Miami Vice (TV Series) Child's Play (1987) User Reviews

The season 4 trend continues

[frankenbenz · 9/10 · 10 August 2007]

Make it 5 for 5 so far in season 4. No other season up until 4 has strung together 5 solid episodes in a row, so i'm inclined to believe season 4 is going to take the crown as best MV season (unless 5 blows me away).

The writing in this episode is top notch, worlds apart from the formulaic crap that pervaded most of season's 2 and 3. I'm not sure what happened to improve the quality of the writing so much, but the producers should be credited with going out and finding the talent to seriously legitimize MV.

Don Johnson gets tossed a thick chunk of meat to sink his teeth into with this episode and he proves that he has the chops to chow down. Crockett pops a little kid in the opening sequence and until the complexities of the plot are peeled back one layer at a time, he spends most of this episode dealing with the guilt associated with the accidental shooting and also of his own parenting issues.

EJO also gets to dish out a great monologue in a moment between his character (Lt. Castillo) and Crockett. Not only is the writing crisp and real, it probes the depths of Castillo's stone faced personality, revealing a compassionate man beneath the ultra stoic veneer.

This episode is a treat, not only because of the depth to the characters are written, but also because of a truly intelligent and unpredictable plot. Bravo.

Crockett shoots a child

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 18 June 2012]

The opening suggested that this might be another lighter episode as a bunch of kids try to pickpocket Switek as he pretends to be a homeless person sleeping on a bench... that misconception is soon corrected when Crockett hears a man threatening a woman in the apartment neighbouring their stakeout location. He goes in and apparently subdues the situation; then a gun appears from behind a door; he fires only to realise he has shot a thirteen year old child. It turns out that the gun the child was holding was a real 9mm Browning Hi-Power; that doesn't make it much easier for Crockett as he has still shot a child. The original stakeout was intended as part of an operation against a group of gun smugglers and as the case continues it becomes clear that part of the consignment was a number of Browning pistols from the same batch as the one the child had; clearly his father must be involved somehow. As the child lies in hospital Sonny decides that he must see his own son again but when he gets there he has a surprise; there is a new man in his ex wife's life and he intends to adopt Crockett's son.

This was a fine episode which showed Crockett living with the consequences of his actions; even though his actions were justified by the circumstances they would obviously affect any normal person. Don Johnson really shone in this episode as he depicted Crockett attempting to come to terms with what had happened and dealing with finding out that there was a new father figure in his son's life. The story itself was solid and there was plenty of action... probably the most action of this season so far. There were a couple of notable guest stars; Ving Rhames, who played the boys 'father' and singer Isaac Hayes who played a gun dealer who Crockett loses his cool with. Some viewers may find the revelation that the child wasn't quite the innocent he seemed a bit of a cop out but I thought it fitted in with the story well enough.

Some deep family stuff

[Mr-Fusion · 8/10 · 14 February 2016]

"Child's Play" opens with some pretty dark stuff - Crockett shoots a kid in the line of duty - and there's some nice material to work with here. Don Johnson certainly offers a great performance; and I like that they used his brooding to bring back Caroline and Billy (what better time for Jan Hammer to bust out with Crockett's Theme?). Eventually, it moves a bit away from this, turning into something larger with Chicago gangs and gun running (not to mention Isaac Hayes and Ving Rhames).

But it's really about the painful decisions brought about by the high cost of Vice work. Don Johnson owns this episode, and as the later seasons go, it's a winner.

8/10

Way to go!

[TexasRaider · 10/10 · 5 July 2007]

I just got done ripping "Honor Among Thieves?" from Season 4, so I thought I would make a positive comment to balance my negative one. This is probably Don Johnson's best piece of acting in this season, maybe the whole series. There were many truly great episodes, "El Viejo", "Shadow in the Dark", "Out Where the Buses Don't Run", "Down for the Count" "Payback", "Definitely Miami", etc. But this one does not get the same buzz, probably because it is carried by the force of the acting, not the shootouts or action scenes...in fact it is the shooting at the first that sets up the rest of the show. I know the end is a bit weak, where the gun runner dies (his fall is lame, I admit), but the strength of the episode is that it takes what Vice usually dishes out for entertainment, a shootout, turns it on it's head and makes the hero, Crockett, a bad guy for doing the right thing. I think it is one of the top 5 episodes of the whole show - give it a look.

Real life

[bgmccloud · 10/10 · 26 January 2024]

Great writing & acting. Don Johnson does a great job showing real vulnerability about real life situations. Olmos has a really good scene talking with Crockett & giving a pep talk. The scene with Tubbs telling Crockett about how much he cares about him then brings the humor was really authentic. They really seem like blood brothers. One of my favorite episodes. What a surprise seeing a young Ving Rhames as a bad guy. Love seeing Isaac Hayes as a guest appearance. He did great. Glad they finally brought back Sonny's ex-wife & son. Curious who came up with the idea of this episode. Glad they finally brought Don Johnson back with his longer beautiful hair.

Excellent stuff!

[kitteninbritches · 9/10 · 15 February 2021]

One of the best episodes in the whole five series. The writing and acting can't be faulted and Don Johnson has the chance to display an intensity of emotion which is truly gripping to watch, and believable too. We also get a chance to see some closeness between Crockett and Tubbs actually voiced and even Castillo unbends enough to tell Crockett he cares about him. It's not all angst though, there's action as well plus a nice twist to the story. (Oh and it also features my favourite handgun , the Browning 9mm Hi-Power! I had one for years and it was good to see it get a namecheck :) ) You can tell it's the 1980's by the pleasing lack of political correctness too.