The entire "In the Air Tonight" sequence from the pilot movie, from Tubbs loading his shotgun on the drive to the Ferrari speeding away right in time with the famous drum beat. Miami Vice became an instant classic and one of the biggest influences on 80s TV with it.
In "Calderon's Run", we're introduced to the assassin, played by one of the top competition shooters in the USA and the show's firearms instructor Jim Zubiena. After blowing away two targets who he's trapped in a limo, the real driver returns and surprises him. The assassin draws and blows the man away in less than a second with a Mozambique Drill (two to the chest and one to the head) before rapidly unloading his gun and dropping it on the body to frame him. It was one of the earliest examples of the drill on film and one of the best displays of real firearms handling on screen in history.
"The Great McCarthy" Crockett races his boat in a race around Biscayne Bay to Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild".
In "Glades," Crockett taking down a bad guy who has a Sawed-Off Shotgun held to a little girl's head. The scumbag thinks he can get away. Crockett disagrees—and proves himself correct.
Billie Joe Higgins: If I twitch, she's gone. Crockett: Maybe...you won't even...twitch... [fires]
An old man gets his own in that episode, using an ancient blunderbuss to kill a Columbian enforcer before he offs Crockett or their star witness.
In "Golden Triangle Part 1", Castillo kills a Thailand assassin in hand-to-hand combat.
In "Golden Triangle Part 2", Castillo manages a Batman Gambit that ends with the arrest of a crooked CIA agent and the Retired Monster, General Lao Li. This includes releasing Li's Stupid Crooks grandchildren, knowing he'd plan to kill them and implicate himself in the process.
Season Two
In "Prodigal Son part 1 and 2", despite immense stumbling blocks from the local cops and DEA, Crockett and Tubbs single-handedly take down the entire Rivella Cartel's leadership before returning home.
"Bushido." Castillo + Katana + Dirty Communists threatening his dead friend's wife and son = Ass-kicking.
Any car chase Crockett gets himself into especially the one where the Testarossa is introduced, he wipes the floor with the mercenaries sent to kill him with it.
The episode "Definitely Miami", with an IDMB rating of 9/10 one of the highest for the series, involves an over-ambitious federal agent risking a witness' safety in order to capture a wanted drug lord (who's also her brother) while Crockett gets ensnared by a seductive woman who tempts men so her sadistic husband can kill them for their money. By episode's end, everyone's schemes have left nearly everyone else dead or broken, while Crockett wordlessly hands over the seductress to police for arrest. With Godley and Creme's "Cry" playing as the soundtrack, the final shot of Crockett in the distance watching the ocean waves along the beach is considered one of the bleakest and most beautiful endings in television history.
Season Three
Reb Brown's entire role as the villain in "Viking Bikers from Hell." The awesomeness includes shrugging off several bullets from Tubbs before shooting him in the head, a feature film worthy standoff at a warehouse that he escapes by jumping a motorcycle over the cop cars, and almost taking Crockett down with him after being fatally shot (and you can see the stuntman bang his head on the dock in slow motion).
Season Four
"Deliver Us From Evil" James Sonny Crockett, By-the-Book Cop and general Nice Guy has seen his wife get shot. He goes and pays a visit to the man who killed her. After a brief talk, he coldly tells him to "get up". The man refuses, closes his eyes and smugly smiles. In a great piece of acting by Don Johnson, Crockett executes him, without flinching, shooting him in the heart through his book with a epic Death Glare on his face. Then he walks off with the last song his wife sang playing in the background.
one of the highest for the series, involves an over-ambitious federal agent risking a witness' safety in order to capture a wanted drug lord (who's also her brother) while Crockett gets ensnared by a seductive woman who tempts men so her sadistic husband can kill them for their money. By episode's end, everyone's schemes have left nearly everyone else dead or broken, while Crockett wordlessly hands over the seductress to police for arrest. With Godley and Creme's "Cry" playing as the soundtrack, the final shot of Crockett in the distance watching the ocean waves along the beach is considered one of the bleakest and most beautiful endings