Episode #98 "Hard Knocks"


Ferrariman

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  • 2 years later...

Topic: Episode #98 "Hard Knocks" Posted: April 07 2008 at 11:20am "Hard Knocks" is a dark episode, but really shows how people can slide into a strangle hold from gambling. Stan probably started trying to add a little to his income since his raises were turned down. Gambling leads to heavier gambling then to drinking to ease the pain of losing....then threats, fighting etc. Stan owed 75G & Kevin the future football star owed 200G. Stan did a great acting job in this episode which finally featured him. Even drunk, Stan could handle himself in a bar fight! The music was good. It looked realistic when Stan hit the counselor & he went over the railing into the glass counter below. I liked the way Sonny & Rico showed concern for their partner. I give this 8/10. Nice insights into the world of gangsters controling sports, and into Stan's personal life. Also good shootout at the end.

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very interesting... honestly I never watched much of season 5.I guess what I remember most of Miami Vice was the 1st and 2nd season when I was younger.

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6/10 for me. Average in terms of the quality of the series up till that point, but good to see the very first real Switek episode. After Zito's death, we didn't see much of Stan's humor anymore, but by Hard Knocks, everything about him -- the heavy gambling and drinking -- turned dead serious. And he never reaches any real resolve, either, even coming under Castillo's suspicion by Freefall that his gambling has sold him out.Probably one of the most personal Vice episodes too because Switek's conflicts are purely personal, unrelated to a case.I really liked the scene where Rico and Sonny are talking to Stan in the car after they discover he's trashed the bar. But the real shining moment of this episode is the Stan/Sonny talk at the end. I'd reckon that it even rivals the gas station talk scene from Evan.

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Guest neworder

Another top class S5 episode. Switek finally gets a serious and decent story to star in, this is a good episode. Some great music, TimTruman really coming into his stride in parts. I love the into sequence to this episode, great song and nice truck. Also a decent shootout towards the end. Talbott acts quite well.Not the best Miami Vice episode ever but certainly worth an 8/10

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  • 2 weeks later...

This story merits a sturdy 7 from me. I found the beginning gave me a bit of a laugh, having seen the rolling bookie trailer come undone, lol. But mostly, the story itself was compelling and involving. Even though it depicted Switek in a turning point for the worse. For the character, it was not his high point to be sure.

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  • 2 years later...

I'm sorry but this episode is pathetic!! It's nothing but Switek's supposed "fall from grace", with his now full fledged gambling problem, setting his friend's son up to lose a game, going psycho towards his girlfriend...the whole thing was stupid and ridiculous, and it annoyed me just as much as first season's "Made For Each Other", back-when!! :rolleyes: I did not think most of the acting was very good--it seemed very "forced" and I fail to see the point of this one? It just seemed like they were trying to find ways to have Switek change as the rest of the cast and the "feel" of the show was changing...but Stan just could not pull it off! He still tried to throw out his goofy one-liners, then went psycho gambler, then ended up killing a guy under strange circumstances...this was just totally off-the-radar :radar: and had me asking: "What the heck is this junk?" :eek:The music was okay I guess, and the only really good and watchable scene throughout this whole thing--was the very last scene, between Switek and Crockett! :clap: Both did a superb job, and it actually had some depth to it! But the rest of the episode....barf! :sick: I think I was actually a little too nice with this one...as I rated it a 4. If I could change it, my rating would be a 3. :thumbsdown: One of Season 5's little butt-nuggets. :p

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not think most of the acting was very good--it seemed very "forced" and I fail to see the point of this one? It just seemed like they were trying to find ways to have Switek change as the rest of the cast and the "feel" of the show was changing...but Stan just could not pull it off! He still tried to throw out his goofy one-liners, then went psycho gambler, then ended up killing a guy under strange circumstances...this was just totally off-the-radar :radar: and had me asking: "What the heck is this junk?" :eek:The music was okay I guess, and the only really good and watchable scene throughout this whole thing--was the very last scene, between Switek and Crockett! :clap: Both did a superb job, and it actually had some depth to it! But the rest of the episode....barf! :sick: I think I was actually a little too nice with this one...as I rated it a 4. If I could change it, my rating would be a 3. :thumbsdown: One of Season 5's little butt-nuggets. :p

Agreed, I did the like the intro with the Semi-Truck driving across the city...Some nice shots here and there.
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I'm sorry but this episode is pathetic!! It's nothing but Switek's supposed "fall from grace"' date=' with his now full fledged gambling problem, setting his friend's son up to lose a game, going psycho towards his girlfriend...the whole thing was stupid and ridiculous, and it annoyed me just as much as first season's "Made For Each Other", back-when!! :rolleyes: I did [b']not think most of the acting was very good--it seemed very "forced" and I fail to see the point of this one? It just seemed like they were trying to find ways to have Switek change as the rest of the cast and the "feel" of the show was changing...but Stan just could not pull it off! He still tried to throw out his goofy one-liners, then went psycho gambler, then ended up killing a guy under strange circumstances...this was just totally off-the-radar :radar: and had me asking: "What the heck is this junk?" :eek:The music was okay I guess, and the only really good and watchable scene throughout this whole thing--was the very last scene, between Switek and Crockett! :clap: Both did a superb job, and it actually had some depth to it! But the rest of the episode....barf! :sick: I think I was actually a little too nice with this one...as I rated it a 4. If I could change it, my rating would be a 3. :thumbsdown: One of Season 5's little butt-nuggets. :p
Agreed' date=' I did the like the intro with the Semi-Truck driving across the city...Some nice shots here and there.[/quote']Yeah, the intro was okay I guess...but for the most part this episode (until the very last scene) was pretty horrible, disjointed, and weak. :thumbsdown:
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The "Nobody's perfect " / Mike and the Mechanics song montage was so well shot and done .:thumbsup::D

Yeah, that song and the very last scene were the only good moments in this one...the rest of the episode was horrible, poorly acted, and ridiculous! :sick::thumbsdown:
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I disagree with some opinions expressed here. I thought Hard Knocks was a good episode. I'd give it an 8. Firstly, the intro is fantastic. One of the best intros of the series for me.The rest of the episode is good, well acted and well written. Switek's descent into darkness began with Zito's death so I could find it believable. It was good how Switek's character was expanded into more than just a goofy sidekick. I don't see what's so horrible about this episode.

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I'm sorry but Switek's acting just seemed "faky" and forced (except for the very last scene). The whole thing itself was ridiculous and over-the-top with how they carried it out. I'm not saying that the idea of what the episode was supposed to be about was bad...but how they went about it was so disjointed and all over the place! :radar: The intro was kind of cool...but that was very short-lived. ;) I'm sorry but I just was never able to take Michael Talbot's character of Switek that seriously. Even when he tried to be serious, or that was the plot idea of something dramatic with him...it just didn't come off right. :birdie: It is nothing against Talbot at all!! I love and respect his character as much as the rest of them...but his role in the show was the Vice "goof". That's where his strong point was.As a whole I still say this was a poorly written and put together episode...still would give it a 3 if I could change my original rating of a 4. :evil:

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  • 1 year later...

At last, an episode that focuses on Stan since Larry Zito's death back in "Down For The Count".  I'm probably in the minority here, but I thought it a strong and great episode.

 

The criminal plot may have not been the most original (since it was similar to "The Fix" back in Season 2), but the way how they incorporated Stan's struggles was great.  I enjoyed how they made Stan's character have several facades to different people (Crockett and Tubbs, Holly, Mac, Kevin), which shouldn't be too surprising since he works in OCB and is used to having different covers, but it was interesting in seeing it applied with his social group of friends.

 

In "Bossacra", the show gives us a small hint toward Stan's gambling problems and in this episode, it finally reaches past its threshold. As "Asian Cut" displayed Olivia Brown's range in acting, "Hard Knocks" does the same for Michael Talbott where we see the dark side of Stanley Switek (his frustrations, weaknesses, addictions, and breakdowns).  His character is transformed from the comic relief character, to a character with some complexity, which was overdue after experiencing the loss of his partner Larry Zito, which was quickly brushed aside in the series.

 

The music selection and Tim Truman's score was wonderfully done, especially with the final scene between Crockett and Stan.  Many of the scenes with Stan, highlight his emotional isolation when he describes his burgeoning burnout in working in the "black box" (his van), Mac getting upset with him, keeping his gambling problems a secret from Holly, his drunken state, and probably the saddest, is seeing him eating a pizza and beer all by himself in the darkness of night.  It gives the impression that he's probably more isolated than his other co-workers at OCB since he's the only one without a partner, and Stan's breakdown toward Sonny in Sonny trying to comfort him in saying, "We'll help you.  Hell, we're partners", could be alluding to this.

 

The only complaint I have, is that I wish there was a season 4 episode of Stan showing this gradual descent into gambling and alcohol addiction rather than having it forced in one episode, but it still doesn't take away that this is a great episode, and the changes are nevertheless, still believable.

Edited by Vice Immersion
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  • 1 year later...

I enjoyed this episode - and good music and locations too. This late 1988 episode shows how the budget has been cut with music - the gambling scenes and club scenes featuring scores by Tim Truman which sound like songs but aren't . Great use of "Nobody's Perfect" by Mike and the Mechanics though !

Good work from Michael Talbott and we see more supporting roles from DJ and PMT - which worked well . The scene at the end with Stan and Sonny is really well done!

8.5/10:D

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  • 1 month later...

I was never much into this episode, I remember even sleeping a bit during parts of it some years ago. Never into it, until today. I don't know whether it aged well over the years or it was all already there all the time and it was me who's finally found a way to appreciate it... But anyway, I finally see it as a very nice ep, with heavy stuff happening everywhere. I love the bad guys there, Joe Hess always playing a real bad guy, Richard Jenkins real creepy and also that blond actor who reminds me a bit of Robert Englund and plays a real bad mob muscle. I've find Michael Talbot acting convincing. Funny how or judgement can change over the years.  

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  • 1 month later...

Nothing special.

I've never liked the plot of Switek becoming a gambler. Kinda forced and out of nowhere. Couldn't stand the father and son.

Honestly to me its one of those episodes that tries to be really heavy and dramatic but comes off as cheesy and forced.

I do like the final scene though.

4/10

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  • 6 months later...
26 minutes ago, APalFromHawaii said:

Season 5 is overall sad, violent, more tragic than any of the previous seasons. The closer the show is to it's end, the more dark and sad stuff we see.

It's sad to see Switek's life go down the drain because of his addiction..;( The episode is well done, i liked it, the ending is also very well done! 

This one is possibly on my favorite list of S5!:cool:

It was well done and great “Nobody’s Perfect” montage also :hippie:

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55 minutes ago, APalFromHawaii said:

Oh yeah! Switek walkin down the street with some booze reminds me of 'the prodigal son' moment with Crockett. You belong to the city... :radio:

Certainly Switek’s was more down and out in the less honourable Miami Beach locations - whereas Crocketts walk in “Prodigal Son” in NYC was more loneliness/ not sure where you’re going kinda stuff :hippie:

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  • 1 year later...

This episode is a glimpse at what Vice could have been had they bothered to expand other characters MUCH earlier in the process. But the powers failed to do so, had to write Larry out because that failure drove one actor off, and then brush off the impact his death would have had on the squad, and then suddenly have it pop up a couple of seasons later just because.

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  • 1 year later...
On 10/5/2010 at 7:12 AM, Spyder said:

6/10 for me. Average in terms of the quality of the series up till that point, but good to see the very first real Switek episode. After Zito's death, we didn't see much of Stan's humor anymore, but by Hard Knocks, everything about him -- the heavy gambling and drinking -- turned dead serious. And he never reaches any real resolve, either, even coming under Castillo's suspicion by Freefall that his gambling has sold him out.Probably one of the most personal Vice episodes too because Switek's conflicts are purely personal, unrelated to a case.I really liked the scene where Rico and Sonny are talking to Stan in the car after they discover he's trashed the bar. But the real shining moment of this episode is the Stan/Sonny talk at the end. I'd reckon that it even rivals the gas station talk scene from Evan.

Agreed. It was interesting to see Switek in a main part and I thought he tackled it well. I've always liked him as a character and it was pretty sad to see his "decline" into this man trapped by his own addiction. I particularly like the talk at the end too (OK I'm a sucker for emotional talks!) and the way Crockett hugged him and told him they would all support him. It's definitely as good as the gas station talk scene from Evan and almost as  good as the "confession " scene in the same  episode. A 9 out of 10 from me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A solid S5 episode. Interesting to see Switek in a downward spiral, turning to gambling and alcohol addictions. This feel quite realistic approach to writing his character for the last part of the show. And the drunken fight at the bar, the final shootout was pretty badass.

I love the song 'big league' from the intro. Very appropriate to the context.

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