We Do What We're Told pt IV
Last time we saw Sonny, he was alone in a lighthouse with Tubbs, a little confused. He doesn't know it yet, but this is the beginning of the end of Sonny Burnett.
Which brings us to... 5.2 Redemption in Blood
Burnett does recognize Tubbs. He remembers he's a cop. Not good for Tubbs. Sonny draws on him; Tubbs runs away. Sonny flashes on himself being pissy about bad cops and fires to Tubbs' side, intentionally missing him, giving Tubbs time enough to escape, though he sends Max Headroom and the gang after.
Tubbs runs away like the poor girlymanrunner he is. Actually, he's gotten a less silly run somewhere in the last few years. He eludes the baddies; Burnett joins them only after Tubbs has driven away. I don't think he has the slightest glimmer of an idea why the hell he let the dude go. Or if he does, he's not looking too closely at it just yet.
Tubbs is thinking holy fucking crap, my partner tried to kill me AGAIN as he guns the stolen jeep. This has not been the best few months for Ricardo Tubbs.
Back at the ranch, Tubbs meets with Castillo. He laments that he was this close to getting through to Sonny. Stan asks if Sonny's turned. Tubbs hasn't the slightest.
Sonny gets cute with Camille, or Celeste, or whatever the hell her name is. I guess he actually does like her; I wasn't sure in the last episode. He gives her a panther, which is kinda a weird ass gift, but she seems to like it. She gives him a big hug, he flashes on the past and gets all moody on her, which she's kinda annoyed at; who would blame her?
Sonny and Max do a bit of homicide. Sonny remembers his precious ferarri getting blown to little bits back in Season 3. I think this must disturb him more than anything he's remembered so far. He loved that damn car. SO did I. A moment of silence for the black ferrari. Later Max Headroom is torturing some of El Gato's men, and Burnett tells him to cut them down; he even offers em a job, which cracks me up. When Max questions him Sonny gets a little twitchy on the trigger finger and Max backs down.
El Gato is still sweaty and annoying. He's the one thing about these episodes that just throws me right out. Geez.
Meanwhile, Max is having a side meeting with the commandante. He's trying to depose of Burnett, says Burnett is becoming a cokehead. Which might be him lying. Or might not. Anyhow. The commandante doesn't seem to care who's in charge as long as he gets his cut. Back at the ranch, Burnett is watching tv, lit by those weird electical globe thingies for some bizarre reason. He's totally smashed, lying on the couch, flashing on Tubbs again, confused and hammered and finally losing his iron control. Celeste comes in pretty as a picture and tries to interest him in a little session of "aerobics" but when she kisses him he calls her "Caitie" twice. Then gets a funny look on his face and demands to know who the hell she is. Obviously, this isn't something a girl wants to hear.
Next morning she meets Max Headroom at a nice restaurant. Max has taken fashion tips from Burnett and slicked back his hair. He tells a wacky story about a dairy farmer and somehow forgets that it's the girl cows that produce milk, but makes his point to Celeste that Burnett's losing it and if she wants to keep up her preferred lifestyle she might want to change sides.
Sonny walks along a beach looking pretty and introspective. ONe thing I forgot to mention earlier about the difference between Burnett and Crockett - Burnett is always clean shaven. He remembers getting shot, he remembers Evan, he looks a mite conflicted.
Night, at a boxing ring. As they're moving to leave, Celeste says she forgot her purse. A lame excuse, but Burnett's a bit distracted. So he continues out to the car. Inside Celeste has a change of heart; decides she loves the big confused lunk afterall, and runs out screaming his name. Just about too late. He makes a break for it but the car and just about the whole surrounding lot goes up in a huge fireball. Poor Sonny. She runs to him and he looks quite unconscious.
Max Headroom thinks he's wiped out the competition. He's taking over the business.
Burnett wakes up to one of the lamer 80's cliches - the unwrapping of gauze from around the camera, as if we're seeing from the characters eyes. Grr. Anyhow. Celeste has brought Burnett to a dingy hotel room where a freelancing ER doc has treated him. Not sure how much time has passed, but Sonny's a wreck. It appears his eyes were flashburned, he's having trouble seeing; plus, the gauze. Anyway. He nearly keels over. There's a long moment where he's not really there - he asks if Tubbs is looking for him. I think he's back at the first explosion, the yacht, just for a bit. Celeste, of course, has no idea what the hell he's going on about. Then the recent past catches back up with him and he realizes Celeste had to be the one to help in the assassination attempt. There's some nice acting moments here between Celeste and Burnett as he puts it together and she isn't quick enough to deny it. He keeps looking in the dusty mirror, like he doesn't recognize himself. He tries to kill her but can't - he slowly backs down, completely uncertain what the hell's going on, you can see him starting to crumble. Flashes more on himself with Tubbs, himself on the yacht again. I don't think he knows who he is, but he's starting to admit to himself that something's very wrong. Then he reaches out to Celeste and holds her and at this point
jadefire88 pauses it and asks if Sonny just wanted a hug. And I think she's right; and neither of us were mocking him. Because it's the first genuine thing Sonny's done since he became Burnett. The first time he's reached for anyone since Caitlin died.
El Gato has been driven out of the country. He's whiny. I hate him.
A quick word about Peter Gabriel. His music has been used in some of the most vivid Miami Vice sequences, throughout the entire series. The opening and end of Evan come to mind, and of course the scene with Hackman mentioned previously. Here, it's as if the song was written for the show. In my mind, even more than Phil Collins, Vice and Peter Gabriel go hand in hand. There are times when Vice is perfectly choreographed with the music, this is one of them.
Sonny wanders the sunny streets of Miami in his grey silk suit. It no longer seems to quite fit him. "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel plays. The lyrics start as he looks around at the people, searching their faces, searching the streets surrounding him, not knowing why.
In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail
No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
Ive changed my face, Ive changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose
He pauses. He takes a breath. He watches some old men playing dominoes.
Dont give up
cos you have friends
Dont give up
Youre not beaten yet
Dont give up
I know you can make it good
Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that we'd be the last to go
It is so strange the way things turn
At this, the familiar white Art Deco facade of OCB appears. Sonny wanders through the grey halls.
Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground
His trek through the hall is timed so that he pauses at his old locker right when the last line of the verse is sung. He looks up at his name on the outside of the locker. Crockett. It's hard to convey the strength of Don Johnson's acting in this sequence. His face, his body language, goes through so many different moods, sliding between hesitation and discovery and wonder and fear. I know the man's become somewhat of a joke; but he's truely gifted and he gets so far into this character he give Burnett a kind of scary grace.
Dont give up
You still have us
Sonny smiles, looking at his name. At "us" he turns toward the glass doors of the vice office.
Dont give up
We dont need much of anything
He pushes through the doors, a funny little smile of recognition hovering on his face. He knows this place; it's in his blood. It's his heart. He was the heart of this place. I'm getting cheesy here; I don't care.
Dont give up
cause somewhere there's a place
Where we belong
He pauses, staring at his old desk. The camera circles him, pulls back to reveal everyone in the room standing up, cocking their weapons, aiming at his head. He doesn't move at first, stares down, like he's afraid to breathe; but not because they're about to blow him away. It's because he's home. The song sings about him finding a place where he belongs; that place is terrified of him now.
Rest your head
Sonny raises his hands above his head. I'm still not sure he has any idea what's going on; he was caught up in the joy of finally discovering something familiar, that lost part of himself.
You worry too much
The camera pans over Gina, horrified, and Castillo, opaque, unreadable; but I think even Castillo's surprised for once. Sonny's appearance before their eyes is so unexpected.
Its going to be alright
It hits him - or it starts to - the enormity of what's happened. He looks down again, unable to make eye contact.
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Dont give up
Please dont give up
The song fades. He sits in Castillo's office, Stan and Castillo standing over him. Sonny speaks in this limping soft tone. He remembers the explosion, the "hospitol" and says then "I went to work" for Manolo and Carrerra - as if it were a perfectly natural thing to do. Castillo asks if he remembers shooting a cop on the pier (in "Mirror Image") and he denies it. Stan asks if he remembers shooting Tubbs. Sonny looks up at Stan, then to Castillo, who gives a tiny nod. I think Castillo actually has some compassion - it's there in Stan, too. They're not easy on him; but they handle it quietly. They don't shout, they don't demand.
There's silence. Sonny makes this... horrible broken sound. Hard to describe. He's barely breathing. Castillo says Tubbs was wearing a vest and Sonny's hands go over his face. He says he's not looking for absolution; he asks for "a little help, a little understanding." He still doesn't understand himself. He thinks he can "prove himself" and make it all go away by bringing in the bad guys that were his cohort. Castillo tells him straight up, with no malice, that he's got to book him. Stan gets to do the honors.
Later. Tubbs walks into the white interrogation room. He looks like he wants to cry. It's terrible. Awkward. And by this I mean it's terrible for me to watch, it's painful; not that it's badly played. This time Sonny says he remembers the boat explosion then "a long dark hallway" - which isn't exactly what he told Stan and Castillo. Tubbs is understandably wary. The guy did try to kill him. Twice. Sonny asks for help. RIco says he can't. Sonny actually says please. He says he knows what he's asking; I'm not sure he does. Rico says his sheet makes Dillinger look like Bambi. Yep. Burnett was quite the cold dude. Sonny still thinks it's about proving himself. Tubbs knows they're beyond that. Sonny makes up his mind; right there, to go it alone. Tubbs backs down a tiny bit; says he'll sleep on it. Sonny says there's no time to sleep. He goes off with Stan. Tubbs is done.
Crockett asks Stan how he's been. They run into some random uniform cop who tells a hood that Crockett used to be the best cop in the business. The only reason for this is to provide a plot point later, and it's suitably awkward; but then, it's also serves the purpose of prompting the audience to ask themselves just what would happen to Sonny if he was sent to prison. At the elevator Sonny complements Stan on losing weight, pats him down. Ambushes him as the elevator opens; takes his gun and leaves. Makes you wonder about the security at OCB, that a wanted man could waltz in and out with impunity. But I'm not complaining. Really, the rest of the ep has issues, but after that Peter Gabriel scene they could break out in a hula dance and I'd be happy.
Sonny surprises Max Headroom in a horrid blue office. Max is understandably a little shaken. He thought he was home free, and the scary motherfucker just wouldn't die.
Back at Vice, Tubbs is wearing a bizarre neckwear item of some kind. Castillo tells someone to file something under "gypsies" - I'm sure I'm not hearing this right. Anyway. Tubbs is bummed, he thought Crockett was being straight with him. Thing is, he was. Tubbs is convinced, finally, that Crockett has turned.
Sonny meets with Max at what looks like a Hell's Angels Diner. He's as scary as ever. Max is squirming. He's smart enough not to trust Burnett, but he's too nervous not to go along with him. He gives Sonny the location of the next drop. Sonny sneaks out the men's room window to make the call to Vice. Ah, the time before cell phones. Must have sucked. Max sends a watchdog after him; Sonny tosses the dude into Max's table and Max wets himself. No, they don't show that part. That's just my conjecture.
Some kind of abandoned water treatment plant. Burly dudes toss the rotting produce that's camoflaging dope in crates. Burnett's back to looking sharp as a tack. The dude from earlier in the OCB tells Max that Burnett is a cop. Max is understandably put out. He's about to string up Sonny when a vice helicopter makes a timely appearance. Why do they always make the annoucement in just the right way to allow the bad guys to scatter like rats? Anyway, Tubbs goes after Max. Various thugs get shot. Max knocks Tubbs off of a railing and makes ready to put a cap in his ass. Sonny takes him out. His gun always sounds like a cannon compared to the others. Sonny grabs Tubbs and pulls him to safety. Sonny makes to leave and Tubbs asks him where he's going. He says there's someone "he doesn't want to let get burned."
Celeste. First; wouldn't the cops make sure Sonny didn't leave the scene? Ah well. He's a wiley bastard. He has a moment with Celeste, who's packing to leave to wherever. He actually did feel something for her, even if she did try to kill him. He says she doesn't have to go. She asks if he's gonna take care of her. He can't take care of anybody, let alone himself at that point; he says she's smart enough to take care of herself if she breaks her nose candy habit. They kiss.
El Gato, he of the shiny clothes and sweat, shows up. He forces Sonny and Celeste downstairs and demands to know where the safe is. Sonny's all like "what safe?" nudge nudge it's not over there, not over in that room over there and Celeste catches on. They're such bad liers on purpose that El Gato's just stupid enough to fall for it. "It's not there, don't go in there," Sonny says, but he doesn't really mean it. And, in the only truely lame part of the last four episodes and a slight let down (though not enough to ruin anything by any means), the panther from earlier leaps out to take down El Gato.
The End.
Whew. I'm still blown away about how good these episodes still are, even after nearly twenty years. If I remember right, nothing is solved right away after this either, which totally raises my esteem for them even more.
Which brings us to... 5.2 Redemption in Blood
Burnett does recognize Tubbs. He remembers he's a cop. Not good for Tubbs. Sonny draws on him; Tubbs runs away. Sonny flashes on himself being pissy about bad cops and fires to Tubbs' side, intentionally missing him, giving Tubbs time enough to escape, though he sends Max Headroom and the gang after.
Tubbs runs away like the poor girlymanrunner he is. Actually, he's gotten a less silly run somewhere in the last few years. He eludes the baddies; Burnett joins them only after Tubbs has driven away. I don't think he has the slightest glimmer of an idea why the hell he let the dude go. Or if he does, he's not looking too closely at it just yet.
Tubbs is thinking holy fucking crap, my partner tried to kill me AGAIN as he guns the stolen jeep. This has not been the best few months for Ricardo Tubbs.
Back at the ranch, Tubbs meets with Castillo. He laments that he was this close to getting through to Sonny. Stan asks if Sonny's turned. Tubbs hasn't the slightest.
Sonny gets cute with Camille, or Celeste, or whatever the hell her name is. I guess he actually does like her; I wasn't sure in the last episode. He gives her a panther, which is kinda a weird ass gift, but she seems to like it. She gives him a big hug, he flashes on the past and gets all moody on her, which she's kinda annoyed at; who would blame her?
Sonny and Max do a bit of homicide. Sonny remembers his precious ferarri getting blown to little bits back in Season 3. I think this must disturb him more than anything he's remembered so far. He loved that damn car. SO did I. A moment of silence for the black ferrari. Later Max Headroom is torturing some of El Gato's men, and Burnett tells him to cut them down; he even offers em a job, which cracks me up. When Max questions him Sonny gets a little twitchy on the trigger finger and Max backs down.
El Gato is still sweaty and annoying. He's the one thing about these episodes that just throws me right out. Geez.
Meanwhile, Max is having a side meeting with the commandante. He's trying to depose of Burnett, says Burnett is becoming a cokehead. Which might be him lying. Or might not. Anyhow. The commandante doesn't seem to care who's in charge as long as he gets his cut. Back at the ranch, Burnett is watching tv, lit by those weird electical globe thingies for some bizarre reason. He's totally smashed, lying on the couch, flashing on Tubbs again, confused and hammered and finally losing his iron control. Celeste comes in pretty as a picture and tries to interest him in a little session of "aerobics" but when she kisses him he calls her "Caitie" twice. Then gets a funny look on his face and demands to know who the hell she is. Obviously, this isn't something a girl wants to hear.
Next morning she meets Max Headroom at a nice restaurant. Max has taken fashion tips from Burnett and slicked back his hair. He tells a wacky story about a dairy farmer and somehow forgets that it's the girl cows that produce milk, but makes his point to Celeste that Burnett's losing it and if she wants to keep up her preferred lifestyle she might want to change sides.
Sonny walks along a beach looking pretty and introspective. ONe thing I forgot to mention earlier about the difference between Burnett and Crockett - Burnett is always clean shaven. He remembers getting shot, he remembers Evan, he looks a mite conflicted.
Night, at a boxing ring. As they're moving to leave, Celeste says she forgot her purse. A lame excuse, but Burnett's a bit distracted. So he continues out to the car. Inside Celeste has a change of heart; decides she loves the big confused lunk afterall, and runs out screaming his name. Just about too late. He makes a break for it but the car and just about the whole surrounding lot goes up in a huge fireball. Poor Sonny. She runs to him and he looks quite unconscious.
Max Headroom thinks he's wiped out the competition. He's taking over the business.
Burnett wakes up to one of the lamer 80's cliches - the unwrapping of gauze from around the camera, as if we're seeing from the characters eyes. Grr. Anyhow. Celeste has brought Burnett to a dingy hotel room where a freelancing ER doc has treated him. Not sure how much time has passed, but Sonny's a wreck. It appears his eyes were flashburned, he's having trouble seeing; plus, the gauze. Anyway. He nearly keels over. There's a long moment where he's not really there - he asks if Tubbs is looking for him. I think he's back at the first explosion, the yacht, just for a bit. Celeste, of course, has no idea what the hell he's going on about. Then the recent past catches back up with him and he realizes Celeste had to be the one to help in the assassination attempt. There's some nice acting moments here between Celeste and Burnett as he puts it together and she isn't quick enough to deny it. He keeps looking in the dusty mirror, like he doesn't recognize himself. He tries to kill her but can't - he slowly backs down, completely uncertain what the hell's going on, you can see him starting to crumble. Flashes more on himself with Tubbs, himself on the yacht again. I don't think he knows who he is, but he's starting to admit to himself that something's very wrong. Then he reaches out to Celeste and holds her and at this point
jadefire88 pauses it and asks if Sonny just wanted a hug. And I think she's right; and neither of us were mocking him. Because it's the first genuine thing Sonny's done since he became Burnett. The first time he's reached for anyone since Caitlin died.
El Gato has been driven out of the country. He's whiny. I hate him.
A quick word about Peter Gabriel. His music has been used in some of the most vivid Miami Vice sequences, throughout the entire series. The opening and end of Evan come to mind, and of course the scene with Hackman mentioned previously. Here, it's as if the song was written for the show. In my mind, even more than Phil Collins, Vice and Peter Gabriel go hand in hand. There are times when Vice is perfectly choreographed with the music, this is one of them.
Sonny wanders the sunny streets of Miami in his grey silk suit. It no longer seems to quite fit him. "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel plays. The lyrics start as he looks around at the people, searching their faces, searching the streets surrounding him, not knowing why.
In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail
No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
Ive changed my face, Ive changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose
He pauses. He takes a breath. He watches some old men playing dominoes.
Dont give up
cos you have friends
Dont give up
Youre not beaten yet
Dont give up
I know you can make it good
Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that we'd be the last to go
It is so strange the way things turn
At this, the familiar white Art Deco facade of OCB appears. Sonny wanders through the grey halls.
Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground
His trek through the hall is timed so that he pauses at his old locker right when the last line of the verse is sung. He looks up at his name on the outside of the locker. Crockett. It's hard to convey the strength of Don Johnson's acting in this sequence. His face, his body language, goes through so many different moods, sliding between hesitation and discovery and wonder and fear. I know the man's become somewhat of a joke; but he's truely gifted and he gets so far into this character he give Burnett a kind of scary grace.
Dont give up
You still have us
Sonny smiles, looking at his name. At "us" he turns toward the glass doors of the vice office.
Dont give up
We dont need much of anything
He pushes through the doors, a funny little smile of recognition hovering on his face. He knows this place; it's in his blood. It's his heart. He was the heart of this place. I'm getting cheesy here; I don't care.
Dont give up
cause somewhere there's a place
Where we belong
He pauses, staring at his old desk. The camera circles him, pulls back to reveal everyone in the room standing up, cocking their weapons, aiming at his head. He doesn't move at first, stares down, like he's afraid to breathe; but not because they're about to blow him away. It's because he's home. The song sings about him finding a place where he belongs; that place is terrified of him now.
Rest your head
Sonny raises his hands above his head. I'm still not sure he has any idea what's going on; he was caught up in the joy of finally discovering something familiar, that lost part of himself.
You worry too much
The camera pans over Gina, horrified, and Castillo, opaque, unreadable; but I think even Castillo's surprised for once. Sonny's appearance before their eyes is so unexpected.
Its going to be alright
It hits him - or it starts to - the enormity of what's happened. He looks down again, unable to make eye contact.
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Dont give up
Please dont give up
The song fades. He sits in Castillo's office, Stan and Castillo standing over him. Sonny speaks in this limping soft tone. He remembers the explosion, the "hospitol" and says then "I went to work" for Manolo and Carrerra - as if it were a perfectly natural thing to do. Castillo asks if he remembers shooting a cop on the pier (in "Mirror Image") and he denies it. Stan asks if he remembers shooting Tubbs. Sonny looks up at Stan, then to Castillo, who gives a tiny nod. I think Castillo actually has some compassion - it's there in Stan, too. They're not easy on him; but they handle it quietly. They don't shout, they don't demand.
There's silence. Sonny makes this... horrible broken sound. Hard to describe. He's barely breathing. Castillo says Tubbs was wearing a vest and Sonny's hands go over his face. He says he's not looking for absolution; he asks for "a little help, a little understanding." He still doesn't understand himself. He thinks he can "prove himself" and make it all go away by bringing in the bad guys that were his cohort. Castillo tells him straight up, with no malice, that he's got to book him. Stan gets to do the honors.
Later. Tubbs walks into the white interrogation room. He looks like he wants to cry. It's terrible. Awkward. And by this I mean it's terrible for me to watch, it's painful; not that it's badly played. This time Sonny says he remembers the boat explosion then "a long dark hallway" - which isn't exactly what he told Stan and Castillo. Tubbs is understandably wary. The guy did try to kill him. Twice. Sonny asks for help. RIco says he can't. Sonny actually says please. He says he knows what he's asking; I'm not sure he does. Rico says his sheet makes Dillinger look like Bambi. Yep. Burnett was quite the cold dude. Sonny still thinks it's about proving himself. Tubbs knows they're beyond that. Sonny makes up his mind; right there, to go it alone. Tubbs backs down a tiny bit; says he'll sleep on it. Sonny says there's no time to sleep. He goes off with Stan. Tubbs is done.
Crockett asks Stan how he's been. They run into some random uniform cop who tells a hood that Crockett used to be the best cop in the business. The only reason for this is to provide a plot point later, and it's suitably awkward; but then, it's also serves the purpose of prompting the audience to ask themselves just what would happen to Sonny if he was sent to prison. At the elevator Sonny complements Stan on losing weight, pats him down. Ambushes him as the elevator opens; takes his gun and leaves. Makes you wonder about the security at OCB, that a wanted man could waltz in and out with impunity. But I'm not complaining. Really, the rest of the ep has issues, but after that Peter Gabriel scene they could break out in a hula dance and I'd be happy.
Sonny surprises Max Headroom in a horrid blue office. Max is understandably a little shaken. He thought he was home free, and the scary motherfucker just wouldn't die.
Back at Vice, Tubbs is wearing a bizarre neckwear item of some kind. Castillo tells someone to file something under "gypsies" - I'm sure I'm not hearing this right. Anyway. Tubbs is bummed, he thought Crockett was being straight with him. Thing is, he was. Tubbs is convinced, finally, that Crockett has turned.
Sonny meets with Max at what looks like a Hell's Angels Diner. He's as scary as ever. Max is squirming. He's smart enough not to trust Burnett, but he's too nervous not to go along with him. He gives Sonny the location of the next drop. Sonny sneaks out the men's room window to make the call to Vice. Ah, the time before cell phones. Must have sucked. Max sends a watchdog after him; Sonny tosses the dude into Max's table and Max wets himself. No, they don't show that part. That's just my conjecture.
Some kind of abandoned water treatment plant. Burly dudes toss the rotting produce that's camoflaging dope in crates. Burnett's back to looking sharp as a tack. The dude from earlier in the OCB tells Max that Burnett is a cop. Max is understandably put out. He's about to string up Sonny when a vice helicopter makes a timely appearance. Why do they always make the annoucement in just the right way to allow the bad guys to scatter like rats? Anyway, Tubbs goes after Max. Various thugs get shot. Max knocks Tubbs off of a railing and makes ready to put a cap in his ass. Sonny takes him out. His gun always sounds like a cannon compared to the others. Sonny grabs Tubbs and pulls him to safety. Sonny makes to leave and Tubbs asks him where he's going. He says there's someone "he doesn't want to let get burned."
Celeste. First; wouldn't the cops make sure Sonny didn't leave the scene? Ah well. He's a wiley bastard. He has a moment with Celeste, who's packing to leave to wherever. He actually did feel something for her, even if she did try to kill him. He says she doesn't have to go. She asks if he's gonna take care of her. He can't take care of anybody, let alone himself at that point; he says she's smart enough to take care of herself if she breaks her nose candy habit. They kiss.
El Gato, he of the shiny clothes and sweat, shows up. He forces Sonny and Celeste downstairs and demands to know where the safe is. Sonny's all like "what safe?" nudge nudge it's not over there, not over in that room over there and Celeste catches on. They're such bad liers on purpose that El Gato's just stupid enough to fall for it. "It's not there, don't go in there," Sonny says, but he doesn't really mean it. And, in the only truely lame part of the last four episodes and a slight let down (though not enough to ruin anything by any means), the panther from earlier leaps out to take down El Gato.
The End.
Whew. I'm still blown away about how good these episodes still are, even after nearly twenty years. If I remember right, nothing is solved right away after this either, which totally raises my esteem for them even more.