/cue in the scene where Judge Ferguson was shooting baskets at the school's basketball gym. Dominating his psyche and soul in that scene were his gambling debts and his impending plea for his son to throw a key basketball game.

"The Fix" is a strong episode from Season 2 that shines with its superb cast. Directed by movie legend Dick Miller, the opening bird-filled sequence is exciting and sets the scene for a memorable tale. I don't know if Miller is interested in exotic birds but the pre-titles action occasionally pauses for yet another angle on a parrot or other feathered friend before cutting back to the heroes in pursuit of the bad guys! The unmistakable Harvey Fierstein appears as corrupt lawyer, Benedict, while "Seinfeld"'s Michael Richards plays the creepy main baddie. Basketball legend Bill Russell steals the show, though, as the judge who is the victim of his own gambling habit.

While the finale is almost trademark "Miami Vice", this is a well paced and gripping morality tale.

9 out of 10. As always, Hammer's music is perfect for the mood of the show.