Phil The Shill:

The game show was going so well for Stan Switek. Ahead on points, and despite his size he was in better shape than his opponent, who “wouldn’t know Elvis/The King if he walked up and stepped on his Blue Suede Shoes”. Rat Race seemed to be in the bag for him, along with the $100,000 grand prize. But even after winning the race, his buzzer doesn’t go off and his opponent has the bonus-round answer. This game was rigged, probably by its goofy English host, Phil Mayhew. What’s worse, he told Castillo he was sick to get the night off, and after Sonny and Rico take over a rough bugging operation, they see him lose on live television, complete with Larry cheering in the audience! Stan and Larry get the cold shoulder not only from Castillo, but also from Sonny, who’s spent a year and a half just trying to get a break in the case. The suspect is Tony Rivers, a ruthless drug dealer who doesn’t hesitate to waste anyone who makes a mistake costing him money or risking him exposure.

Rivers does have a possible weakness the cops can exploit. His girlfriend, Sarah MacPhail, is the frontwoman for his Miami operation, roping in customers for her little drug business, moving them on to Rivers when they need bigger supplies. But while shadowing Sarah, Stan sights a familiar face having lunch with her— Phil! Still thinking about revenge, Stan and Larry work out a plan. They send Izzy to Phil’s beachhouse posing as a decorator/caterer, who moves bugged furniture in to catch the goings-on between Phil and Sarah, and hopefully enough evidence to make Sarah turn on Rivers, and plant Phil in prison. Of course, when Sonny and Rico tumble to the operation, they lay into Stan and Larry, but listen to reason enough to run a computer check on Phil. Apparently, he fled to Miami from Britain to dodge a vendetta hit from one of his marks. He has no involvement with drugs, but has a longstanding record as a con artist. Information from Izzy reveals that Phil wants to network, so they’re arranging a party, with Sarah providing most of the guests. Izzy invites Sonny and Rico as Burnett and Cooper. That night, Sonny and Rico are tailing Rivers when their bug is discovered, and in the morning another one of his operatives washes up on the beach. He’s going to be keeping closer tabs on Sarah now, so the cops must make this quick. Gina and Trudy manage to bug Rivers’s yacht.

At Phil’s party, Sonny and Rico observe Sarah making drug deals, but when they set up a deal with her, they hear Phil has undercut a deal with her regular customers, a larger amount of coke for less money. Sarah lures Phil away from the party, and the cops follow. Their destination is Rivers’s yacht, where the cops listen to everything. Rivers is getting agitated with Sarah over too conspicuous a deal, and doesn’t want anyone cutting in on his business. Stan doesn’t seem to mind hearing Phil pummeled into admitting that he never planned to deliver any drugs, just take the buy money. Phil agrees to broker the deal for Rivers in exchange for his life. Seems his interest in Sarah was strictly romantic. Sonny and Rico tail Phil back to the beachhouse where they drop the cover and offer him immunity if he helps bring down Rivers. He accepts, thinking Rivers will probably not keep his word. When the customers arrive, Sonny and Rico draw guns and take possession of the buy money. The buyers are hopefully scared straight.

A closed amusement park has been chosen as the deal site. Rivers doesn’t like seeing ‘Burnett and Cooper’ arrive with Phil, but sends Sarah to take the money case. A set of firecrackers goes off when the case is opened and a firefight ensues. Stan, Larry, Gina, Trudy, and Castillo close in, but Phil, still holding the money, jumps in his car and drives off, dragging Sarah out of the war zone with him. When the shooting stops, Rivers is dead and his men are either wounded or in cuffs. Sonny doesn’t mind. After eighteen months, he’ll take Rivers dead or alive. With the case closed, only Stan is upset. Phil is gone with Sarah and nearly 100 grand, which no one can claim without confessing to the deal. The two of them are untouchable.

A few days later, Stan and Larry are watching TV when they see Phil on a cable channel working as a televangelist, with Sarah as his assistant. Have they given up crime? There’s no way to find out. To Larry’s bewilderment, Stan draws his gun and blows away the TV.

“This one’s for you, Elvis!”

This episode, besides being another favorite of your synopsizer, marked the American acting debut of singer Phil Collins, who contributed 6 songs to the soundtrack over Vice’s run (The last one is a Genesis song, heard in the finale). He went on to act in several movies, but is still best known as a musician.

Many thanks to C.T. Warren, the fellow Vice fan that wrote this synopsis.
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