Episode #97 "Asian Cut"


Ferrariman

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  • 2 years later...

I'm not too keen on this one, myself. It starts OK but it gets boring as it goes on. The later stages of the ep are crap. I didn't like any of the characters. There are some redeeming features. Nice scenery(Ocean Drive and the rooftop in South Beach), a good song(Under the Milkyway) and Trudes looked hot. But that's all there is to recommend this ep. Crockett has a season one-like wardrobe in this ep and I found it odd that Castillo didn't recognise the Asian symbol. "It's probably Thai". You'd think he'd know if it was Thai or not. There's a scene ripped off from 48 HRS. A guy running away slams into an open car door, just like DPK did in the movie. The car is even a Cadilliac. I found it interesting how the guy said a Turkish method of torture is beating the soles of a person's feet, something that was in Midnight Express. Forgettable episode. I didn't like it. It just bored me. 3/10

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one of the best eps of season five for me!the characters are interesting (drama with some interlinked plots e.g. Air America/CIA+molested runaway daughter, undercover cop loses control and is scared to death), the main killer story line exciting and the music, colors and locations are top notch plus there is a good portion of humor and some terrific quotes ("I get clumsy when I´m ignored", etc.). For me, this ep alone has more substance than half of season 2.@Tommy Vercetti: it is not unusual that Castillo does not recognize the symbols right away. A very educated Chinese professor knows about 30% of all Chinese symbols because there are more than 10000 of them. Don´t you think that a white male who lived once in Thailand for a few years can be forgiven for not knowing all kinds of SE Asian symbolism?

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Posted: April 01 2008 at 11:40amMost of you are not too fond of this episode, I see. It held my interest and had some good background music & songs to go with the on screen action. Yes, it was a little dark for my taste, but Seas. 4 & 5 turned in that direction. The red herring, Tegoro, looked familiar....he's the Lt. on the early Nash Bridges episodes. He's a good actor. They really misdirected our attention to him with the knives & dummy legs! This is Trudy & Rico's episode. They had some cool outfits, although some of Trudy's were weird. I liked the zebra striped dress & earrings to match. I felt Gina did a good call girl impression on the phone. You people are very critical of her acting. The Doc's house had a nice tropical entrance & stone floor. There was an alligator briefcase on the desk, like the one in other episodes.( I notice these things! lol) Cheryl Stone had nice clothes & was very pretty, like Gina. Carlos looks like my neighbor, but he's not into self pain & murder. Good song as Trudy whipped him. Whitley snooped too much & got literally crucified for it. The Doc was a real sicko demonstrating his pain cleansing to a bunch of dummies with taped applause, no less!! Trudy gave him enough warning to drop his gun, even though she was in shock. I rate this a solid 8/10.

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I love Asian Cut, 10 points from me! Dark and mysterious thematically along the lines of Death and the Lady, and Duty and Honor. Had more Season 5 episodes been like this, with every Vice member getting equal and strong screen time, it wouldn't have seemed such an obviously uneven final year of the series. I thought Trudy handled herself well with being tortured, and the subsequent killing of the professor at the end. It really shows how much she has progressed as a policewoman since episodes like Dutch Oven.

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I've been having trouble figuring out how to express my feelings about this episode, I haven't seen it since my tapes went bad but I remember my expressions kept changing from ?( to :p to :), it seems like the episode was a bad excuse to throw in some more kinky elements, it came off as embarrassing and comically stupid, if only this episode had a Mike Nelson 'Rifftrax' then it would get a higher score.Go ahead and aim your cannons if you want vicers because I remember the last time I gave this score I was immidiately branded Dr. Frankenvice, I give it a 1.

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not crazy about this one....I have many need to see ep's on my list and this is not one that comes to mind...It was good to see Trudy with a starring roll..But i have to give it a 4....:(

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Guest neworder

God Season 5 is good, only Bad Timing has made me angry so far this season. This episode is yet again very dark, has a very interesting story and Trudy is looking decent throughout. There is some great music contained, it's filmed very well, it's creepy but it's interesting and all in all it's a very good episode. That said it's not perfect, a few acting hiccups, yet again mostly from Gina. First time she has a kinda biggish role in Season 5 and she screws up, no surprise. Ermm... yeah the reporter is a bit annoying too.So overall a creepy episode in parts, but very well executed.8/10

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  • 2 weeks later...

I brand this story with a 4. I found it to be just terrible. Somewhat perverse also. An expert on torture and a war vet who gets of on violent submission just blended to make an ep best forgotten for me.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...
one of the best eps of season five for me!the characters are interesting (drama with some interlinked plots e.g. Air America/CIA+molested runaway daughter' date=' undercover cop loses control and is scared to death), the main killer story line exciting and the music, colors and locations are top notch plus there is a good portion of humor and some terrific quotes ("I get clumsy when I´m ignored", etc.). For me, this ep alone has more substance than half of season 2.@Tommy Vercetti: it is not unusual that Castillo does not recognize the symbols right away. A very educated Chinese professor knows about 30% of all Chinese symbols because there are more than 10000 of them. Don´t you think that a white male who lived once in Thailand for a few years can be forgiven for not knowing all kinds of SE Asian symbolism?[/quote']Interesting thoughts...and ones I have too with this episode! This is one of Season 5's best! :thumbsup:The plot, acting, colors, fashion, action, suspense, the bizarre & wild, all come together to create one "heck" of an episode! Love the bum at the beginning that tries to explain to Crockett and Tubbs that there's a body in the alley...that dude was a pretty darn good character actor--unless they used a real-life bum soused on booze? :)What's this...Crockett is finally wearing a pastel shirt with a white jacket again? Awesome!! :D I've also noticed that Sonny is now taken to wearing faded/ripped jeans with his jackets instead of the dress pants. This was kind of a cool change for him and I liked it! But, Fred Dryer as Rick Hunter, on the 80's cop drama "Hunter", is actually kind of the one who made the jeans with the sports jacket popular. I love Trudy's hooker outfit at the beginning too...the colors are superb and so 80's! :glossy: I also noticed a new "outter" area, and/or questioning rooms, and/or hallway at the OCB...with more modern dark grey walls but neon colored lighting! That's more of a 90's thing and totally reminds me of "Silk Stalkings"--the 90's most popular cop drama on USA. I liked it, and thought it was kind of cool!:cool:The plot was wild and bizarre...which I like things like that! ;) I usually like wild serial killer episodes and storylines that keep me captivated and on edge--and "Asian Cut" was no exception! David Schramm was the perfect psycho as Professor Halliwell...he was creepy and all-out evil!! He freaked me out! :eek: Loved how we got to hear the "ooing and ahhing" in Halliwell's mind, supposedly from the mannequin admirers of his sick torture pictures...he later even tries to comfort/shush one when Trudy was after him...like it could hear or understand him--that was crazy! :rolleyes: I also found the grey-haired Asian guy Tegoro freaky too--the knives stuck in hands as art was sick :sick: but it was supposed to be. ;) I too agree that Castillo wouldn't know every single Asian symbol or marking out there...there would be tons he might not immediately recognize and would need help identifying them. I actually liked that aspect, that he wanted Professor Halliwell's help (before he realized the good professor was the psycho)...it made Castillo more "real" and not some mythical figure that somehow always "magically" knows that kind of thing. :pThe acting and depth for this one was superb! :clap: Everyone did a fantastic job--especially Trudy! I love how Trudy at the end gets to take down Halliwell--very emotional for her, and I love the scene between her and Crockett! However, I didn't think Gina was given a big enough part...she was more "sidelines" in this one. I also don't know what the heck the were thinking but Gina's clothes / fashion & hairdo in this were horrible! The ugly braided ponytail for her hair; then the colossal-sized, butt-ugly scarf hanging down over an oversized jacket---it was hideous! :eek: But, it was definitely in style in the 80's and that's just the way it was. :)The songs included in this one were cool and helped set the mood or tone...with Under the Milkey Way by The Church, and Here It Is, Take It! by That Petrol Emotion! :radio: I also felt that the amount of gore/blood allowed in this episode was notable...as even with "MV", in the 80's that kind of blood still usually wasn't allowed. The torture of Trudy towards the end, with the electrocution in her feet, was also somewhat "pushing" it for the time. This one is "dark" but realistic, tragic but captivating! This one and "Heart of Night" are probably the best of the season, and are my favorites. As with "Heart", I gave this one a 10!! :thumbsup:
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  • 1 month later...

This is a very dark but a pretty decent episode to me.The episode has such a dangerous and scary edge to it.That Carlos dude reminds me of a more twisted version of Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.The two main villians have to be one of the most scary and sick baddies in the entire show.Torturing people,S&M fetish stuff,and having an audience consisting of mannequins complete with a "ooh","ahhh",and an "applause" voice recordings (very eerie stuff).I liked the use of "Under the Milky Way" in this episode though it would of been suited for "Death and the Lady" as well.I like how the whole Vice team got a part in this episode in early Miami Vice fashion.Olivia Brown's performance of being frightened after she was freed at the end was spot on.She was in a frightening place in a gastly situation.I like to think that when she hugged Crockett that she wasn't sure if her being rescued from all that was a dream or not.That Austrailian reporter pretty much had what was coming to him,he was searching around in a very hostile enviroment and was a sketchy thing to do in the first place!Crockett and Tubbs finally get a decent amount of undercover work together after previous episodes of them hardly doing any work together.Crocketts clothes are pretty cool too with the light blue blazer,white henley,and jeans.In all I give this episode a 9/10.

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This is a very dark but a pretty decent episode to me.The episode has such a dangerous and scary edge to it.That Carlos dude reminds me of a more twisted version of Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.The two main villians have to be one of the most scary and sick baddies in the entire show.Torturing people' date='S&M fetish stuff,and having an audience consisting of mannequins complete with a "ooh","ahhh",and an "applause" voice recordings (very eerie stuff).I liked the use of "Under the Milky Way" in this episode though it would of been suited for "Death and the Lady" as well.I like how the whole Vice team got a part in this episode in early Miami Vice fashion.Olivia Brown's performance of being frightened after she was freed at the end was spot on.She was in a frightening place in a gastly situation.I like to think that when she hugged Crockett that she wasn't sure if her being rescued from all that was a dream or not.That Austrailian reporter pretty much had what was coming to him,he was searching around in a very hostile enviroment and was a sketchy thing to do in the first place!Crockett and Tubbs finally get a decent amount of undercover work together after previous episodes of them hardly doing any work together.Crocketts clothes are pretty cool too with the light blue blazer,white henley,and jeans.In all I give this episode a 9/10.[/quote']Completely agree--awesome episode! Everyone was sketchy in this one ;) ...and that's what made it interesting. :thumbsup:
Interesting thoughts...and ones I have too with this episode! This is one of Season 5's best! :thumbsup:The plot' date=' acting, colors, fashion, action, suspense, the bizarre & wild, all come together to create one "heck" of an episode! Love the bum at the beginning that tries to explain to Crockett and Tubbs that there's a body in the alley...that dude was a pretty darn good character actor--unless they used a real-life bum soused on booze? :)What's this...Crockett is finally wearing a pastel shirt with a white jacket again? Awesome!! :D I've also noticed that Sonny is now taken to wearing faded/ripped jeans with his jackets instead of the dress pants. This was kind of a cool change for him and I liked it! But, Fred Dryer as Rick Hunter, on the 80's cop drama "Hunter", is actually kind of the one who made the jeans with the sports jacket popular. I love Trudy's hooker outfit at the beginning too...the colors are superb and so 80's! :glossy: I also noticed a new "outter" area, and/or questioning rooms, and/or hallway at the OCB...with more modern dark grey walls but neon colored lighting! That's more of a 90's thing and totally reminds me of "Silk Stalkings"--the 90's most popular cop drama on USA. I liked it, and thought it was kind of cool!:cool:The plot was wild and bizarre...which I like things like that! ;) I usually like wild serial killer episodes and storylines that keep me captivated and on edge--and "Asian Cut" was no exception! David Schramm was the perfect psycho as Professor Halliwell...he was creepy and all-out evil!! He freaked me out! :eek: Loved how we got to hear the "ooing and ahhing" in Halliwell's mind, supposedly from the mannequin admirers of his sick torture pictures...he later even tries to comfort/shush one when Trudy was after him...like it could hear or understand him--that was crazy! :rolleyes: I also found the grey-haired Asian guy Tegoro freaky too--the knives stuck in hands as art was sick :sick: but it was supposed to be. ;) I too agree that Castillo wouldn't know every single Asian symbol or marking out there...there would be tons he might not immediately recognize and would need help identifying them. I actually liked that aspect, that he wanted Professor Halliwell's help (before he realized the good professor was the psycho)...it made Castillo more "real" and not some mythical figure that somehow always "magically" knows that kind of thing. :pThe acting and depth for this one was superb! :clap: Everyone did a fantastic job--[u']especially Trudy! I love how Trudy at the end gets to take down Halliwell--very emotional for her, and I love the scene between her and Crockett! However, I didn't think Gina was given a big enough part...she was more "sidelines" in this one. I also don't know what the heck the were thinking but Gina's clothes / fashion & hairdo in this were horrible! The ugly braided ponytail for her hair; then the colossal-sized, butt-ugly scarf hanging down over an oversized jacket---it was hideous! :eek: But, it was definitely in style in the 80's and that's just the way it was. :)The songs included in this one were cool and helped set the mood or tone...with Under the Milkey Way by The Church, and Here It Is, Take It! by That Petrol Emotion! :radio: I also felt that the amount of gore/blood allowed in this episode was notable...as even with "MV", in the 80's that kind of blood still usually wasn't allowed. The torture of Trudy towards the end, with the electrocution in her feet, was also somewhat "pushing" it for the time. This one is "dark" but realistic, tragic but captivating! This one and "Heart of Night" are probably the best of the season, and are my favorites. As with "Heart", I gave this one a 10!! :thumbsup:
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  • 1 year later...

I enjoyed the episode.  It wasn't as good as "Borrasca" or "Line of Fire", but the plot twists with Sandy and Professor Haliwell made the episode interesting as one's assumptions would change about a character or outcome.  We saw some great Miami scenery (that gave some of the ambiance back), and we saw the whole OCB team work together rather than overfocusing on Crockett and Tubbs.

 

I'm glad this episode gave Olivia Brown some acting range in being tortured, a call girl (using a different voice), and a traumatic encounter in seeing the professor again.  It was able to display the wide range of emotions that we haven't seen before her character. ...Or at the very least, was in a believable plot, unlike with the ludicrous "Missing Hours" plot.  The last scene with Trudy is about to shoot Professor Haliwell, reminded me of "The Dutch Oven" (Season 2), and although Trudy was visibly shaken, we see how far her character has grown in terms of her confidence in shooting.

 

Plus, we finally got to see Castillo make an error in judgment (though to his credit, it was an honest mistake)!  He was asking for help from the same person who was committing the crimes.  I would have loved to see a half-minute or so in seeing how Castillo would react to it, since we've seen him being almost flawless in his decision making.

 

The sadistic torture and S&M scenes were a bit much for a traditional Miami Vice episode, but considering the darkness of this season and the direction the show was going, it seemed natural.

Edited by Vice Immersion
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  • 11 months later...

Pretty decent episode. Dark storyline like a lot of season 4 and 5, but not so bad as some. Could have used some more pop music and color like a lot of them. Great wardrobe again in season 5, aside from Crockett who's was just okay.. 8/10

i noticed on the miami vice wiki it said the escort agency set looked the same as By Hooker By Crook. It doesn't in the least. someone must need glasses.

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  • 6 months later...

A fine episode - dark tone but well directed by Michael B.Hoggann ( first episode directed but was an assistant director on the show for a few year's previous )and featuring a lot of Trudy and Sonny. 

The main villain the professor was poor but overall the music ,filming  locations and feel of this episode I liked. 8/10

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  • 2 months later...

I just love this episode. The opening "Razor's Edge" scene is ridiculously charming, with all those colors, characters and music. I've never seen Alfredo Alvarez Calderon's acting on any production other than Miami Vice, but he played 4 different characters on the show (Baby Blues, Deliver Us From Evil, Asian Cut, Freefall), 3 of them were bad bad guys, and at least to me they were always pretty remarkable bad guys. But this one is my favorite. What a surprise when Carlos is at the motel with Trudy... everybody has no doubt he's gonna attack her, possibly try to kill her, but nah... then he gives her the whip and turns his back on her... she is the one who's supposed to attack him.

But there's an incredible goof on this ep. Many times on the show we see a Don Johnson replacement actor around (on "Hell Hath no fury" there's a good shot of him when Ellen Mason and Trudy are surrounded by the press and C&T appear), but this time is too much: the guy speaks ("What'd you find?"... "Let's go") and his voice has nothing to do with Don's voice, he doesn't even try to sound a bit like DJ. That happens around 41 min. Here's a pic of it.

097-asian%20cutmill%20creek%20bd_41.24_N

I wonder why production was going that easy on DJ. That was supposed to be his job. He's absent many times, there's a bunch of eps in which he merely appears one scene or two, and in other eps he's "replaced" on scenes like that one from "Asian Cut". I can't believe it's only "diva" behavior. Could he be sick or something? I remember seeing takes on S5 in which he doesn't even seem to be able to open his eyes fully and easily as he was able to do it on previous seasons (check the opening scene of "Bad Timing", when Crockett and Tubbs talk to each other).

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On 15/4/2017 at 2:22 PM, ivoryjones said:

I wonder why production was going that easy on DJ. That was supposed to be his job. He's absent many times, there's a bunch of eps in which he merely appears one scene or two, and in other eps he's "replaced" on scenes like that one from "Asian Cut". I can't believe it's only "diva" behavior. Could he be sick or something? I remember seeing takes on S5 in which he doesn't even seem to be able to open his eyes fully and easily as he was able to do it on previous seasons (check the opening scene of "Bad Timing", when Crockett and Tubbs talk to each other).

Regarding "Asian Cut," maybe it was due to that, DJ was working on his second Album "Let It Roll" at that time, so a commitment to that, plus they always had long working hours 15-17, I believe DJ mentioning. And who know's, if he got a enough sleep. I always thought, he looked like someone, who hadn't got enough sleep in the still shots of "The Pilot."

Here is an outtake from an article/blog, I posted a while back S3:

"The most outrageous behavior I heard of, however, was when Dick Wolf called Don Johnson only to be told that Don had gone skiing in Aspen. I suppose you could excuse him because he’d run off on a Friday when he didn’t have much work to do, just a couple of scenes in which we could shoot his double from behind. Of course his double had the world’s worst wig and looked the way Don would have on a diet of Krispy Kremes, but Don got away with it. It’s good to be the star."

By John Schulian one of the writers on Miami Vice. His article is obviously from a subjective view as well, but there is no doubt the "Diva" attitude was present. It gets mentioned in interviews about the show and Don himself admitted it. 

Edited by summer84
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I remember seeing takes on S5 in which he doesn't even seem to be able to open his eyes fully and easily as he was able to do it on previous seasons

Yes, Exactly. Did you notice that Don's face in S5 looks so different than in previous seasons ?

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On 15/4/2017 at 2:22 PM, ivoryjones said:

But there's an incredible goof on this ep. Many times on the show we see a Don Johnson replacement actor around (on "Hell Hath no fury" there's a good shot of him when Ellen Mason and Trudy are surrounded by the press and C&T appear), but this time is too much: the guy speaks ("What'd you find?"... "Let's go") and his voice has nothing to do with Don's voice, he doesn't even try to sound a bit like DJ. That happens around 41 min.

Interesting about the goof, good observation. I gotta check it out.

Don was absent in some scenes, where he (in my opinion) could/should have been there, for instance the boat scene music montage in "Nobody Lives Forever." Some people don't even know, that's not DJ. It looks like, he has his double stand in for him in the end scene of "Smuggler's Blues" comforting Trudy with the Michael Mann credit over the screen and it's his stand in there. Disappointing...

I also noticed Crockett's familiar accent with that raspy voice changed a bit in some episodes, where DJ suddenly used his normal voice, unlike the voice, he originally made for the character. It was in Season 4 "The Big Thaw", I believe, where first noticed it.   

DJ recorded both Albums during the shows run in 1986 and 1989. Maybe some of the scenes, where he looks tired, were a part of a burnout character as well, although I personally believe it's more due to the previously mentioned.  

Edited by summer84
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On 19/7/2015 at 7:47 AM, Vice Immersion said:

I'm glad this episode gave Olivia Brown some acting range in being tortured, a call girl (using a different voice), and a traumatic encounter in seeing the professor again.  It was able to display the wide range of emotions that we haven't seen before her character. ...Or at the very least, was in a believable plot, unlike with the ludicrous "Missing Hours" plot.  The last scene with Trudy is about to shoot Professor Haliwell, reminded me of "The Dutch Oven" (Season 2), and although Trudy was visibly shaken, we see how far her character has grown in terms of her confidence in shooting.

 

I was also glad, that Trudy got some screen time in Season 5 and a chance to show of more of her acting skills, though would have rather preferred another story not involving torture. Thought we saw that, as well in the episode "Hell Hath no Fury." The end scene in this episode, where Trudy is shocked and shakes reminds me of the scene in "Little Prince," going down the street and shaking, but (because of other reasons), which was well acted by Olivia. 

Edited by summer84
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18 hours ago, summer84 said:

I was also glad, that Trudy got some screen time in Season 5 and a chance to show of more of her acting skills, though would have rather preferred another story not involving torture. Thought we saw that, as well in the episode "Hell Hath no Fury." The end scene in this episode, where Trudy is shocked and shakes reminds me of the scene in "Little Prince," going down the street and shaking, but (because of other reasons), which was well acted by Olivia. 

Good point Summer also reminded me of how Gina shot Burt Young's character at the end of "Give a Little , Take a Little " in Season 1 

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