Per policy, this recap contains unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned
A drug dealer tosses a large amount of cash over a bridge onto a speed boat before going to a house boat where his wife is suspended. No sooner does he do so than he ends up being caught up in an explosion and both are killed. This is observed by Crockett and Tubbs who had the drug dealer under surveillance. Analysis afterward reveals that this is one of several such murders that have probably been carried out by someone in the DEA.Deciding to make a target for law enforcement, they set Crockett and Tubbs up with fake identities and a million dollars in cash. They would then act as smugglers to go down to Columbia and make a drug deal with Trudy posing as Tubbs' wife. This would hopefully draw out the murderer. Befriending a drug smuggler named Jimmy Cole (Glenn Frey), they take his plane down and proceed to get involved in numerous complications even before getting targeted by the Extortionist.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Affably Evil: Jimmy is a drug smuggler heavily involved in the trade but extremely honorable and helps the heroes escape from an ambush. He even ends up taking a bullet for them.
- Cool Plane: Jimmy has a tiny plane that allows him to stay under radar and smuggle cocaine from Columbia to Florida.
- Damsel in Distress: Trudy is kidnapped and held next to a bomb in a mobile home as part of the Extortionist's scheme.
- Dirty Cop:
- The Columbian police Lieutenant lets Tubbs go because he expects a payoff.
- Lieutenant Jones from Homicide is the Extortionist murdering drug dealers and their wives.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Glenn Frey's character, Jimmy, ends up taking a bullet for Crockett and Tubbs. He lives, though.
- I Have Your Wife:
- The Extortionist's plan is to kidnap the wives of drug dealers and then ransom them back before blowing them up.
- The Extortionist eventually captures Trudy, ties her up, and plants a bomb beside her.
- The Mole: There's a leak in the department that is getting drug dealers and their loved ones killed. It is Lieutenant Jones from Homicide.
- Morton's Fork: The Extortionist ends up blowing up the wives of the drug dealers (along with the drug dealers themselves) regardless of whether he's paid or not. Which is why Tubbs has to jump on the boat.
- Race Against the Clock: Crockett has to get Trudy free from where she's imprisoned before the Extortionist blows the building up.
- Strapped to a Bomb: The Extortionist ties people to anti-motion tremblers, causing a bomb to go off if anyone tries to cut them loose.
- Take a Third Option: Tubbs has a choice between letting the Extortionist go and him blowing up Trudy as well as Crockett or not throwing the money and letting Crockett and Trudy get blown up. Tubbs instead attempts to apprehend the Extortionist to buy them more time to escape.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The episode is based on the Glenn Frey song "Smuggler's Blues". It even plays several times during the episode and guest stars the singer.
- Wretched Hive: Cartagena is depicted as a place of corrupt police, powerful cartels, and lots of violent crime.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: The Extortionist kills everyone who pays his ransom. He also kills those who don't pay his ransom.
