Tubbs is an undercover detective for the Metro-Dade Police Department's Organized Crime Bureau, having relocated to Miami from New York City in order to track down his brother's murderer.

[6] Rafael's murder at the hands of drug lord Esteban Calderone (Miguel Piñero) led Tubbs to Miami, where he eventually teamed up with the Metro-Dade Organized Crime Bureau.

Compared to his partner, Tubbs' cool demeanor helps him avoid much of the burnout Crockett would experience after the killing of his wife Caitlin and his brief amnesia.

[11] Tubbs represents a "neo-populist sneering at the worlds of finance and politics", his New York back-story helping to convey "a sociological explanation of crime".

Writing about the character's development over the first few seasons, James Lyons describes Tubbs as being "rather enchanted"[11] by the thrills of his undercover work, noting his off-duty relationships with suspects and other individuals related to his cases in episodes such as "Evan",[2] "The Great McCarthy"[1] and the two-part "Calderone's Return".

[7] Lyons feels that this arc ends in the latter half of the second season, sensing that Tubbs' "weariness" and sense of loss begin to set in after witnessing the suicide of a prostitute he had tried to rescue in the episode "Little Miss Dangerous",[16] and both the apparent death of his infant son and the actual death of the child's mother in the episode "Sons and Lovers".

[17] The New York Times has called the character "dissolute but human, gritty but glamorous", noting that two decades after the show's end, "Tubbs still look[s] very cool".

[18] Time magazine called Thomas' casting "inspired", noting that his easy-going nature provided a "sharp contrast" to Johnson's Crockett.

[20] Turner Classic Movies have noted Thomas' "unique" and "engaging" portrayal of the role, stating that "his popularity crossed gender and racial lines", making "an indelible mark, " on viewers.

[23] When the first season of Miami Vice became a "breakthrough hit",[19] the "smooth and swinging"[24] character of Tubbs became a style icon—Bloomingdale's reported "noticeable" rises in the sales of blazers and jackets; whilst Kenneth Cole brought out "Crockett" and "Tubbs" shoes, and Macy's opened a "Miami Vice" young men's section[19] The National Review's Andrew Stuttford has described the impact of the character's style as an "escape from the monotone restraints of conventional detective drama", noting that its influence "transformed notions of what television could do".