"River of Promises" is an exceptional episode of an exceptional series. And, like the other episodes of season five of "Police Story", this is a two-part episode which allowed for a longer, more fleshed out story.
Miguel (Richard Yniguez) is cop who just was involved in a shooting. While it's obvious why he shot the guy, his superiors think he could use a change so he's given a really difficult and dangerous assignment. Since Miguel is a Chino and speaks Spanish, they want him to go into Mexico and pretend to be a Mexican who wants to illegally immigrate to America. That way, he can find all the people who exploit these illegals both in Mexico and in the States.
What follows is a long and sad story about exploitation in so many different ways. No matter what your feelings are about illegal immigration, your heart goes out to them and their precarious situation. Because they are afraid of being deported, folks cheat and exploit them at every turn. Making things more complicated is that Miguel has fallen in love with one of the illegals he came with into the States.
The writing is excellent in this episode and does a great job of showing just how vulnerable these people are and how difficult it is for them to go to the law when they are being victimized.
My only complaint, and it's a VERY minor one is early in the show. After Miguel shoots a suspect, one of the cops says "Call the coroner" even though it's not at all certain the man is dead. Odd huh?
