Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 22
Well, I got to say it’s been a long road but i’ve finally come to the end of the season. I was real excited and anxious to find out about what would occur in the events of this episode. In this episode we are dealing with a former villain, I just love to call the bad guy’s villains even though this isn’t a super heroe show, Lombard make a return. We see he is presented with a case in which he has to testify in court against a man named Labritzy or he will face time in an order of contempt. Sonny & Tubbs have to protect Lombard throughout the episode even though Sonny is bitter towards Lombard since he was responsible for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Barbara, earlier on in the season. Labritzy plots on the murder of Lombard fearing that Lombard will rat him out, and so Lombard faces a couple gun shot wounds on his shoulder which he recovers quickly from. Sonny & Tubbs approach Lombard for protective custody but he refuses but, he changes his mind after men he closely worked with were actually plotting on his own death. Luckily, he got saved by Sonny & Tubbs in time for his life to be saved. While having Lombard in protective custody we find a more rationale side to Lombard, rather than this cold-hearted businessman. He states how the type of business he does is very beneficial but comes with a great cost since the relationship he has with his son is very much distant due to the things he does. Although, his son is very much on the right path seeing as how he is in college headed on the right direction. After, am ambush at the safe house where Lombard was being held, he flees and goes to see his son later being caught by Sonny & Tubbs. Lombard’s son asked his father to simply testify in court in order to repent for what he has done and Lombard agrees to do so for the sake of his son. One thing I would like to say which was mentioned was when Tubbs said something about the streets being the greatest educator and Lombard mentioned something about how that is only possible if you live long enough to tell it. I thought that was very interesting because it is very much true, you learn a lot about the world simply by putting yourself out in the streets but it can be very risky seeing as how it can cost you your life. In his final moments before appearing in court, Lombard seems to want to make things right for what he’s done stating that he’s done “a lot of bad things”. When taking Lombard to court, Sonny’s Vice Squad was top elite making sure the safety of Lombard was secure and that he would make it to the court alive. It turned out to be a complete disappointment because Lombard ended up not testifying against Labritzy in court and his son walked out in shame that his father would not testify. Lombard simply states that his reason for not testifying were simple, it was just something he could not do because it is a code of conduct that he simple lives by. In the end, Lombard is seen driving off from the court and as he is doing so a car from behind with two passengers are seen loading their weapons chasing right behind Lombard. Implying that Lombard would meet his death soon after. I really did not expect the season to end this way, I was expecting something with much more closure. A lot of questions were simply left unanswered. Such as, what will become of Sonny and Gina? And, will Tubbs ever find love in his life? I believe if these questions were answered I would much more content with how this season ended but the fact that these questions were unanswered leaves me with unease and anxiousness. I mean, Sonny & Gina ended off on a bad note but whose to say that something won’t spark between them. Also, whose to say Tubbs won’t find a woman he can actually be with who won’t go off acting crazy doing something out of the ordinary. Overall, I enjoyed watching this show and believe in some ways it deals with real life issues essentially although mostly dealing with drug dealers and such but these are real life issues. There are really people out there who sell drugs heartlessly and don’t care nothing much of their customers as long as it gets a dollar in their pockets. I just felt a little disappointed with the way turned out in the end, the finale ended as if it was any other episode there wasn’t much closure in this episode just ongoing events. Although, this was a show revolving around how Miami Vice officers would pretty go around handle crime situations and such the story pretty much revolved the basis of love. We have seen relationships rise & fall and rise again only ending in failure. I enjoyed the clothing attire in this show, it was very reminiscent to that of Tony from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which is probably due to no coincidence what so ever since both take place in Miami around the 1980’s. So, perhaps that was the style of dressing in those times. Overall, this was a great show and I would recommend anyone to watch it so if you’re into crime solving with some plot twist and a little comedy definitely check out Miami Vice. Maybe just maybe I might consider checking out Season 2. We shall see.
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Tags: episode 22, miami vice, season finale, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 21
As the season finale is getting closer things really are starting to get tense. The beginning starts out real random showing these 3 street punks who have completely lost their minds and whose theme music for today’s episode seems to be “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & The Destroyers. It seems as though that they are attacking random people and stealing random cars but, it seems like they attack targets near hotdog stands owned by a man named Morgan who they seem to have beef with. Sonny has found a new love interest, by the name of Brenda who throughout the episode poses a distraction for Sonny and his work in numerous events. First, Sonny while making a phone call to Brenda on the job leaves Tubbs to run solo and the 3 street punks end up robbing a man and shooting him the consecutive day, leaving Castillo disappointed in Sonny seeing as how they possibly could have caught the 3 punks if he wasn’t on the phone. In another occasion, Sonny wakes up late and basically bails out on Tubbs leaving him alone as a watchdog for Morgan. Tubbs then gets attacked by surprise by Morgan and shows up to Sonny’s place real busted up and angry. I would be angry too if my partner bailed out on me for his new girlfriend for a job that could possibly have cost me my life. We also get to see an angry Gina approaching Sonny about his new so-called girlfriend. She becomes very angry with Sonny stating that she has always been a rebound girl for him and that she wishes he would just stay out of her life. I could never understand why Sonny never just settled with Gina, she even said earlier on in the season that she didn’t want to end up being some bodies rebound and look what Sonny ended up doing. Sonny knows that wasn’t right on his part. Though, I must say his new love interest seems like something you would see coming out of a fantasy. But, as seeing as how this new “fantasy” is interfering with his job, Castillo gives Sonny an angry stare and stations him off his job and he seems to be isolating himself from his squad as they all just walk out on Sonny in disappointment. Sonny then has a serious talk with Gina saying that they need to take things slow seeing as they can’t live a “fantasy” and instead a more harsh reality. In the end, Sonny comes to Tubbs rescue in succession of taking down the 3 punks proving to Tubbs once again that he is trustworthy as a partner and a reliable partner at that. It seems that Sonny acted in a just manner to save his relationship with his partner and his squad, I’m not too sure about Gina though she seems a bit angry. Even though Brenda is a nice girl I’m still not accepting Sonny’s new love interest I believe he should have just stuck it out with Gina.
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Tags: episode 21, miami vice, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 20
In this episode we find Miami is facing a bit of a crisis. It seems as though there have been constant home assaults in which the robbers would use violence to the most extreme extent to get what they wanted. In one case, they broke a little boy’s arm in order to get some jewels, which I thought to be brutal I don’t know how any man on earth can even harm a child and still be able to have a good conscious on top of their shoulders. Well, we then see ourselves in Sonny’s Vice Squad office as they were being called at around 3 a.m. while everyone is looking exhausted, minus Tubbs who seems to be in New York with Valerie. I am surprised that Valerie is even out of jail after the murder she committed a few episodes back, it must be because she’s a cop but that’s what they always say. So, Sonny’s Vice Squad is assigned to work with his former bosses, Lt. John Malone’s Squad, who specializes in robbery cases. There is some tension built between Lt. Castillo and Lt. Malone while Sonny is stuck in the middle of it, seeing as how he is faced with his current boss and his former boss. Malone just boasted on how he knows what he’s doing since Castillo is not a specialist in cases involving robbery but, Castillo argues his investigation methods are somewhat insufficient and needs more thorough inspection. Personally, I believe Castillo had a point but it’s perhaps due to my bias opinion on the situation seeing as how i’m more comfortable with Castillo’s character than I am with the newly introduced Malone. Later, Castillo proves to Malone just how insufficient Malone’s investigation methods were when he finds out a lead in the situation. We come to find out that the women who lived in the robbed homes all went to the same beauty salon. Then, with the help of Gina acting as a client at the beauty salon does some of her investigating and comes to find that car park attendant for the beauty salon is involved in the acts of robbery. Sonny & Castillo pin point who they’re next target is and rush there and they manage to take down to robbers. In the end, we find that Malone decides to resign from his position as a police officer after realizing something Sonny had said to him earlier on in the episode. Castillo supports his decision and Sonny is a bit disappointed that Malone would choose to resign.
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Tags: castillo, episode 20, miami vice, sonny
This was episode was probably put in more for comedy relief than actual story development. This time the story revolves around Larry Zito and Stanley Switek, I might have mentioned them before but they are an integral part of the series also part of Sonny’s Vice Squad, and are mainly used for comedy relief. I didn’t really feel like incorporating these two in any of my blogs since I didn’t think they really were of much importance to the story. But, this time around I guess I was wrong since the story revolves around them. In the beginning, Zito’s home gets destroyed in a fire and is left homeless with Switek offering him to stay at his place. Upon going to the place, we see Switek’s new girlfriend Darlene is moving all of Switek’s Elvis stuff out and putting her stuff in. Later, it is shown Darlene has a problem with Zito staying over “for a few days”. Zito and Switek are put on a case to take down a man who traffic’s stolen goods. To get more closer to this guy Zito and Switek use informants, Izzy and Noogie to help them set up a deal with the stolen good trafficker, Costelada. In one scene, we see Izzy and Noogie handcuffed together and Izzy jokes how this is a remake of the film The Defiant Ones, a 1950’s film starring Tony Curtis and Sydney Poitier about two prisoners, one white and one african-american, chained together who manage to escape and are on the run. Well, after Costelada finds out Izzy and Noogie are actually working for the cops they are held hostage in his yacht. Then, Zito and Switek come to their rescue in a funny but flashy manner. I loved the scene in which Zito and Switek do their own Elvis impersonations, Switek appeared to be what Elvis would look with a few extra pounds. Also, the way Costelada reacted when he found out he can purchase a cement truck from Izzy & Noogie was priceless, he seemed like a little kid. Zito’s attachment to his new fish also brung about a sort of humor, seeing as how he was spending the night over at his office with his fish after Switek asked for some alone time with Darlene. Well, there wasn’t nothing special in today’s episode just a bunch of hilarious moments which truly shined for Zito and Switek. So, onto the next one!
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Tags: episode 19, miami vice, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 18
What’s funny is that I recently told a friend of mine about this project I am doing for my mass media class. So, I told him I was required to watch Season 1 of Miami Vice and he instantly replies Philip Michael Thomas(the guy who plays as Tubbs) is horrible. I laughed, and thought let me incorporate this into my blog post today since I this episode also focused on Tubbs. I found this episode to be pretty hilarious because I started to take note of why my friend thought of Philip Michael Thomas as a horrible actor. Firstly, I never really noticed but his Jamaican accent is not that good anybody who is good with accent’s can take note of that. In this episode titled “The Maze”, we find our team, Sonny, Tubbs and company as I always like to put it, are dealing with these guys who are Escobars. In the beginning they murder a cop and plan to take them down. An informant then lets them know that they are located at a place called “the maze” and that no one can get in and come back out. So, Tubbs acting as a Jamaican immigrant is sent there to blend in so that they can bust the Escobars but his plan is foiled when one desperate cop, who I personally believe was an idiot throughout the entire episode, gets impatient and tries to bust in there without word from Tubbs giving the big okay.Of course, the rest of the police unit followed after him and now the Escobars end up taking not only Tubbs but whole families who are already being held there as hostages. All that could have been avoided if it weren’t for that idiot acting off of his stupid emotion just because his partner was the cop who got murdered by the Escobars earlier on in the episode. I would empathize with the man but his idiotic rant just makes me think to myself, this guy is just an emotional cry baby that should never be allowed to be an on-duty police officer for the rest of his life. Seriously, even Sonny agreed with me on the episode that he shouldn’t be a cop anymore, he basically blew the case for everybody. But, hope is not lost people. In the end, the police unit manage to bust in the safe house or whatever it is and take down the Escobars. It just turns out that the Escobars are nothing but angry teenagers who think they’re tough carrying big automatic weapons. As if holding a gun in your hand ever gave you power. I mean come on, if you’re going to hold a gun do something with it don’t hold it around just to scare people thinking you’re the Terminator saying, “I’ll be back”, when we know you’re not making such idle threats. I swear, I see things like this happen all the time. Stupid teenagers who think they’re tough because they’ve joined a “gang” when really, you’ve shown just how much of a coward you are. You are so scared that you feel the only way to feel “protected” is by joining a group which in most cases is probably plotting to stab you in the back even before you even join. Well, that’s my two cents for the day hope you all enjoy!
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Tags: episode 18, miami vice, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 17
I seem to have noticed something. All these investigations these people are dealing with from the start of the series either deal with smuggler’s or prostitution. Here we have yet another case dealing with prositution, this time with an interesting twist. Tubbs is reunited with his ex-girlfriend Valerie Gordon, a detective from Brooklyn, New York, who has been in search of her younger sister, Dianne, for six months. Valerie’s role is played by guest star Pam Grier. After constantly searching Valerie is led to believe Dianne is somewhere in Miami. It turns out Dianne is actually prostituting for a pimp who extorts women for his own benefit, I forgot his name but his role is played by guest star John Turturro, who also played a role in the Michael Bay film Transformers, a film my professor from mass media absolutely hates due to the horrible acting. Sonny & Tubbs manage to get into the place where this pimp conducts all of his prostitution and take Dianne out of there. Tubbs also uses Valerie’s stay in Miami to his advantage to rekindle the flame they had once lit but seeing as how Tubbs has bad luck with love in the end this turns out in shame. John Turturro, playing the role of the pimp tells his right hand man to take care of Dianne, in other words, to kill her. He does so by overdosing her with a drug. It was truly a tragic moment in the episode because everything seemed to be going well up until that happened. This shocked Valerie the most as she tells Tubbs the only thing she can do is go back to New York with her sister’s body and tie up some loose ends. Valerie ends up not going to New York and instead goes to the apartment of the pimp to kill him. Armed with vengeance, Valerie succeeds in killing this man as Sonny & Tubbs get to scene after the horrendous event occurred. Valerie ends the episode handing Sonny her pistol saying, “read me my rights”. I found that to be very hilarious because she just said it with a straight face and no regret what so ever. Tubbs seemed a bit disappointed, seeing as how he always has to lose his lover in some tragic ending. Well, Tubbs will probably find happiness someday, let’s hope.
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Tags: episode 17, miami vice, season 1, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 16
The recurring theme music, “Smuggler’s Blues” by Glenn Frey, set the monotone for today’s episode. Basically, leaving the message behind that all smuggler’s motivation for doing whatever they do no matter at what cost always revolves around money. Sonny & Tubbs get in on a job in this episode to work undercover as smuggler clients to set up a deal with a man in Colombia who in turn kills the families of those he makes deals with. So, Sonny & Tubbs act as smuggler’s, while Trudy, a member of their Vice Squad acts as Tubbs wife, also the family member held hostage towards the end. This episode was really dark as we got to see a bit more insight on how undercover cops really have to git into what they do in order to take down smuggler’s. In the process of all this happening I really thought Sonny & Tubbs were about to get killed in some point in time, it truly had me on the edge of my seat. It would have been sad to see either Sonny or Tubbs go because these two make the story much more interesting. Seeing as how Tubbs has a way with his words. Well, Sonny & Tubbs make a deal with a man who flies planes to take them down to Colombia so that they can set a deal with a man. At first, they almost got killed and Tubbs got busted by the Colombian cops but later got released. Then, they continued the deal with the man, this time with a much more direct and serious approach to let him know that they mean business. They set up the rendezvous point and exchange the money for the goods then drive down to the dock where they planed to take off with the plane. Then, the smuggler’s goons tried to stop Sonny & Tubbs but they manage to escape. Upon returning to Miami they get busted by these two guys who tried to intercept their business with the goods to get their money and state that they have taken Trudy hostage ready to kill her at any moments notice. After they manage to find where Trudy is, Sonny & a DEA agent bust in the trailer where Trudy is held hostage, seeing as she is tied to a bomb. The DEA agent manages to break her free with quick and smooth accuracy since he’s an expert at disarming bombs as it seems. In the process of this happening, Tubbs takes down the guy who was behind the arming of the bombs and everyone was able to get away safely. I must say, this episode was really dark and surely showed that if cops are not careful while working undercover it could possibly mean the end of their lives. Honestly, this is one of the main reasons I can never be a police officer I can not see myself willingly putting myself in those kind of situations, it’s a little too risky for my taste.
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Tags: glenn frey, miami vice, smugglers blues, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 15
This episode continues off of the previous episode with Castillo’s wife and the discovery of a great drug lord by the name of General Lao Li. You can see that these two have a very strong adversarial relationship when they finally come to a first encounter in the beginning. It seems that a man by the name of Dale Menton, who also is a DEA agent actually works closely with Li. Menton sets up for Castillo and Li to meet, joking that Li has been waiting for Castillo to contact him. When Castillo and Li finally speak, Li says something which I found to be amusing. He joked how he came to Miami to retire, claiming that it was the purpose for anyone who chose to go there. I found that to be interestingly amusing due to the fact that even today Miami is seen as a retirement home for the old, seeing as how General Lao Li is an old man. Li then tells Castillo of his ex-wife, May Ying’s, whereabouts. Castillo now discovers that his wife has moved on not knowing that Castillo was still alive and is now married with a child. I felt a sort of pity for Castillo because he truly loved this one and as he puts it he found her only to lose her once again. But, love sucks for guys anyway so lets move on with the story. Gen. Lao Li cautions his family to not break laws stating that Castillo will do whatever it takes to take him down. Despite knowing this, two of Lao Li’s grandsons ignore this and continue doing as they please. They try to set up a deal to sell heroine to a restaurant owner and only get caught. In the end, Castillo set the two grandsons free from jail knowing that Li would try to kill them. As Li tried to kill his grandson’s, Castillo and his unit bust through and finally take down Lao Li. I was content at the end because Castillo’s wife was no safe and he was happy that she is happy with her new life and finally General Lao Li was taken down. Thus, leaving Castillo at ease with a sort of bitterness since he can’t truly be the woman he loves. I am sorry but that is hilarious, it happens in almost every complicated love story in movies and shows. I must also add that Castillo has gained a more bit of companionship with Sonny & Tubbs, forming a closer bond with the two. Now, Castillo doesn’t seem like that much of a dark character but his serious tone overall remains which makes his character all the more interesting. The theme music for this episode was very cinematic and very much influenced by the asian culture style of music.
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Tags: castillo, golden triangle pt. 2, miami vice, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 14
Oh man, I am getting real excited to see what is going to happen next. There seems to be some character development undergoing here, this time revolving around Lieutenant Castillo. The new Lieutenant to Sonny’s unit, who we still know little of. The way this story starts out definitely is not the way the episode ends but it makes sense. On orders by Castillo, Sonny & Tubbs play out as security for this hotel, trying to knock down some guy. They meet a man who is trying to get into a safety deposit vault along with his accomplice, who seems to be a man from Thailand. After using Sonny & Tubbs the two then steal from this vault leaving no traces behind. The two men are later shown in a motel looking through the stuff they got as someone wearing a ninja wardrobe bust through the door and shoots them, leaving them dead. Their bodies are later found along with a Thai tatoo left behind, which Castillo seems to recognize for some reason. We now start to see Castillo for who he really is. Tubbs then questions his Lieutenant about his past and we find out some pretty interesting information. Castillo is a former DEA for 3 years, who worked along the mountains in Thailand. Thus, explaining his connections to the people of Thai and why he knows how to speak to Thai and can kick ass in martial arts. Later, Castillo manages to take down the assassin who killed the two men from earlier and crazily this man swallows his own tongue. It turns out he works for a man named General Lao Li, who controls all the exports of Opium in Thailand, someone who Castillo has a personal vendetta with. At the end, we find out what the two men were after were papers about Thailand immigrants coming into the states and we see a picture of a woman at the end who Castillo recognizes as his wife. Things are starting to get interesting, I would like to see exactly how Castillo and his wife were separated in the first place. What kind of vendetta does Castillo have with this General Lao Li? I forgot to add, Tubbs got his ass kicked by the assassin, I bet he wasn’t expecting that it was probably payback for pimp slapping a cop earlier on in the episode. This is great, I had a couple laughs and this took a lot of unexpected turns just the way I like it when watching any kind of programming. I hate to watch something basically knowing what may happen next, I like to be surprised and shocked about certain events. Castillo is such a kick ass character, he has a dark past and such a serious man. Truly, his character is one of the best now seeing as his background is beginning to unfold.
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Tags: castillo, miami vice, sonny, tubbs
Miami Vice: Season 1, Episode 13
In today’s episode titled “The Milk Run” I think we all were able to witness a dose of reality. So this episode starts out with two kids, and I call them kids because although they are adults they are fairly young, involved in drug trafficking when they shouldn’t be. They simply are two childhood friends from New York who tried to get a job done down in Miami to get some quick money so that they can live the life they hoped to have in their dreams. If only they knew that they were chasing their dreams only doing all the wrong things. As always, Sonny & Tubbs get in on this case and after catching these two kids they get them to help them out to take down the real culprit. After they comply and agree to help Sonny promises them that he will let them go free and go home so that they may start anew. I would have thought that after the case was solved that these two kids would just take the plan back home and live a good life. It seems as though this happy ending only ended in a tragedy. As the kids were preparing to leave at the airport with Sonny & Tubbs assistance, a man with a shotgun comes and shoots one of the kids. This ultimately ended the kids life. It was truly a horrific thing to have watched because it only made me think about the harsh realities of society today. Let’s take the Darrion Albert case for example, a kid videotaped the whole thing happening as other kids brutally beat him down and finally taking his life. The kid who was videotaping honestly could have done something to help instead of just watching the event happen. I believe it is because he was desensitized by the media that led him to not doing a thing and only recording the event while it was happening as a form of his own entertainment I suppose. But, violence should not be a form of entertainment neither should it be condoned by anyone. I believe I have gotten too far off track talking about the Albert case but the point I am trying to make is that kids, young people, often times involve themselves in things they shouldn’t meddle with which can ultimately lead to their own deaths prematurely. This episode was truly tragic, I would have liked to see what would have happened if the two kids were able to both go home safe.
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Tags: mass media, miami vice, season 1, sonny, tubbs
Santana, Davis TVR 