Brother's Keeper (Miami Vice)
"Brother's Keeper" is the pilot episode of the American crime drama television series Miami Vice. Written by series creator Anthony Yerkovich and directed by Thomas Carter, the episode premiered on NBC 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
James "Sonny" Crockett is a Metro-Dade vice detective who loses his partner Eddie Rivera in a car bombing during an undercover operation with 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 an unknown mole, Crockett and Tubbs team up after a suggestion by the former's lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, even though they don't like each other.
Crockett begins dating a colleague, Gina Calabrese. However, on their first date, he whispers his ex-wife's name to Gina while they are 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.
Crockett and Tubbs agree to still work together and it pays off, discovering that the traitor is Scott Wheeler, a DEA agent who works closely with the vice squad. After being confronted and assaulted by Crockett, Wheeler is then arrested. Soon afterwards, Calderone himself 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."Mann was dedicated to ensure that the show was as colorful as possible, and took inspiration from Miami's Art Deco era use of pastel colors. The "In The Air Tonight" sequence was visually inspired by Edward Hopper's Nighthawks; the "Bernay's Cafe" neon sign visible when Crockett makes his phonecall was added by the art department, even though a café itself isn't visible. The sequence also features no diegetic engine sounds from the vehicles.
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 Emmys, for best sound editing and cinematography.| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipient |
| 1985 | Nominated | Emmy Award | Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series | Anthony Yerkovich |
| 1985 | Winner | Emmy Award | Outstanding Cinematography for a Series | Robert E. Collins, Cinematographer |
| 1985 | Winner | Emmy Award | Outstanding Film Sound Editing for a Series | Bruce 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 |