Customer Reviews

Miami Vice: Season Five

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After five trendsetting seasons of defining the cultural 80's vibe, Vice was beginning to lose its glamour and had overstayed its welcome by becoming as trendy and outmoded as yesterday's pastel-colored fashions. The mood and feel of the show had shifted away from the pop-electric neon atmosphere of earlier seasons to a darker and edgier tone beginning with the two-part conclusion to the season four cliffhanger "Mirror Image" that ended with Sonny, believing that he is his undercover persona Burnett after suffering total amnesia in a boat explosion, races off in a speedboat after killing an undercover detective. Tubbs has tracked him down somewhere near Tampa where he has been living for months as a hit-man for a powerful crime cartel. The premiere episode "Hostile Takeover" begins with Sonny rising through the ranks of the Carrera's by doing the dirty deeds for the feuding family in an effort to take out the rival El Gato organization. Posing as a Jamaican buyer, Tubbs rendezvous with Sonny in an effort to jar his memory but instead Sonny tries to kill Tubbs when it triggers a memory flashback and he remembers that he is a cop. After the initial Burnett story-arc is concluded in "Redemption in Blood," the remaining episodes seemed to turn somewhat anti-climactic. What could have been an interesting season-long theme that that could have potentially played up Sonny-turned-bad masquerading as his undercover alter-ego Burnett is cut short prematurely and it's hard to believe that Sonny isn't indicted for all of his heinous crimes or at the very least is forced to turn in his badge. There's a few moments with Crockett trying to reconcile his relationship with his son Billy in "To Have and To Hold" and coming to terms with his ex, Caroline, and an amusing light-hearted episode with his con-artist cousin Jack played by David Andrews in "Jack of All Trades" and also Tubbs reuniting with Valerie reprised by Pam Grier in the originally unaired "Too Much, Too Late" that help to wrap up loose ends but overall you can sense that the end of the line was coming and the cast and crew were just riding things out. Don Johnson's wardrobe had gone from stylish slacks and casual loafers to denim bluejeans and cowboy boots and his long shaggy blonde locks made him look like he'd just walked off the set of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. The absence of composer Jan Hammer is painfully felt and Tim Truman's commendable scoring gives it a very different overall feel compared to previous seasons and redundant plotlines involving South American drug smugglers had finally exhausted themselves but the payoff at the end of the final episode "Freefall" is emotional as the ensemble cast members say their goodbyes and go their seperate ways and almost as suddenly as Miami Vice had come to an end, so too had the fashionable decade of the 1980's.

John Lennon said that before Elvis there was nothing. Of course, apart from a lot of teengroups, this was quite accurate. I would dare to say that after Vice there has been nothing on tv that could equal, let alone surpass it.
I do NOT agree with reviewers saying that Vice "overstayed it's welcome by becoming a trendfollower after having been a trendsetter in earlier seasons."
It is true that indeed, as a reviewer so eloquently put it, "the mood and feel of the show had shifted away from the pop-electric neon atmosphere of earlier seasons to a darker and edgier tone beginning with the two-part conclusion to the season four cliffhanger "Mirror Image" that ended with Sonny, believing that he is his undercover persona Burnett after suffering total amnesia in a boat explosion, races off in a speedboat after killing an undercover detective."
Of course when Vice as a series progressed in tv time, so did the real decade that Vice was all about (or to use a chiasm; were the 80s about Miami Vice just as well?). The glamour of the earlier part faded away as the 90's with grunge music and a more negative feel were slowly emerging. It might have been a reaction to the glamour of the 80's as is often the case; decades that follow eachother are often like waves. Times do change all the time and so did Vice. Not surprisingly in the 90s and therefore of course the latter part of the 80's (albeit more invisible) the atmosphere would have to reflect somehow in the episodes of Vice as well, and it justly did.
Yes, even Sonny changed to stonewashed jeans and I think it was cool, since it was fitting. I think by then his character and the rest of the world had seen almost every pastel Versace blazer ever made by then, so this more down to earth look still gave a cool answer to the question `what could have been cooler than Sonny in silk blazers?'Well, how about Sonny in jeans? Think of it this way: would it have been fitting, or would it have been almost ridiculous, to have shot season 4 and 5 in the same playful atmosphere as the first three? Come on, Jan Hammer had great soundtracksongs, but the music still continued it's quality. Gloomier atmosphere, gloomier music indeed, but it still was great music, even today, that fitted the shows themselves.
Maybe the reviewers, including myself, cannot get to terms with the fact that in time generations become less and less naive, or in other words, the world becomes more realistic. Something's gained, something's lost. The price for living in more no nonsense times like now is the loss of idealism. The fun in earlier seasons, with Sonny and Crockett making jokes in happy Florida was lost, but what was gained was a good timing in shifting the mood. Vice rightfully adapted to newer days without being trendfollowers and that clearly showed in the last seasons. What was gained as well was more excitement and action in the series, and I don't see how reviewers saw this as superficial or Vice becoming trendfollowers instead of trendsetters. Still even then, there was no better copshow or thrill than Vice.
The moodshift to more serious stuff to me was also that it seemed to act as a realistic mirror of the hopelessness of fighting the drug force, which it still is to this day. I mean, after so many seasons of fighting the 'vice', what did it amount to? A new episode with a new crime to fight. It had to end, or, the 'ennui' had to be shown in the series, as every good series develops, just like any story plot. It might be true the cast was, as reviewers said, 'riding things out' and things were coming to an end. Exactly, and fortunately this same development, or ennui, which reflected in the series themselves was fitting. Drugs is still impossible to fight, and cops like Sonny and Crockett that did their best in more than 100 episodes were likely to have become burne"tt" out. Vice had to end, the only question how.
Atmittedly, especially in the last season it spiralled alsmost to the absurdly cool, with enormous white empty villa's and drugbosses in clothes that would make a video of Bryan Ferry look like the clip of 'cotton eyed joe'.
Sonny and Tubbs indeed became more abstract themselves in this weird atmosphere. Some call this 'one dimensional', but the first three seasons had shown enough introspection of the characters I think. And how about Sonny loosing his wife? That was a character-driven plot to me. Overall, the action, the acting and the music (although changed in style) still gave the series that extra over any other tv series at the time. Ok, it had become decadent, but all good things spiral out of control, especially the unforgettable stuff.
I simply thought Vice, and especially the last season was the best stuff our generation had the privilige to see in it's day when it was still new, with the Burnett episodes shot in eerie night blue, his revenge on the killer of his wife and of course the indeed very emotional end. When Sonny drove off in his white car after shaking so shortly the hand of his partner, not only the 80s were lost forever, but also the best show that has ever aired and it would not have been as good as it was without this season. I would like to steal a quote from the booklet of the Stones 2CD 40 Licks by saying: thanks (Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Michael Mann) for touching our lives. Although people might say it was only tv, on some very rare occasions, tv transcends itself and defines a definite period in time. Vice did! Even though watching it now will never get you back to times lost, still...go for it!

Dont Get me wrong, Miami vice is my ALL TIME FAV SHOW. Even though season 5 took a werid turn, just like 4, i still enjoy the mystery and mystque of the show. I really enjoyed seeing don playing a heel in the last episode of season 4 and early in season 5. He plays the bad guys well and you could sense through all the previous seasons that it was eventually going to happen. But when he came back to crockett, what the hell happend? The next episode Heart of Night, only featured don, in a 3 min scene and was never seen again in the episode? How the hell can you have a very climatic 3 shows about our hero going bad and then the next episode deal with a personal issue involving Castillo? It doesnt make sense? Why didnt they go into a major investigation, or at least a trial? But all we see is a 5 min tounge lashing in episode 4 Bad Timing? Then in Borrasca Don isnt even written in? Then to make matters worse "Line of Fire" (which happens to be a great episode) It seems like sonny never went bad and we forget he ever killed anybody? all in all a near poor season. But what saves it from a 2 to a 3 is the stand out episodes, Lost Madonna, and Freefall. My 2 fav episodes of the post 87 year! I dont understand why most of the episodes, don wanst in them? I wonder if there was tension between Don and the shows writers. If you own all 4 seasons then you must get this to complete the collection, cause the 2 hr finale is incredible, but dont buy this unless your a true fan of miami vice.

"Miami Vice" is the greatest cop show of all time and each season has always maintained innovative storylines. Season 5 is one of the strongest seasons of all in my opinion. The first two episodes conclude the Burnett trilogy where Crockett assumed he was his drug dealer undercover alterego. The next episode then features Castillo's personal life and showcases his character in the action very well. A few episodes later we come to "Bad timing" with Sonny recovering from his wife's death/amnesia ordeals only to come up against two of the worst baddies ever in vice. Episodes like "Line of fire", "Borrasca", "To have and to hold", "Miami Squeeze" and "Asian cut" represent straightforward vice at its best and are similar to episodes from series 1-3. On the other hand, episodes like "The cell within" (Tubbs reuniting with a sadistic murderer turned author), "Over the line" (akin to a similar bad cop episode in season 4), "Too much too late" (concluding the Ricardo/Valerie business), "Hard knocks" (introducing Stan's gambling problems that would also feature in "Too much too late" and "Freefall"), "World of trouble" (concluding the Lombard-Lubrizzi mafia war first raised in season 1) and "Victims of circumstance" are all very strong and innovative episodes. More lighthearted episodes include "The lost madonna" and "Jack of all trades" where the duo face art and sales conmen. On the weaker side there is the ridiculous "Miracle man" and the neo-vice sans Tubbs, Crockett and the rest "Leap of faith". The climax, "Freefall", is arguably the greatest ever episode of MV. This series is a must and arguably is the best.

I have been reading the reviews of Season Five, and can agree with the majority of reviews, but I particularly appreciated Mr. Heeringen's review the most! I own now, all five seasons of this show & have been watching selected & favorite episodes from all seasons, and would like to add my additional comments to the others to "add to the mix!"
Mr. Heeringens" review briefly touched upon what I would like to expand upon.
Take all of the episodes, and look at them as one large opus, which through drama, supported by music, fashion, and visuals, exhibited how draining and emotionally effecting; the job of fighting the tidal wave of crime, can be on a group of people dedicated to their jobs. This was mainly done with the character of Sonny; who started as a person who thought that right would always prevail, and who, then from betrayals, loss of loved ones, through divorce, death, and corruption of the system which he had dedicated his life to, became a tired, emotionally drained, shell of the person that he once was. He no longer cared about his looks; i.e. hairstyle, and clothing. The visuals, music, tones, and colors of this show ever so slightly changed each season, as each character was beginning to be effected by the rising wave of crime & corruption that was overtaking Miami. Sonny was the focal point of this, but all characters showed its effect. I don't think that the actors were "riding things out"; I think this was all to show how exhausting the job can be! How would you react to losing your wife through divorce?(though they still loved each other deeply); losing another wife through blatant murder, through a system which allowed a psychotic killer to manipulate it to his advantage. This also affects people who you work with day to day, and will change them too! I could go on to other examples, but I think these are some of the more "life changing" events, which Sonny experienced.
We have all seen the effect that wars have on people who have served in our Armed Forces, and I have known a few law officers affected & "burnt out", after years on the force.
I feel that Miami Vice did an excellent job of portraying the effect of the unending wave of crime, on people dedicated to fighting it, and this was excellently exhibited through its run! Try looking it as a "Five Act" show!

"Vice" was without a doubt one of the greatest TV series of all time, and that includes episodes from the final seasons. It is ridiculous to see that so many "critics" still to this day dismiss the groundbreaking content that this series delivered long after the early "hot" pastel phase of the series gave way to darker, far more serious, far more sophisticated, scary and politically prescient fare. This series nailed the government-covert operations-drug milieu, and it still remains relevant today. Nothing before or since has come close. Frankly, the darker the series got, the better it got. The shaggier and more agonized Crockett became, the better.

Give them credit for continuing to push the envelope. Dirty politics, reflecting both Bush and forecasting Clinton era narco scandals. It was also good to see them stretch, every now and then, into things like Florida's distinctive crime humor with occasional light episode worthy of Charles Willeford and Carl Hiassen. No Jan Hammer? Fine, Tim Truman provided an equally satisfying, grittier sound, that went with the grittier content.

"Freefall", the series finale, was an absolute masterpiece, capturing everything great about "Vice" in a darkest ever movie-length farewell that had Crockett and Tubbs involved in a Manuel Noriega-esque covert operation, and the entire cast of characters, pushed as far as they've been pushed. When these episodes aired, nobody was sure if any of the lead characters would live to see their sunsets.

This was an unbalanced season but still contained the emotional content I liked. I still would watch this season before I'd watch about all the stuff on tv nowadays. The blend of music and imagery was still there. Jan Hammer missing was a bit of a bummer but they still managed to use quite provocative music most of the time. I used to think season 4 was weak but after watching it now after a long time I found it way better than I remember... hopefully season 5 gives me the same!

After viewing the dvd I have to say the last half of the season was just weak. I say that because the music just ruined the vibe for me. Some of the scripts were bad and some were decent but that music was so depressing. The same guitar riff permiated every episode. It never had much variation and it did not accompany the episodes at all. Jan's music was a character in itself. The last episode was just depressing as all gets. No music to lure me into a feeling. Poor quality of production was another reason I was feeling bleck. The money was indeed not there to support the show by now. Oh well. It was a good time to drop it.

Season Five of Miami Vice was perhaps the saddest and cynical of all of the series, because you could tell that the end was near, which, of course, was a microcosm of what was happening with the futility of the "drug wars" at the end of the '80s. The mood of the country had grown darker, and it was reflected in the faces of Crockett and Tubbs, who both had to know that they were up against overwhelming odds that they could not overcome.
The frustration that I felt in watching that final season, was in the inconsistencies that I found in the storylines themselves. For one, why wasn't Crockett brought up on charges during his amnesic sojourn in "Mirror Image?" Surely, they could've gotten some mileage out of this where a sixth season could've been possible, but they completely missed the boat on that for some strange reason that is still unknown to us. Then, as far as loose ends went, there is still the unanswered question of exactly what happened to the son that Tubbs had fathered with Angelina, Calderon's daughter, back in season Two. I was surprised that there was no resolution to that mystery, which I found to be profoundly disappointing.
Overall, Switek's gambling issues (fueled in part by a combination of his not getting that plum promotion out of vice/organized crime bureau and mourning over the death of his longtime partner Zito) was a side order that gave viewers a hint that Vice was over and done. Poor Trudy and Gina were virtually nonexistent in Season Five, which was a glaring oversight on Michael Mann's part. But, in the final two episodes, "Freefall" it was all spelled out for us in black and white, particularly in the song "Bad Attitude" where Crockett and Tubbs are grimly riding off into their final showdown, where the lyrics "Out of date heroes/With no room to grow" said it all--that the drug barons of the world, along with their despot/dictator puppets and a complcit U.S. government that is more interested in enabling the drug trade for "American interests...and what runs counter to them," were too powerful and corrupt to be stopped by two idealistic Vice detectives.

Miami Vice season 5, left me with a feeling of wanting more of this
one of a kind TV drama. It was like having a really good desert after dinner, that was always better than the last desert. This series 5, had
me really entertained, and inspired by the excellent quality of all the actors on the show. One of my favorite episodes was Borrasca. Although this episode excluded Don Johnson, the presence ot actors such as Byron James, and the hispanic female club manager,Gabriela Roel,and her performance was spectacular.This Gabriela Roel, was not only beutiful but
witty,and she had a great screen presence.

Season 5 is somewhat of an improvement over season 4. Tim Truman does a great job with the music . . . different, but still good.