Episode #70 "Amen...Send Money"


Ferrariman

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  • 1 year later...

I can go with 5 on that one.Not the worst episode,but nothing really memorable apart from some funny lines that just save the day.

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I wasn’t overly pleasant about this episode on .org and gave it 5. However about a year or over a year or so ago I suddenly realised that this episode is actually quite good and I have watched it, along with Death and The Lady probably more than any other episode since that point. Why? Well it’s an original storyline for starters, and it’s actually quite interesting. Bill Bob Proverb is a good character, played very well and amusing in places. I also like Tubbs’ performance in this episode, he’s pretty funny when he is angry and also a few good quotes including;“The man is suspect in everything from criminal conspiracy to the use of lightning as a lethal weapon”Pretty damn funny. The Ben Stiller appearance was good too. I love the scene in the corridor with Crockett failing to get a drink, it’s funny and it’s filmed well, with Tubbs obviously pre-occupied with his own problems, whereas Crockett seems more bothered about the increase in drink prices. There are lots of nice little scenes in this episode and also some good scenery during the very few exterior shots. Also the music is all very decent. However, this episode does have a few negatives. The lightning strike scene is completely ridiculous and also the last scene is fairly weak; Crockett saying ‘the good thing about TV is that you can always turn it off’ is an overly cheesy ending. So then overall, I like this episode much more than I used to, I do enjoy watching it but a couple of scenes are unforgivable for their stupidity. Therefore I give this 7/10

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My original post 26 September 2007This is the only Miami Vice episode that My husband will watch with me from start to finish, so of course it has to be one of my favorites. I rate it a 7 The characters were pretty accurate, but the storyline had some problems. First of all the televangelists are portrayed perfectly. Billy Bob represents those of the PTL and the God doesn't want you to be poor mentality. When Billy Bob tells Crockett and Tubbs seriously: "No one wants to be saved by a raggedy but preacher anymore..." He wasn't kidding . Mathers represented the old fashioned fundamentalist that supposedly was against all the satellite preaching and luxury life style. Although according to Fast Eddie it was just sour grapes because Mather hadn't gotten on the satellite when he could have. This was also when the Religious Right was becoming a political force in politics. Remember Pat Robertson ran for the GOP presidential candidate, Jerry Falwell had his moral majority news letter and group. Remember Fast Eddie said without a satellite frequency the ride to Washington politics was an unrealistic goal for Mathers. It was also time of the Religious scandals. I also like the twist that Billy Bob was supposed to be this horrible person, yet he had his good side too: Helping poor people while he maintained this evangelical empire and luxury life style; The music was also good in this we get some sort of religious sounding music when Billy Bobb is preaching and we cut to some sort of street sounding music while Tubbs is 'selling' dope to Leona, then we go back to the religious sounding music and Billy Bob doing his schpiel then back to the street sounding music when we cut back to Tubbs and Leona. I also liked at the end of the teaser when Sonny and Rico have caught Leona after she crashes into the television show the projected image of Leona singing "wrapped up" and the reality of the person Leona caught buying drugs and resisting arrest. I also liked the use of the song Satelite when Billy Bob was being followed by Stan, Trudy and Gina. Another good use of music was playing Hava Nagilha(sp?) when Fast Eddie was trying to make a buck on all the religious symbols he was trying to sell. The song playing on the television at the bar "Baby got a black book?" Was also a nice contrast to what begins playing (the spooky eerily kind of music) when Alex changes the station to Mathers's telecast. I liked the humor in this one both Sonny and Rico had some good lines, and I love Trudy's line "He was being more careful than a mule from Bogata." I also liked the fact that Sonny seemed to have Rico's back on this one. He goes and insists on talking to his partner when IAD is questioning him. He goes and gets Rico after Gina has told him that Rico went to see Billy Bob. He calls Castillo and complains about IAD investigating Rico. He trades 3 home game Miami Dolphin tickets to the lie detector lady so he can find out what the polygraph says. He's keeping Rico informed during Rico's suspension and evidently works the case with him although Rico's supposed to be on suspension. Things that bothered me badly: 1. If Stroth and IAD had the video tape from Tubbs and The girl's encounter why didn't they view it and see that she grabbed him? 2. If Rico was suspended why was he still working the case? (I've asked this about Crockett before too.) 3. When Crockett asks Alex to change the channel at the bar and the other patrons complain why does he say we'll get back to you head bangers when the music playing didn't sound like heavy metal to me? 4. Why wasn't the Deacon, Mathers, and the doctor more worried if Mathers kept going into a coma every six months? 5. What kind of hospital allows its patients to go wandering with some kind of syringe full of lethal medicine and climb a radio tower? 6. How did Mathers know when the lightning would strike even if he did pay Carl to deliberately overload the circuits. I know Florida is the state that has the most ligtning strikes, but how did he pinpoint the time? 3/1/2010 - I recently saw this episode 3 times! Twice on Centric and once two weekends ago. The 6 questions I mentioned in the original review still bother me. Mark and I both remarked that the ligtning strike reminded us of a Highlander quickening (when an immortal's head got lopped off.) The portrayal of the envengelist still remind me of the PTL scandal, and that time in the eighties. Some one already mentioned it, but the humor of this episode was very enjoyable. I also enjoyed the out door scenery from The palatial house of Bill Bob to the street scenes where Leona is buying drugs. I also enjoyed some of the Ocean Drive scenes. Was that wall with Block glass window representing Rico's apartment? It looked like he was supposed to be home since Metro Dade had to patch the call through to him, and it didn't look like Metro Dade or OCB? I enojoyed this one as usual. It's a nice buffer between the two more serious episodes "Contempt of Court" and "Death and the Lady."

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Brian Dennehy does a good job playing a televangelist. Most of the donations he gets goes into his own pocket. He equates money & success with godliness. I thought he framed Tubbs, but it was his rival TV preacher. He got his burn notice, though! They both did. This episode was fairly entertaining, but I didn't like Crockett's hair, Rico's beard was o.k., but there wasn't enough action. I give it 7/10. I may watch this one again soon & I'll hold my score until then.

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Call me crazy but I love this episode. Bill Bob's opening sermon is hillarious! Watch it again and pay attention to it. Good Hammer score. 10

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What I don´t understand is, if a woman was raped, she normally has to go to the doctor to secure the evidences the rapist had left. This investigation would have been enough to find out that she´s a lier.And I agree with Nancy. Ther are several questions without an answer. So, I only give it a five.

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I have to admit I have got difficulties with rathing this ep.I really do not like how the part of Billy Bob Proverb is played. Maybe it is because I just do not like the actor or maybe the way he is acting. Most of the time when I am rewatching mv I do not get futher then the beginning of the ep and then quickly skip to another ep. But because I wanted to review the ep I watched the whole ep tonight and my conclusion I still do not like BBP but there are a lot of good things in this ep.Good things* Crockets clothes! His shirts were perfect! * there were some funny scenes in it for example Sonny with the lady whom operates the lie detector. or the remarks from Stan about the clothes of BBP and then he is getting it right back from Gina with the remark you must shop at the same store then. :D* The scene were Tubbs is mad and Crocket cannot get anything to drink or eat.* When the BBP wifes said the devil was in this body and Crockets said amen* The bar scene with Tubbs and Crocket.Bad things* BBP* the story line was a bit thin to me, to many things were not worked out properly to my opionAl things considered if I look past BBP and the thin story line I give this ep a 7.

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The weak start to S4 continues with this ep, which I find to be quite godawful. The story of televangelists is executed very poorly. If this was supposed to be some sort of satire on it then it did not succeed. Brian Dennehy could have guest starred a lot better than this. There are interesting guest appearances in this ep though, including Mr. Strickland from Back To The Future and a young, barely recognisable Ben Stiller. Overall, crap. 3.5/10

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  • 2 weeks later...

Whilst "Missing hours" has to win the prize for the most stupid storyline, this one has to win the prize for the most badly executed plot. In addition to the issues that Nancy raised earlier, the biggest one of all has to be this: If Bill Bob Proverb was not the one trying to frame Tubbs, and Mason Mather was, then why did Leona suddenly go public in front of the cameras, making out that Tubbs molested her as well??? For me, the holes and contradictions in this storyline demonstrate how hit and miss Season 4 was. With a lot of the Season 4 episodes, it was like the usual production crew had been kidnapped and some lunatics had taken over the running of the show.Other things that made no sense. Why the hell would the Postal police be dressed in Armani suits? Also, after shaking down Becker, Crockett and Tubbs ask him why Mather would wish to sabotage Proverb's show. Becker replies "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?". Crockett replies "That's a good idea". Except it wasn't, because as far as Crockett and Tubbs knew at the time, Mather was in a coma. It was only luck that by the time they went to find him, he had just come out of his coma. Positives: Great use of Jan's "Tale of the Goat" / "Yankee Dollar music. I like how the former merges into the latter during the initial scenes."Satellite" is a great song. However this was one episode where I felt that the the storyline was written around the song, rather than a song being used in order to reflect the mood of a scene, which was usually the case with Vice.It took me years before I recognised Ben Stiller. Surely he's had "Michael Knight" facial reconstructive surgery since then?5 out of 10.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Episode 70: Amen ... Send MoneyTo me this is a quentessential Vice episode, Brian Dennehy is great as the corrupt televangelist, obviously a model for the Pastor Richards character in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, this episode puts the Vice back into Miami Vice.Score: 8
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  • 10 months later...

I do many things after watching Miami Vice episodes. Mainly go to bed because I am tired, and we watch them late on a Saturday night. Or watch some late night comedy. Or something.But after this episode, I did something I haven't done since...ooh, the middle of Season Three somewhere. I did this really happy MIAMI VICE RULES dance, and then proceeded to kiss the posters in my bedroom. Several times. The reason for this?!? THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN AGES I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED A MIAMI VICE EPISODE!I have problems with it of course. The storyline made no sense...why didn't they just stick with the fact that the girl had screamed rape to frame Tubbs so his "impeachable" (really? He was responsible for two DEA agents meeting their end...but...shhh!) character was no longer relevant and his story might not stand up in court about the drugs. Why add this whole extra layer that frankly confused me.BUT! There were so many good things. Which I shall now detail...in detail. Heh heh.The Good:The episode had some very, very funny lines indeed. The scene where Crockett and Tubbs (more about them later) were walking along the OCB corridor and Crockett was trying to get a soda? None of my family heard what that scene was about because it was hilarious. Poor Tubbs, giving up his money without a second thought (seems to do a lot and never gets it back) and Crockett's frustration at not being able to get a drink just delighted me. I had to watch the scene again the day after to realise that it was actually quite an instrumental scene, and if I had watched it properly the first time, I might have understood the episode a little bit more!Second. I thought that the initial storyline was actually quite good. I thought how Tubbs was clearly set up (we did tell him not to go, but...yeah...he didn't listen) and then the after-events were actually the basis for a good storyline (ignoring the rather annoying preacher, his wife, and the bald one). Third. Good conclusion. I think. Totally unrealistic, but still.The Bad:Like I say, I didn't really get the storyline that much, although much of it was quite true, like the materialistic preachers bit (*hides in case of backlash*). Good start with Tubbs being a dealer, even with the ridiculous hat. I can't think of anything else bad.The Ugly:Tubbs' hat. (*cries) And his beard. Still.The singing.And now, a new category to my reviews:CrockettandTubbsness: in which I discuss anything vaguely related to their friendship, because it fascinates me as much as the guns fascinate my little brother.*claps hands excitedly* Well, weren't our two heroes in sync this week? Some really lovely lines, including "What are you, my guardian angel?" "I guess, if I have to be." Lovely, it will have to go in my signature. And, "What do you say my partner climbs up there..." coupled with Tubbs' facial expression. I couldn't stop laughing! And the final scene with the hideous singing, but come on. There had to be some symbolism in the totally cheesy "Together As One" and the camera was on C&T. Like how they stood by each other in the episode. Sort of. So I was very happy, because the partnership seemed shoved to the side in Season Three, and now, it's happy again! Yay, which means a very happy C&T! Still very happy!So. THE MOMENT OF TRUTH. My rating...8/10I've seen better, but it's up there in terms of the C&Tness and the general humour. Felt like, for a moment, I was watching Season One.And then I saw the beard. *cry*PS *whispers* Sorry Christine.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 11 months later...

Again i enjoyed this one-i mean the guest stars-brian dennehy,james tolkan and i know he was totally unknown at the time but ben stiller-it doesnt get any better than that.When i watch the start with brian preaching and the bold pink background it makes me wish they released vice on blu ray-i think that scene would look truly stunning.

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  • 1 year later...

I'm sorry but this episode was stupid! :rolleyes: The plot and how it was carried out/executed was pathetic and ridiculous. :sick:Interesting guest-stars...from Brian Dennehy, Anita Morris (who will always be the evil witch Jezebel in Dolly Parton's TV Movie A Smoky Mountain Christmas to me :) ), James Tolkan (who will always be the jerk principal in Back to the Future to me), a young Ben Stiller, etc... There also were a few more pastels again with Crockett and Tubbs' clothes.But, despite the star power (or a few pastel shirts), this one was a turd...and no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :p This episode seems to take a stab at the "fakiness", misleading, and somewhat fraudulent aspects of many TV evangelists (though not all). It's very reminiscent of the whole Jimmy Swaggart and Jim & Tammy Fae Bakker scandals--with prostitutes, drugs, fraud, etc... However, this episode I believe was right before those real-life scandals were exposed.Overall, I'm not sure what the point of the plot and episode is really supposed to be? :confused: The acting was bizarre and pretty bad (although I think the guest-stars did what the script called for...so maybe we should blame the writers), there was hardly any action, and I hate episodes where one of the main characters is blamed for a crime and the episode is spent trying to clear them. :evil: This one was just kind of all over the place with no real purpose, and left you going...what?? :radar:I'm sorry...but I gave this little butt-nugget of an episode a 3. :thumbsdown:

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  • 2 years later...

 

Weak episode. It's an interesting idea and it really shows the sign of the times when you go back and watch this episode today. Televangelism was so big in the 80's, and I like the idea they were aiming for but it comes out badly.

 

One good thing in this episode was the courage the writers had to tackle a very bad stereotype, that occurs when Tubbs is set up with a rape charge. 

 

I didn't like how the episode humanized and painted out the Bill Bob Proverb character and then switching it to his rival being the devil in disguise. I'm glad they didn't do any divine intervention stuff with the lightning bolt, and it was fun seeing a young Ben Stiller in this episode. 

 

Overall weak episode, 3 out of 10. 

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  • 1 year later...

I gotta be honest. I really enjoy the episode. Kind of a so bad its good kind of way. Actually I think the writing is hilarious. Most notably the opening sermon and basically all of Tubbs' lines such as lightning as a lethal weapon and there is life after Vice.

The evangelist plot was funny. I really like Brian Dennehy. His wife had a "unique" voice. Good God.

Listen to the music when the Reverend is climbing the tower. It's really cool. Someone on YouTube cut out the dialogue and played it. Also Tubbs' look when Crockett says that he'll come up and talk to him cracked me up.

Nice scenery.

Anyway, the lightning scene wasn't exactly Vice. Fun to see a young Bruce Stiller.

8.5/10

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  • 4 months later...

hi guys, i don't understand this part of dialog

(sonny )

All right, so we'll see who's at the top
of the chart on that hit parade,

and five will get you an 800 number
that that's the dude that we're lookin' for.

thanx

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  • 11 months later...

Brian Dennehy is a good actor and one of the few who could pull this off.  But this is still not a very good episode.  The Hooters were a good band and I have a lot of their stuff.  The subject matter in this ep could've been handled seriously instead and gone over a lot better.  After eps like this and The Big Thaw, I can easily see a lot of the audience bailing on the season without giving it a full chance.  Proverb's property looked nice.  I didn't have a problem with Tubbs' hat.  Sonny's rocking the patterned shirts.  The one looks like urban camo.  Becker here looks like a long haired strung out Randy Cotoure.

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The problem with this episode was that too many people fudged around on the script, around a dozen participating writers including Michael Mann himself were part of the story process of this first produced episode of season 4. 

The original storyline about TV preachers and their behaviour was well selected and a hot topic at the time. This episode started great but jumped the shark exactly at the point where Faynell tries to doctor a rape by Tubbs on live video. Not only that this is the start of a very constructed subplot (not Proverb turns out to have been framing Tubbs but someone else is indirectly via manipulating Proverb‘s staff against Tubbs) that will dominate the rest of the episode and prevent logic and action, but it is also completely unrealistic. As they had the alleged Faynell rape on tape it could easily be seen that SHE started grabbing Tubbs not vice versa. He had his hands hanging down for some time while she yelled and pushed herself onto him before he started to grab her to keep her on distance. No way that any detective or prosecutor could have overlooked that bogus allegation.

Whoever of the dozen co-writers came up with this reasoning of the investigation against Tubbs, spoiled the ep as it went downhill from there and running from one crazy idea into the next (e.g. Mason Mather exactly passing out at the time of the attack against Proverb and then suddenly waking up is another unbelievable plot element) until it passed out. 

My verdict: first 20 minutes full 5 Stars, the rest 1-2 out of 5.

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