Episode #104 "The Lost Madonna"


Ferrariman

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  • 2 years later...

This is the kind of episode that, just by the plot description, sounds awful. Stolen art? Really? But, it works. I find S5 overwhelmingly strong and this ep is no exception, it's one I've watched far more times than I would have guessed. Awesome music, too. Twist In My Sobriety is just great, and Claton's She's Waiting fits very, very well (love the way it seems like it's over at the end of the chase, and then pops up at the very end).I had a hard time deciding on a rating, but went with 8/10, only because there's a few others from the season I consider stronger and would rank 9/10.

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One of my favourites. An original storyline, great music, truman's score in the intro sequence was amazing, some good action, great scenery and it was quite light hearted in places, not so much as to make it stupid but enough to make it very enjoyable. It's a very pleasant episode to watch. And at-least this episode gives tubbs an excuse to wear ridiculous clothing, unlike other episodes, so he could fit in with the art community. No criticisms from me. Great episode. Not the best of season 5 mind you because Fruit of the Poison Tree is out of this world but this is certainly better than anything that Season 3 has to offer. 10/10

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  • 3 weeks later...

I give this episode a strong 7. I found it had somewhat of a humorous theme to it, even if unintended. A former drug family right in the middle of a stolen art racket and fiasco, along with a crooked New York detective looking to abscond with the art himself, lol.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 4 months later...

This episode was a treat to watch! It feels like 'old' Miami Vice. I even liked Truman's score in this one. Usually watching season 5 episodes has me wanting for some Jan Hammer music but in this one Truman seemed to step up to the plate and deliver.Today is the first time I've seen this episode. Of season 5, I only saw the first 2 or 3 episodes and the finale back in the day and now wish I had seen this one as well. This episode is a 10/10 for me.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Really enjoy this one...another Season 5 gem! :done:The plot was interesting, and tying in drugs with stolen art was something they'd never done before! The action was good and I love how they contrasted intellectual art lovers with "locker room-mentality" gangsters--it was humorous as well as fun to watch! :) Believe it or not, some stereotypes are actually real! :pThe guest-stars in this one were superb! Michael Chiklis is a superb actor, and I've seen him in many things over the years--including his series' The Commish (1991-1996), The Shield (2002-2008), and Vegas (2012-2013) His weight seems to fluctuate and so does his hair. :D But, I loved his part of Agent Jeffrey Whitehead in this "MV" episode. Now, do I understand it correctly...was this episode his first acting appearance?Anyway, I also thought guest star Elizabeth Berridge as Julia Scianti was gorgeous and intelligent! She kind of captivated me and I wish she'd of had a more important role. :glossy: But, like most of the "hot" girls on "MV"...they usually seem to turn out to be a femme fatale. ;) Peter Dobson as Joey Scianti was hilarious and a textbook case for the stereotypical, spaghetti-for-brains Italian gangster! :) Actor Ned Eisenberg was, as usual, awesome as Sal Castelli...but he'll always be Charlie Glide to me! :D Eisenberg guest-starred many times on "MV"...probably his most famous being Charlie Glide in 2nd Season's Yankee Dollar.The music was also superb in this one...the most captivating song being She's Waiting by Eric Clapton! :radio: I liked the colors and fashion in this one too...as well as the props used for the Madonna--it actually was a beautiful piece of art (at least for a TV episode)! Loved the ending with Chiklis (Whitehead) at the cruise ship docking port--he turned out to be pretty deadly, despite being an art snob! :eek: The old lady get-up, complete with Mumu, was hilarious! :pOverall I really love this one and it's another one I look forward to when going through Season 5...I gave it a 9! :thumbsup:

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The Commish (1991-1996), The Shield (2002-2008), and Vegas (2012-2013) His weight seems to fluctuate and so does his hair. :D But, I loved his part of Agent Jeffrey Whitehead in this "MV" episode. Now, do I understand it correctly...was this episode his first acting appearance?Anyway, I also thought guest star Elizabeth Berridge as Julia Scianti was gorgeous and intelligent! She kind of captivated me and I wish she'd of had a more important role. :glossy: But, like most of the "hot" girls on "MV"...they usually seem to turn out to be a femme fatale. ;) Peter Dobson as Joey Scianti was hilarious and a textbook case for the stereotypical, spaghetti-for-brains Italian gangster! :) Actor Ned Eisenberg was, as usual, awesome as Sal Castelli...but he'll always be Charlie Glide to me! :D Eisenberg guest-starred many times on "MV"...probably his most famous being Charlie Glide in 2nd Season's Yankee Dollar.The music was also superb in this one...the most captivating song being She's Waiting by Eric Clapton! :radio: I liked the colors and fashion in this one too...as well as the props used for the Madonna--it actually was a beautiful piece of art (at least for a TV episode)! Loved the ending with Chiklis (Whitehead) at the cruise ship docking port--he turned out to be pretty deadly, despite being an art snob! :eek: The old lady get-up, complete with Mumu, was hilarious! :pOverall I really love this one and it's another one I look forward to when going through Season 5...I gave it a 9! :thumbsup:

Great review - I agree a fine episode . :thumbsup::D
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  • 8 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

This is a fantastic episode filmed in late January 1989/ early February 1989.

The supporting cast , story and locations are so good. Lots of C&T  also in good light hearted mode. :thumbsup:

10/10

Edited by Matt5
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  • 2 months later...

This one is basically a S2 episode with the look of S5. Thats a cool mix.

I like the plot. We hadn't seen it before.

Like the guest actors especially the actress who played Julia. She was hot. Especially at the end.

Liked the party scene. Great scenery and music.

Docking a point for Tubbs fashion in this one.

The climax was hilarious. Especially love the ending with Sigmar.

8/10

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2 minutes ago, Remington said:

This one is basically a S2 episode with the look of S5. Thats a cool mix.

Nice observation.  S2 is my favorite overall and this is my favorite episode from S5 and it seems now I kn ow why.  I never thought about it like this but the more I consider it the more it makes sense.  Brilliant!

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  • 10 months later...

This is a fine episode - and I found this small piece on YouTube reference the art used in this Season 5 episode :hippie:

 

Edited by Matt5
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  • 1 month later...

Just re-watched this one tonight and I find it to be one of the better season 5 episodes. I give it points for the art angle and for the two set music pieces (the party and the "She's Waiting" sequence at the end). In fact, I'd say Act V of this episode is one of the strongest Acts in any episode all season. Chiklis also does a great job as a snobby art cop and I remember when first seeing this episode his double cross took me by surprise. The second double cross--Julia--also came as a surprise when I saw it the first time, so some nice twist at the end. 

I deduct points for the Sciantis. They come across more as a parody of a crime family than the real deal, although Joey delivers a few good lines. I also will deduct points for Ned Eisenberg's appearance. Not that he did anything wrong (he had very little to do), but I identify him so much as Charlie Glide that his appearance takes me out of the story. He was way overused as a guest star in vice (Lombard twice, here, and Yankee Dollar). His Glide character was so big that they should have retired this guest star after Yankee Dollar.

Overall, a fun episode with some good music and a couple of decent plot twists.

 

 

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On 5/21/2018 at 3:38 AM, Campion said:

Just re-watched this one tonight and I find it to be one of the better season 5 episodes. I give it points for the art angle and for the two set music pieces (the party and the "She's Waiting" sequence at the end). In fact, I'd say Act V of this episode is one of the strongest Acts in any episode all season. Chiklis also does a great job as a snobby art cop and I remember when first seeing this episode his double cross took me by surprise. The second double cross--Julia--also came as a surprise when I saw it the first time, so some nice twist at the end. 

I deduct points for the Sciantis. They come across more as a parody of a crime family than the real deal, although Joey delivers a few good lines. I also will deduct points for Ned Eisenberg's appearance. Not that he did anything wrong (he had very little to do), but I identify him so much as Charlie Glide that his appearance takes me out of the story. He was way overused as a guest star in vice (Lombard twice, here, and Yankee Dollar). His Glide character was so big that they should have retired this guest star after Yankee Dollar.

Overall, a fun episode with some good music and a couple of decent plot twists.

 

 

Great review - I also like this episode very much. It’s fun, fast paced and lots of Crockett and Tubbs. More so Crockett which is great as he was absent in “Cell Within” the episode previous. Michael Chiklis as Whitehead was also excellent.

Edited by Matt5
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On 5/20/2018 at 10:38 PM, Campion said:

I deduct points for the Sciantis. They come across more as a parody of a crime family than the real deal, although Joey delivers a few good lines.

 

They were definitely trying to cash in on the Andrew Dice Clay/Italian mobster motif popular at the time. The two brothers really date the episode worse than the some of the fashion.

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  • 2 years later...

I really dig this episode. It feels a lot more MV than other season 5 episodes (FOTPT is another true MV feeling episode). I am a big art fan and sometimes artist myself, so I liked the subject matter. One of my best friends is a professional artist who sells paintings for $10,000+. I wish I was that good! I wasn’t familiar with Kostabi’s work before this episode, I really like his style! His featureless portrayal of humans shows us like robots or androids.

Julia was very cute. Petite with a very nice smile. I found it odd how Sonny just handcuffed one of her hands and pulled her along. What was he doing? Seemed a little kinky. :)

Another note, I really like Sonny’s black (or dark grey?) suit with white shirt he wears to the party... Very classy with the black Ray-Bans. :cool: Rico looked a bit strange with his hair slicked-back... Made his hair look receding.

Lastly, here is a Kostabi painting I really like which resembles both an office and a mouse maze. It seems to have so many interpretations to its meaning. Life is a rat race, ain’t it? :)

DEFB34FC-5250-4F8F-94E7-CD737B3D1CBD.jpeg

 

Edited by AndrewRemington
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  • 3 weeks later...

what I really like about this episode that they succeeded to make a light hearted episode with lots of humor that did not end up in creepy stupid BS but balanced out with some serious action and drama. All actors had fun doing this and it showed.

What is remarkable here is that they went from humor to brutality several times very quickly and unexpectedly, e.g. as Tubbs gets physical on Whitehead in OCB or when Scianti threatens to beat his sister with a baseball bat.

Also, the reason why VICE is dealing with that off-VICE-topic of art at all (and is in the driver´s seat of the investigation) was managed well here as opposed to other episodes. The culture clash between snobby Whitehead and Crockett&Tubbs has some hilarious moments (Lucy Lammermoor painting of the purest form: a white nothing). Also Tim Truman had a lot of fun and wrote some very long great cues in the teaser and at the end.

This episode was last chance for Chip Chalmers the first AD to direct. DJ wanted to help him and bullied producers to give hi the chance. After this episode, the cancellation was announced.

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On 8/14/2020 at 11:30 PM, AndrewRemington said:

I really dig this episode. It feels a lot more MV than other season 5 episodes (FOTPT is another true MV feeling episode). I am a big art fan and sometimes artist myself, so I liked the subject matter. One of my best friends is a professional artist who sells paintings for $10,000+. I wish I was that good! I wasn’t familiar with Kostabi’s work before this episode, I really like his style! His featureless portrayal of humans shows us like robots or androids.

Julia was very cute. Petite with a very nice smile. I found it odd how Sonny just handcuffed one of her hands and pulled her along. What was he doing? Seemed a little kinky. :)

Another note, I really like Sonny’s black (or dark grey?) suit with white shirt he wears to the party... Very classy with the black Ray-Bans. :cool: Rico looked a bit strange with his hair slicked-back... Made his hair look receding.

Lastly, here is a Kostabi painting I really like which resembles both an office and a mouse maze. It seems to have so many interpretations to its meaning. Life is a rat race, ain’t it? :)

DEFB34FC-5250-4F8F-94E7-CD737B3D1CBD.jpeg

 

I found this out a few years ago but somehow failed to mention it here.  Mark Kostabi attended the high school where I teach, California High School in Whittier, CA.  He is older than me so was there looong before I was, but I’ve been there 25 years and had never heard mention of him so I did a little research.

My first knowledge of him had been back in the late 80’s when one of the network news magazine shows like 60 Minutes, though it wasn’t that one, did a story on his art, and how he didn’t actually create much of it.  The story’s point was that he was largely a PR machine for “his” art, but actually it was produced by many apprentices in his studio.  The story also questioned the art world in general, and how art critics created hype surrounding certain artists and that led to increased valuation.  I think it was a Connie Chung story.  Strange but true!

That said, I do enjoy the episode.  Michael Chiklis is very good as the art critic, and the supporting cast as well.

Edited by pahonu
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