No Exit (Miami Vice)

Miami Vice focuses on the lives of two undercover Metro-Dade police officers, James "Sonny" Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas).

Written under the working title "Three-Eyed Turtle", the episode has been seen as exploring existentialist themes, including Jean-Paul Sartre's theory that all relationships are based on a struggle for dominance.

"No Exit" was originally given the working title "Three-Eyed Turtle", which was changed when an executive at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC)'s Standards and Practices office realized this was slang for a sexual act.

[1][4] Writer Maurice Hurley would receive writing credits on a number of other Miami Vice episodes, including "The Dutch Oven",[5] "Whatever Works",[6] and "Golden Triangle".

[11] As was customary for episodes of Miami Vice,[12] "No Exit" makes use of contemporary pop music in its soundtrack, featuring the songs "Stay With Me" by Teddy Pendergrass and "I Don't Care Anymore" by Phil Collins.

[1] The alienation discussed in "I Don't Care Anymore" has been described as mirroring the violent rift in Amato's marriage, and also the detachment with which Crockett must approach this aspect of the case.

[13] This is the Michael Mann touch in spades: a sparely furnished high-end abode, some slick professionals, and a soundtrack that suffuses everything with poetic melancholy.

The episode has also been noted as an example of the series' criticism of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, linking the villain Amato with United States intervention in South America.

[16] Willis' portrayal of Amato has been described by critic Mark T. Conard as an example of a recurring character archetype in the series, that of a troubled male with a checkered past.

Other examples given by Conard are Bruce McGill's guest role in "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" and G. Gordon Liddy's appearance in "Stone's War".