Izzy Moreno

Isadore Francisco "Izzy" Moreno (born 1947) is a small-time thief, conman and petty street criminal, who's endless enthusiasm and eternally optimistic attitude totally belie his lack of success and somewhat limited intelligence. As of 1984, he had three felony counts to his name, and would have had a fourth added to his record (bank robbery) were it not for the actions of the cops who caught him - James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs. In a desperate bid for freedom, Moreno hastily gave up information on "everybody he's known since the sixth grade," including Louis McCarthy, who, fortunately for him, was the subject of a major OCB investigation at the time. As a result, Crockett and Tubbs offered Moreno immunity from prosecution in return for further information on McCarthy, information that eventually led to McCarthy's arrest.

Working With The Vice TeamEdit

From that point onward, Izzy Moreno became a continual source of information for Crockett and Tubbs, despite his constant pleas that he could be killed for the facts he divulged. In return, the Vice cops turned a blind eye to his numerous and often ridiculous side ventures, which included auto theft (of a cement mixer), interior design, celebrity dog walking, photography, dealing in jewellery (presumably stolen), street serenade, B-movies, dance classes with complimentary financial advice, and even an ill-advised attempt at kidnapping and extortion, among many others. Occasionally, he was assisted in his scams by his mute partner Manny. More rarely, he would team up with fellow streetperson Nugart "The Noogman" Lamont, a partnership that only served to heighten the ridiculous nature of his schemes.

The Vice cops continually used the threat of jail time as a means of extracting information from the often-reluctant Moreno, who was apparently unable to realize the (generally) insignificant nature of his crimes was unlikely to land him in serious trouble. At the same time, he was a begrudging friend of the Vice cops, as demonstrated when he went out of his way to save Crockett's Ferrari Daytona from being repossessed by pencil-pushers working within the Metro-Dade Police Department, or his genuine concern whenever he passed on information regarding particularly dangerous criminals. Despite this degree of respect, Izzy did not hesitate to cross the Vice team if he imagined he might acquire some financial gain from it, such as when he stole the Bug Van in "Bought and Paid For", landing Switek and Zito in trouble in the process.

Moreno loved to quote (in his own unique style) Hemingway, Iaccoca and Phil Collins, among others, and his broken English and thick Cuban accent often made for some unintentionally amusing phrases.

Moreno had a cousin, Jorge "Georgie" Esteban, who, sick of the drugs and crime in the city, christened himself "Miracle Man" and became a self-styled superhero fighting for good in the city. Esteban's death at the hands of drug dealers hit Moreno hard, but Crockett and Tubbs helped him through his depression. Finally, with the Vice cops themselves becoming sick of the world in which they operated and disgusted by the corruption that was stopping them doing their jobs, they quit the force, but not before asking Izzy for one last piece of information. Unable to face threatening Moreno with jail any more, Crockett simply paid him for the details, much to his surprise. Once they had what they wanted to know, Crockett and Tubbs released Izzy from their threats of prosecution and let him go (but not before Crockett took his money back).

NotesEdit

• Izzy is the only character outside of the principle cast who has the distinction of appearing in every season of Miami Vice.

QuotesEdit

• "We move in the same social matrix!" -- "The Great McCarthy"
• "We Hispanics don't know the meaning of danger! But we're very familiar with the word compensation..." -- "Made for Each Other"
• "Like they say, man - 'He who hesitates... don't get any monitors'." -- "Made for Each Other"
• "This man plunges hisself into the murky waters of the underworld... to risk life and limb to try and stem the crime flow... and keep us all from drowning in a cesspool of lawlessness... susussudia!" -- "Whatever Works"
• "All I got left is sizes eight... eight and a half..." "I wear eleven." "That's perfect!" -- "Nobody Lives Forever"
• "Amigos. What looks like a room full of yuppies trying to refine their hormonal readjustment is in actuality the control center for my hand-picked operatives who have blanketed the city in search of this... What was her name?" -- "Bought and Paid For"
• "Hey, man, you can't go in there with those brown shoes, this party is color-cooperated!" -- "Phil the Shill"
• "Hombres! Didn't realise that you guys were connoisseurs of the air guitar." -- "Walk-Alone"
• "I conglomerate only with intellectuals -- knowledge is power!" -- "Better Living Through Chemistry"
• "The slightest barometric altercation in the atmospheric pressures tend to affect my paranasal digestive systems." --"Lend Me an Ear"
• "Like a lawyer and a priest, when I'm immoralizing women... [zips lips]." -- "By Hooker by Crook"
• "I am completely impervious to any kind of ridicule." -- "The Big Thaw"
• "I just started casting Red River Part 2, but I can always get my calendar..." -- "The Cows of October"
• "Gabrielle and I had a very special relationship, she taught me how to use the bullwhip. It's a tragic coincidence that we were divorced right after I got my green card." -- "The Cows of October"
• "Madre de Dios, Sonny... What have they done to you, man?" -- "A Bullet for Crockett"
• "He comes in here, tries to break things up. He thinks he's a fighter, he likes to fight, he thinks he's Mike Tyson..." -- "Deliver Us from Evil"
• "You are ruining your skins! The ultra-veelet rays are destroying the epidermal cortex as we speak!" -- "Over the Line"
• "You don't just catch fish... You achieve a oneness with them, because... where's there's plankton, there's fish." -- "Freefall"
• "Dr. Trautman, yes... He only handles the phisotropic symptoms, I was called in to deal with the psycho-kinetic diseases, the neural consciousness frontier." -- "Miracle Man"
• "Esto es un tango... and also financial advice." -- "Too Much, Too Late"