Ok, this was a very strange, and often
goofy, season of vice with some pretty good episodes and some very
bad episodes. sonny gets married and loses his mind (no, not at the
same time). the marriage to caitlin davies (sheena easton) is kinda
hokey, and some think crockett's brain damage and subsequent
reversion to burnett is hokey, but i really liked that story arch.
here's a summary of the eps:
contempt of court: geez, this is the season premiere?? a lackluster
episode about a mob guy (stanley tucci) attempts to get to the
witness that will testify against him at trial. pretty dull...
amen send money: pretty funny episode with dueling television
evangelists. one of them accuses tubbs of rape. i like the
soundtrack of this one and it had some really funny moments...
Death & the Lady: pretty good episode about a strange porno director
that crockett and tubbs suspect has made a genuine snuff film.
crockett teaches him a lesson about the fact that violence isn't
glamorous...
The Big Thaw: another goofy episode about a dead and frozen reggie
star. everyone is fighting over his body and izzie is involved in
the scam. pretty funny stuff...
child's play: a strange episode in which crockett shoots a child.
the children's parents speak directly to the camera about the
shooting and crocket agonizes about it. the kid isn't necessarily
the innocent victim he was first thought to be however...
god's work: esai morales returns as a potential heir to takeover a
family drug operation but may be there for other reasons entirely.
pretty good episode in the scheme of things
missing hours: many fans HATED this episode but i liked the
dream-like quality of it as trudy investigates a missing body from
the morgue and has strange dreams (and encounters) with james brown,
who is the head of a ufo investigation. nuggie, izzie and peanut
butter are featured...
like a hurricane: ok, this is where sonny falls in love with sheena
easton after agreeing to protect her in a payola scam. sheena is
actually pretty good in this and makes it more believable. some
funny dialogue and she demands to drive his "testosteroni" and calls
him the fashion police. they fall in love and get married
the rising sun of death: castillo investigates the yakuza in miami.
didn't really like this ep.
love at first sight: caitlin worries about sonny's assignment in a
dating service. iman comes back in this. this is not a good
episode...
rock and a hard place: two music guys try to expose sonny as a drug
dealer to ruin caitlin's music career. funny scene when they try to
block sonny in as he leaves a parking lot
The cows of october: geez, what is up with this season? this episode
is also really goofy as a conman tries to sell supposedly mini-cow
bull sperm to the u.s. and communists and izzy trys to broker the
deal. still, pretty funny stuff..
vote of confidence: the gang raids a rolling whorehouse (a train)
and discover that one of the johns is a senatorial candidate
<<yawn>>
baseballs of death: ok, now we return to the good, non-goofy, vice
format as chase a chilean police chief that kills a hooker and is
trying to buy small land-mines (the baseballs of death). a funny
scene when the chilean demands that "this peasant (crockett) pick up
my gun" crockett: it will be a cold day in july pal!"
indian wars: wow! a great start as american indians drop in on a
drug deal with hawaiian chance, by yello, playing in the background.
tubbs goes undercover to learn more about the tribe. he looks a
little like ed bradley as he sports his glasses. a good episode
honor among thieves: ok a really weird episode in which crockett and
tubbs track down a serial killer that pumps little kids full of
high-quality blow. he is a high level drug dealer and crocket has to
act as his lawyer in a trial set up by the other drug dealers. hummm,
not to sure about any of this...
hell hath no fury: a lame episode about a rapist who is released and
goes on the talk show circuit. is he really rehabilitated or does he
have something else in mind? does anyone care?
badge of dishonor: didn't like this ep. about a gang of bad cops who
are hitting drug dealers. crockett suspects a woman that is part of
south beach special ops as being in on the hits. i only watched this
episode about 2 times...
blood and roses: another lame ep. in which gina gets way too close
to a drug dealer. crockett gets over-protective of her, but he's
proven right in the end...
a bullet for crocket: ok, this ep. is called, "we need to save money
and/or we don't have any ideas..." crockett is shot and the gang
sits around the hospital room reminiscing about him, which means
they get to fill this ep. with clips from all the previous episodes.
basically, a free episode for them to do
deliver us from evil: ok, now we get back to the good vice as
crockett tracks down the guy he got out of death row. great
soundtrack (finally!) and great plot. also, no more sheena easton!
very contraversial ending among the fans as they try to determine
whether sonny's shooting of the suspect is justified. could the
shooting have been where sonny became burnett for good (before the
explosion in the next ep)
mirror image: really good episode in which sonny barely excapes an
explosion from a boat, which triggers amnesia and crockett to
believe that he is really burnett. he goes to work for a drug lord
and is very effective. my theory is that he couldn't take the pain
of being crockett anymore after the death of his wife, and the
explosion on the boat was nothing more than an excuse to lapse into
his burnett persona. he's really good as burnett and ruthless. its
the few gems in this season such as this one that make this set
worth buying.
overall, a somewhat poor season of vice. even at its worst, vice is
better than other tv shows though.
