Episode #92 "Redemption In Blood"


Ferrariman

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Right. Only "drawback" is that the show is very depressive, even nihilistic now. That is perfectly underlined by very stilish but cool colors like the scene in the sauna.And Tim Truman's sound is very importan to support this new tone. I cannot imagine Jan Hammer's lighter sound as score anymore.If you skip seasons three and four, season five seems to be a different show. If you watch all seasons in consecutive order, then the new tone is a logical consequence of what has happened.

 

 

Agreed Tom - Hammer's fluffier sound would not have worked with Season 5 at all 

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  • 2 months later...

One of the best of Season 5 - very dark and character driven - great visuals and songs in this one too  :D

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  • 1 year later...

"Redemption In Blood"... couldn't be a more spot-on title for what Sonny Crockett must do, considering the amount of bloodshed he had inflicted while being Sonny Burnett.

 

By the time the episode "Hostile Takeover" ends, we see that Sonny has committed the lowest form of manipulation and sociopathic behavior by betraying Tubbs (after the many times they had saved each others lives in the past) when he discovers Rico's true identity, and begins shooting at Rico.  The knowledge of who Rico is has been recollected, but there's still a Burnett form of emotional detachment and apathy.  Though, as ineffective as Tubbs may have thought in having an effect bringing back Sonny, a small trickle of humanity begins to seep into Sonny's psyche as we see him turn away after Cliff fires upon a boat with a Stinger missle, and lets the tortured subordinates of El Gato's cartel live.

 

Ironically, in which some drink alcohol excessively to forget or dull their painful memories of life, are actually used to remind him more of his former life (specifically with Caitlin and Tubbs).  As Cliff and Celeste plan to eliminate Sonny, Sonny seems to have a deeper grasp on the magnitude of death as he remembers being shot in "A Bullet For Crockett" and his friend Evan being killed in "Evan".

 

The most profound scene though that finally jolts Sonny back into the redemptive pathway toward being Crockett is the hotel room scene after the limo explosion.  As Sonny slowly puts the pieces together of how the limousine explosion occurred and by whom, the audience senses that Sonny's personality hasn't changed at all as he shows Burnett's revengeful and shrewd side in figuring it out.  By the time we see him take it step by step (being in the arena, Celeste going to get her purse, and Burnett walking to the limo), he's immediately prepared to kill Celeste as Sonny confronts the same calculated, deceitful, and malicious motivations that has surrounded his world, and the people who reinforced this atmosphere within the drug underworld.

 

...But just as Celeste states that she loves him, and Sonny sarcastically responding that she had a funny way of showing it, he pauses as the scene seems to imply how he was able to put the last step together and reflects on those same words ("..funny way of showing it") before the limousine exploding, in how she had called out to him to warn him.  This particular act of kindness seems to defy every logical reason Sonny can come up with, as he knows Celeste could have done financially better without him and could have made him expendable like the Carreras (Oscar and Miguel), even more so, risked the chance of being killed herself when she helped bring him back to health by bringing in the ER doctor.  Ironically enough, the statement ("...funny way of showing it") rings more true than Sonny could have imagined, as this act of sacrifical love is clearly beyond Sonny's comprehension as he releases Celeste and gazes intently on the mirror.  It becomes the watershed moment.  The same strong emotions that were torturing him in "Deliver Us From Evil" and were strong enough to breakout of his mental suppression in "Mirror Image", become strangely enough, the saving force that makes him to confront these benevolent emotions and action, and in the process, crumbles the moral dissociation his subconscious had created.  With his moral dissociation crumbling away, and memory flashbacks reminding him of his moral identity with "...That's me" and "I'm glad I'm just back in the real world...", it makes Sonny to initiate offering compassion to Celeste by opening his arms toward her.

 

With the poignant song of "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush playing in the scene, we see Sonny walking through a foreign world of benevolence, seeing the warmth and happiness between friends, families, and couples on a Miami park.  A stark contrast to the criminal underworld that was motiviated by self-serving ambitions that were perpetual reinforcement for Sonny's cruel Burnett persona.  It appears that subconsciously his curious mind seems to gravitate toward the OCB as it seems to mysteriously radiate this foriegn emotional energy of warmth and benevolence, only to be genuinely suprised that guns are drawn upon him.  It's only when Stan and Castillo talk with Sonny, does Sonny seem to understand the full story of what happened during his time as Burnett, particularly the early times ("Mirror Image"), and when he's horrified to hear that he shot Tubbs twice.

 

With Sonny now fully realizing the extent of his betrayal toward the OCB team (particularly with Tubbs) and the law, the manipulation and bloodshed he had created as being Burnett, he realizes that the only way to redeem himself is to destroy the empire that he had so brutally created and strived in achieving.  This is seen when he contacts OCB and has them raid the abandoned water treatment plant (the site of the drug meet), and also saves Tubbs to validate his changed persona and intentions.  In a gesture of appreciation for saving him (not only physically with the explosion, but particularly mentally), Sonny seems to forewarn Celeste to leave as this drug empire collapses to avoid criminal prosecution, and possible criminal retaliation if she becomes forced to testify against the cartel.

 

A great conclusion for the Sonny Burnett arc!  Although it didn't have the "full on wage war" climax against Burnett that some might have expected with the suspense rising in "Hostile Takeover", the turn of events was actually much more satisfying than that because it focused on Crockett's character and his psyche (with all of its twists and turns) and drew upon the cumulative experiences of this beloved character as to how he became Burnett and returned to being Crockett.  One very small complaint I have, is that I do wish though that this arc would have shown a little bit more of the reactions from Gina, Trudy, and Stan to again highlight the camaraderie of OCB, and the magnitude of loss in watching Sonny becoming Burnett as we saw with Rico.

 

Though overall, what makes this four episode arc outstanding and effective is not only the believable mental path in Sonny's psychological descent to becoming Burnett and ascent in returning to be Crockett, but the use of imagery, music, and others forms of cinematography that makes Sonny's emotions much more palpable to the audience, and also somewhat haunting, as it makes the audience to reflect about their own psychological tenacity admist the extreme tides of emotion that accompany the hurricane-sized storms of life can bring.

 

It makes me wish that more of the Miami Vice episodes had this type of character-focus tone as this arc (though not necessarily a character turning bad/evil), which would give the show a richer experience in observing these characters navigate their lives working in the stressful, criminal underworld.

Edited by Vice Immersion
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  • 1 year later...

Damn I love the opening to this one. Took me a while to realize that was the same lighthouse from The Hit List. Lol talk about different scenes.

Excellent cinematography as with the previous episode.

Burnett has more and more flashbacks.

Love the sequence where he returns to OCB.

Standout scenes include the limo explosion and the scene where Burnett confronts Celeste. Pretty intense.

From the opening up until Crocketts lunch with Cliff, this is an excellent episode. Honestly though I thought the climax was a bit of letdown. From Crockett being recognized by the punk to the old I'm Slipping cliche, it just didn't sit well for me.

I'm not as El Gato fan but I love the ending.

I still hate that Crockett used the Burnett name after this episode.

8/10

Edited by Remington
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  • 2 months later...
29 minutes ago, Remington said:

Re-watched this last night. Gonna give it an extra point because I think I'm in LWP with Celeste.:)

Ha ha - great reference "LWT" of course a nod to Nobody Lives Forever :hippie: 

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  • 3 months later...
1 hour ago, APalFromHawaii said:

Good episode. My favorite scene is when Crockett returns to the department. Very touching! :freeze:

Indeed. “Don’t Give Up” fit so perfectly there. 

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22 hours ago, APalFromHawaii said:

Good episode. My favorite scene is when Crockett returns to the department. Very touching! :freeze:

That was beautifully done - classic Miami Vice !:hippie:

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21 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Indeed. “Don’t Give Up” fit so perfectly there. 

It really did - and nice to see producers return to the “So” album for the first time since the first half of Season 3:xmas:

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  • 1 year later...

And did anyone else notice that the Burnett trilogy is one of the few times we get flashbacks with Crockett during an episode? "Even" didn't have them, and neither did "Buddies." The other times they exist ("Back in the World" and "Home Invaders" if memory serves) they're more introductions to the episode than actual flashbacks.

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I don't believe Home Invaders had flashbacks.  Evan is better off for not having them.  In Back in the World and Forgive Us Our Debts I think they're essential to the episodes.  The whole Burnett arc is about who Sonny is and recovering shards of his memory so flashbacks are very important there too.  Plus there's the season gap during the trilogy and the audience needs to be refreshed.

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Love this episode along with the trilogy.  I re-watch it every once in a while.  I just love the coolness and the badness of Burnett.  He's the flip side of Crockett that he unknowingly keeps hidden inside, as Caroline mentions in the pilot. 

Definitely a 9 out of 10 for me.  :dance:

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Back in the World's Vietnam scene is an intro rather than a flashback. And you are correct about "Home Invaders." I was thinking of Forgive. I'm not saying a flashback would have made Evan more powerful...but I suspect if the episode had centered on Tubbs or Castillo there would have been one.

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  • 8 months later...

Thought up an alternative to the aftermath of Redemption in Blood. Take a look in the Fan Fiction section if you're interested. It's called "If Only".

This will be the first part. 

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Okay. For those who want to see what happened to Sonny Burnett/Crockett in my version of the aftermath of Redemption in Blood, it's posted in Fan Fiction as "If Only-Part 2 and Conclusion".

Hope you enjoy it! 

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  • 4 months later...

Excellent episode.  I agree that Mirror/Hostile/Redemption is some of the best Vice out there.  DJ's performance is wonderful.  He plays such a good villain, but then turns around and gets emotional when he returns to OCB, which is such a powerful scene.  As someone posted before, I kinda agree that the ending seemed a little rushed.  I actually love Tim Truman's score and thought it fit perfectly.  I play guitar so his parts definitely stand out to me.  In a way I think the Burnett saga would've been a good way to end the series.  "Freefall" was a bit of a letdown for me.  Had they ended the series with these episodes it might've felt more satisfying.  There could've been a final episode after "Redemption" where they pursue El Gato.  It could've ended somewhat the same as "Freefall" with the guys leaving the force.  From Crockett's stance it would've been that he wanted to move closer to his son and decompress after his amnesia.

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  • 1 year later...

Re-watched this last night. Gonna give it an extra point because I think I'm in LWP with Celeste

 

Best looking woman Crockett was involved with.

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  • 4 months later...

The final Burnett-saga episode...and I thought about time! I was tired of the whole psycho Burnett drama, and the psychotic and crazy things he was doing—after “Mirror Image”, at the end of last season...but now with the premiere of this season, we had 2 more episodes. It was 2 episodes too much, and getting really old! :rolleyes:

Again, I did not like the no-pastels at all, and El Gato & Cliff continued to annoy the crap out of me! :evil: However, I still liked Don's acting, despite the ridiculous, over-the-top plot, and I thought he did a pretty good job! :clap: I liked the scene where Celeste changes her mind at the last second and warns Sonny there was a bomb in the car--as it blows up. :thumbsup:  The action was pretty cool, but the bizarre was too much to save this one. 

Debra Feuer did a really good job as Celeste and she was one of the more captivating aspects of this & last episode. The music was also pretty good in this one, with songs such as Don't Give Up by Peter Gabriel, and You Never Listen To Me by Peter Cetera. :radio: 

I love the panther Burnett gives Celeste...that was wild! I also loved the end where it tears into El Gato...literally! ;) The scene where Crockett finally remembers who he is, is pretty cool too. But, as I’ve stated before, in reality there was no way he would ever be trusted or allowed to be in law enforcement or carry a weapon again!

Any bump or punch on the head could cause him to supposedly lose his memory or mind again. He would very likely have been prosecuted for the killings...but possibly sent to some kind of mental facility because of the whole amnesia thing. 

I think most die-hard fans at the time were sadly also starting to jump-ship at this point, as the destructive direction they had taken the character of Crockett made it difficult to watch or accept him the same again, once the memory supposedly returned...as ratings, viewers, and reviews were dissolving and/or tanking. If I could re-rate this, it’d get a 4 too (same as I’d give “Hostile Takeover”). :o

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  • 2 months later...

An even better episode than Hostile Takeover, 10/10 and my 7th favourite episode in the series for me atleast.

The title, as with "Hostile takeover" matches the theme of the episode perfectly, the actors are great, there is thriller when Tubbs is chased, the limo explosion was visually awsome; the music is awsome, and the coming back of Crockett at OCB, in the BEAUTIFUL scene with "Don't give up", and the fall of the Carreras.

Celeste is still breakfast-lunch-dinner; as always was in episodes; the only thing I dislike is how silly El Gato's character is made..... especially the ending....... that was totally silly, and would be a good reason to give against this episode. I actually agree with ViceFanMan on this point.

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1 hour ago, Adrian321 said:

An even better episode than Hostile Takeover, 10/10 and my 7th favourite episode in the series for me atleast.

The title, as with "Hostile takeover" matches the theme of the episode perfectly, the actors are great, there is thriller when Tubbs is chased, the limo explosion was visually awsome; the music is awsome, and the coming back of Crockett at OCB, in the BEAUTIFUL scene with "Don't give up", and the fall of the Carreras.

Celeste is still breakfast-lunch-dinner; as always was in episodes; the only thing I dislike is how silly El Gato's character is made..... especially the ending....... that was totally silly, and would be a good reason to give against this episode. I actually agree with ViceFanMan on this point.

El Gato's character is to me something of a take on (or perhaps foreshadowing) of El Chapo...who was an over-the-top almost ridiculous character as well...so long as you were watching from a very far distance.

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14 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

El Gato's character is to me something of a take on (or perhaps foreshadowing) of El Chapo...who was an over-the-top almost ridiculous character as well...so long as you were watching from a very far distance.

Nah....... He was nowhere as powerful as El Chapo in the episodes..... An actual boss of his caliber would never go alone in his rival's home for example at the end of the episode.

I think the writers tried to write a villain; a powerful one, atleast twice as much as Calderone from earlier, but they ended up making him twice as silly..... and dumb. 

He resembles Diaz from GTA Vice City a little, but Diaz is much better written and actually plays a crucial role in that game compared to El Gato in these episodes.

That is what I  do not like about this episode. El Gato is just..... not what he should be.

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10 hours ago, Adrian321 said:

Nah....... He was nowhere as powerful as El Chapo in the episodes..... An actual boss of his caliber would never go alone in his rival's home for example at the end of the episode.

I think the writers tried to write a villain; a powerful one, atleast twice as much as Calderone from earlier, but they ended up making him twice as silly..... and dumb. 

He resembles Diaz from GTA Vice City a little, but Diaz is much better written and actually plays a crucial role in that game compared to El Gato in these episodes.

That is what I  do not like about this episode. El Gato is just..... not what he should be.

I'm talking personality, not power.  And it's hard to say just what the writers were aiming for with El Gato...or what they intended and what it turned into once the script went through the revisions process.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Only in Miami Vice could Matt Frewer remind someone of Jeff Fahey! :)

The scene with Celeste, Sonny and the panther was very Scarface, wasn't it?  That might be part of the problem with the Burnett saga: too derivative of other gangster stories and memory loss tales.  It turned MV into too much of a soap opera and it was too self-aware about Sonny's emotional/psychological conflicts, rather than let that aspect play underneath a story.  

Nevertheless, this trilogy was fun on its own terms - but I'm glad it's over. (The repercussions are still to come, although Sonny's coke habit is forgotten.)  Even the entertaining flamboyance of Jon Polito and Frewer started to get wearying by this episode.  

Edited by Jack Gretsky
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I think I finally know why I don't like it when MV gets too on-the-nose when it gets to be too much of a serial and brings dilemmas from one episode into another.  It's not "cool."  By "cool," I mean an almost artificial, self-contained ambiance.   The characters should be well-rounded, certainly, but I prefer a self-contained, ironic tale as an episode, followed by another self-contained, coolly deadpan episode.  Once you bring in the "Oh no!  What's gonna happen to our Sonny in the next episode? How will his relationship with this pop star develop?  How will this affect him over the course of the season?" factor, then you lose that cool, detached spirit.  What will happen to Sonny or Tubbs or Gina or whomever in an episode?  I certainly hope no baggage from previous episodes, aside from it being a subtle character aspect.  

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  • 8 months later...

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