Episode #91 "Hostile Takeover"


Ferrariman

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  • 4 months later...

Nice episode but I can't take the Burnett trilogy seriously. Amnesia plots belong in Dynasty. However, this is the best of the 3 so I give a 7.5

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  • 6 months later...

This is just a great ep. Badass Burnett, classic intro, great scenery and story and Celeste - oo la la. the only real downside of this ep is Miguel. I disliked that character and actor. Otherwise, fantastic ep. 9.5/10

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  • 5 months later...

Now we enter season 5...the final season, and the continuation of Crockett's "dark" decent into his deadly alter ego Sonny Burnett. I will be honest and say I liked "Mirror Image" a lot better than this one and "Redemption In Blood"...so the many who have rated this a 10, or even a 9, in my opinion are exaggerating just a bit. ;)The pastels were gone...no real cool colors much at all (perhaps a few lighting choices?). :evil: Crockett became very "dark" and demented very quickly, and had no trouble pitting people against each other so he could take over--nor did he have any problems killing others to get ahead...which did kind of bother me. :eek: I'm sorry, but Sonny crossed so many lines that in reality he could never be the same.I also did not like the characters of Miguel Carrera, El Gato, nor Cliff King. All of them were annoying and ridiculous...from Miguel having the "stupidest" hairdew ever (even in the 80's) and being a whiny-butt :rolleyes: ; El Gato being this fat, disgusting, sweaty, pig in ugly shiny clothes that made you want to throw up and probably hold your nose to block out the stench of B.O. :sick: ; and Cliff this moron, hay-seed, hick with stupid, back-woods sayings and was kind of whiny himself. :evil: But, I guess this was all on purpose, to let you know that at some point these characters would probably be killed. :)I will say that Don did a superb job of acting :clap: ...he was pretty ruthless and scary as Burnett, although I did not like his ponytail. ;) But, it was interesting to watch him try to live his life as a drug dealer...yet knowing something wasn't quite right and he starts having flashbacks. Of course his shooting Tubbs scene was pretty wild! I also really liked the character of Celeste! She was beautiful :happy: , and tried to be ruthless... but in reality was more like Burnett/Crockett. They both actually cared for each other and not just the money or power! It was interesting and captivating to watch! :glossy:The music was also good in this one, with Underneath the Radar by Underworld, and Walk & Talk Like Angels by Toni Childs. :radio: Sadly though, other than the starting theme, no more Jan Hammer. :cry: The filming locations were also pretty good...love the mansions/pools used for the Carreras, and the lighthouse! I don't know...good episode but it seemed kind of bizarre and somewhat dis-jointed too. However, overall though it's still captivating and interesting to watch. I gave it an 8.

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The Intro is one of my favourites of all time. Underneath the radar, The tracking shot of the train riding through the night air. We get an awesome introduction to EVIL burnett. The pony tail was a nice addition.This El Gato guy is one of the many cartoonish, as in absolutely terrible villains that the show had in S4 & 5..Just skip every scene that he's in.I like the scarface-esque vibe it has. Very cool.Each episode of the burnett saga gets better and better..Culminating with Redemption in Blood which is probably the last high point of the series.

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The Intro is one of my favourites of all time. Underneath the radar' date=' The tracking shot of the train riding through the night air. We get an awesome introduction to EVIL burnett. The pony tail was a nice addition.This El Gato guy is one of the many cartoonish, as in absolutely terrible villains that the show had in S4 & 5..Just skip every scene that he's in.I like the scarface-esque vibe it has. Very cool.Each episode of the burnett saga gets better and better..Culminating with Redemption in Blood which is probably the last high point of the series.[/quote']The intro is pretty good...but I still can't stand the ponytail. :p Even in 1988 that's just gross to me. :)El Gato was not only "cartoonish" and over-the-top, he was nasty and disgusting! :sick: That fat pig was drenched in sweat half the time, and had to have stunk so freakin' bad! :eek:I don't know if I think each of the Burnett saga episodes gets better...to me it was the opposite. I really did enjoy "Mirror Image", but I didn't think this episode or "Redemption" were as good...each one was less cool than the last one. By the end of it all I'm so sick of the Burnett drama that I just want it to stop and we go back to Crockett and Tubbs. ;) It just started to get too bizarre. Like...what was the point of that weird scene of Burnett killing the homosexual guy in the sauna with the freaky looking blonde dude? :eek: That left me going what the "heck"?? :radar: I think the guy was supposed to be one of the shooters at Celeste's birthday part, but the whole scene was kind of whacked-out and didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. :confused:
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  • 1 year later...

In "Mirror Image", we witnessed how adaptable and shrewd Burnett was in survivng the the cutthroat criminal underworld, and it left us in suspense wondering where Burnett's destination would take him, in "Hostile Takeover", we begin to see the "location" of this desired destination and it reveals the extent of Burnett's manipulation in making things happen.

 

This episode seemed to emphasize the moral dissociation of Burnett that we didn't get to see with "Mirror Image".  In the Season 4 finale, it presented how Burnett could easily survive in this underworld, but with this Season 5 premiere, the episode displays that Burnett wants to be a ruthless conqueror, and be just as, or even more powerful, than his former superiors (drug empires). 

 

The moral dissociation becomes so strong that it implies that Burnett is irreedemably sociopathic when he's shown to have multiple layers of manipulation in having the Carreras against each other by using Celeste.  Even Celeste herself seems to show a bit of concern as to how far Burnett is really going when she stares at Burnett's apathic reaction after seeing Miguel sob uncontrollably after his father Oscar has just died, and when she questions about how worried she is that Burnett is becoming one of them after Oscar's funeral.  But the most significant, and lowest point, is the cliffhanger ending when even Burnett recollects who Rico truly is, through memory flashbacks, and still decides to shoot at Rico Tubbs.

 

As for El Gato's fashion and behavior.... yeah it has some flamboyance, but sometimes drug lords are like that since they have the money and power to behave like that.

 

Another great chapter in the "Sonny Burnett" arc, and the imagery used in the beginning, the musical score, and overall tone all reflected the darkness of Sonny Burnett's character!  The change in hairstyle and dark clothes again, strongly displayed how ruthless his character had become now.  This episode wanted to convey how ruthless and coldhearted Burnett was, and it accomplished it!  ...It adds to suspense as to how things are going to climax and resolve in this arc.

 

 

 It just started to get too bizarre. Like...what was the point of that weird scene of Burnett killing the homosexual guy in the sauna with the freaky looking blonde dude? :eek: That left me going what the "heck"?? :radar: I think the guy was supposed to be one of the shooters at Celeste's birthday part, but the whole scene was kind of whacked-out and didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. :confused:

Burnett was killing the shooter who was at Celeste's party who ran away (or another one of El Gato's hitmen).  Burnett probably monitored the hitman's moves and saw that this private sauna was the perfect time to kill him (with very few witnesses) and killed the blond guy too, so that there would be no witnesses to testify that Burnett was the killer if Burnett was somehow taken into court in the future.  In addition, he wanted another issue to tear the Carreras even further apart by having Miguel undermine Oscar's authority.

Edited by Vice Immersion
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  • 1 year later...

The final season. It truly is the flipside of S1. With this season MV really does come full circle. At the beginning of the series, Crockett and Tubbs are enthusiastic about their work and think they can make a difference. By the end of the series, the two of them are burnt out beyond recognition.

Anyway, Hostile Takeover,directed by DJ, is a superb premier. You can tell right away from the terrific opening. The train, the music, the crazy dresses, and Burnett with a ponytail.

The cinematography is really good in this episode.

I've noticed that the first 6 episodes have very warm photography which changes soon to really gloomy.

The filming locations were great.

Celeste was gorgeous. El Gato was annoying but I don't have much of a problem with him. Dont see the resemblance between he and his brother though lol. The rest of the villains are allright but don't hold a candle to Burnett.

Tim Truman makes a hell of a debut in this episode. His music is pretty badass.

The only flaws I think are the cartoonish nature of the villains. On a side not, I think they slightly overdid it on the black clothing for DJ. Mirror Image had the balance perfect.

Not quite as good as Mirror Image but pretty damn good.

9/10

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  • 1 year later...

in case you don't know the era, this is how men used to kill time when the PC didn't exist

Celeste

love that episode a lot, as well as redemption in blood. good music, good rythm, beautiful female actress, good plot..

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Starting Season 5 (again!:)) tonite -this one and Redemption are so good though and I can mark 10/10 for both before watching.:radar::)

Edited by Matt5
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5 hours ago, Matt5 said:

Starting Season 5 (again!:)) tonite -this one and Redemption are so good though and I can mark 10/10 for both before watching.:radar::)

Absolutely!!! 10/10!

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On 7/9/2013 at 7:53 AM, ViceFanMan said:

Now we enter season 5...the final season, and the continuation of Crockett's "dark" decent into his deadly alter ego Sonny Burnett. I will be honest and say I liked "Mirror Image" a lot better than this one and "Redemption In Blood"...so the many who have rated this a 10, or even a 9, in my opinion are exaggerating just a bit. ;)The pastels were gone...no real cool colors much at all (perhaps a few lighting choices?). :evil: Crockett became very "dark" and demented very quickly, and had no trouble pitting people against each other so he could take over--nor did he have any problems killing others to get ahead...which did kind of bother me. :eek: I'm sorry, but Sonny crossed so many lines that in reality he could never be the same.I also did not like the characters of Miguel Carrera, El Gato, nor Cliff King. All of them were annoying and ridiculous...from Miguel having the "stupidest" hairdew ever (even in the 80's) and being a whiny-butt :rolleyes: ; El Gato being this fat, disgusting, sweaty, pig in ugly shiny clothes that made you want to throw up and probably hold your nose to block out the stench of B.O. :sick: ; and Cliff this moron, hay-seed, hick with stupid, back-woods sayings and was kind of whiny himself. :evil: But, I guess this was all on purpose, to let you know that at some point these characters would probably be killed. :)I will say that Don did a superb job of acting :clap: ...he was pretty ruthless and scary as Burnett, although I did not like his ponytail. ;) But, it was interesting to watch him try to live his life as a drug dealer...yet knowing something wasn't quite right and he starts having flashbacks. Of course his shooting Tubbs scene was pretty wild! I also really liked the character of Celeste! She was beautiful :happy: , and tried to be ruthless... but in reality was more like Burnett/Crockett. They both actually cared for each other and not just the money or power! It was interesting and captivating to watch! :glossy:The music was also good in this one, with Underneath the Radar by Underworld, and Walk & Talk Like Angels by Toni Childs. :radio: Sadly though, other than the starting theme, no more Jan Hammer. :cry: The filming locations were also pretty good...love the mansions/pools used for the Carreras, and the lighthouse! I don't know...good episode but it seemed kind of bizarre and somewhat dis-jointed too. However, overall though it's still captivating and interesting to watch. I gave it an 8.

Miguel's hairdew did look silly. His hairstyle in "Crocodile Dundee 2" was much better.

Image result for Anthony Crivello

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On 10/6/2019 at 9:04 AM, RedDragon86 said:

Miguel's hairdew did look silly. His hairstyle in "Crocodile Dundee 2" was much better.

Image result for Anthony Crivello

Lol...definitely better! You have to have the 1st Crocodile Dundee to understand the 2nd one...but ultimately I actually like the 2nd one better! :thumbsup:

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8 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Lol...definitely better! You have to have the 1st Crocodile Dundee to understand the 2nd one...but ultimately I actually like the 2nd one better! :thumbsup:

I didn't understand the negatively the 2nd film received.  Its very enjoyable to watch. 

Edited by RedDragon86
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  • 1 month later...

Don't know if I walked into the wrong crackhouse here or something but this Burnett saga has to be the worst thing I came across. Instead of watching 2 cool Vice cops bust drug dealers in sleazy cars and clothing to cool music, I'm watching a Dick Wolf presents: Law and Order before it was Law and Order with boring clothing, washed out colors and an amnesia plot that must have been written by an angsty teenage high school girl. Lot of people I talk to think the show jumped the shark with the Testarossa, but I swear this is where it happened. And I fully believe the writers dug their own grave here as well because pulling Crockett back into the OCB after knowing he was a systematic cold blooder killer of his alternate identity who also attempted to shoot Tubbs because he was told to is beyond any...any fanfiction joke I've ever seen. I can't bring myself to finish rewatching this season, just gonna go back to 1 and watch something good for once.

 

2/10. GG everyone involved.

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Yeah...kinda like watching a show with a renegade cop impersonating his dead brother and going on a revenge junket with a hotshot cop who got his partner blown up while chasing the same guy who killed the other guy's brother and then they end up working on the same police force and...oh...wait...same show.

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6 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

Yeah...kinda like watching a show with a renegade cop impersonating his dead brother and going on a revenge junket with a hotshot cop who got his partner blown up while chasing the same guy who killed the other guy's brother and then they end up working on the same police force and...oh...wait...same show.

Ya gotta love it! 

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12 hours ago, Assasinge said:

Don't know if I walked into the wrong crackhouse here or something but this Burnett saga has to be the worst thing I came across. Instead of watching 2 cool Vice cops bust drug dealers in sleazy cars and clothing to cool music, I'm watching a Dick Wolf presents: Law and Order before it was Law and Order with boring clothing, washed out colors and an amnesia plot that must have been written by an angsty teenage high school girl. Lot of people I talk to think the show jumped the shark with the Testarossa, but I swear this is where it happened. And I fully believe the writers dug their own grave here as well because pulling Crockett back into the OCB after knowing he was a systematic cold blooder killer of his alternate identity who also attempted to shoot Tubbs because he was told to is beyond any...any fanfiction joke I've ever seen. I can't bring myself to finish rewatching this season, just gonna go back to 1 and watch something good for once.

 

 

Ouch ...:(

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14 hours ago, Assasinge said:

Don't know if I walked into the wrong crackhouse here or something but this Burnett saga has to be the worst thing I came across. Instead of watching 2 cool Vice cops bust drug dealers in sleazy cars and clothing to cool music, I'm watching a Dick Wolf presents: Law and Order before it was Law and Order with boring clothing, washed out colors and an amnesia plot that must have been written by an angsty teenage high school girl. Lot of people I talk to think the show jumped the shark with the Testarossa, but I swear this is where it happened. And I fully believe the writers dug their own grave here as well because pulling Crockett back into the OCB after knowing he was a systematic cold blooder killer of his alternate identity who also attempted to shoot Tubbs because he was told to is beyond any...any fanfiction joke I've ever seen. I can't bring myself to finish rewatching this season, just gonna go back to 1 and watch something good for once.

 

2/10. GG everyone involved.

I’m not a huge fan of the whole Crockett & Burnett saga either...it was a little too over-the-top & unrealistic, even for MV (and they were desperately trying to recapture viewers and/or ratings—and you could tell with those few episodes). But the C&B saga wasn’t all bad. There were some interesting plot & character ‘directions’, I didn’t think there was that drastic of color changes, and there were some superb guest stars...but don’t judge the entire season just based on the last couple of 4 and/or first couple of 5. There were still some awesome episodes in both seasons! :thumbsup: All seasons have jewels...and a couple pebbles along the way, too. :p  Although in my opinion Season 2 is mostly if not all jewels. ;)

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Well let me put it this way. I never said that 4/5 don't have any good episodes, obviously they still do and there are ones I love like Baseballs of Death or Death and the Lady etc. but that wasn't my point, my point is that the Burnett Saga or Arc, whatever it's called around here was unnecessary and for me completely pulled me out of the show. Sure it's interesting to see Crockett go over to the dark side and I think if it had lasted 1 episode or just a 2 parter where he doesn't do something as drastic as shoot Tubbs and go on murder sprees it might not have been so bad, but the fact that he did and completely obliterated his cop identity, yet he is allowed to be reinstated in Redemption in Blood is total bull and we all know it, don't we? That's why the writers wrote themselves into a corner I said, because once "Burnett" had done all he had they shouldn't have let him back and they might as well just end the show there or something. It felt like a "Oh man, we don't have any ideas for Miami Vice so let's make Crockett a bad guy and stall while we think of something to do for this last season" to me, at least. That's all. Personally compared to season 1-2, maybe even 3 the whole look of 4 and 5 overall felt really drab and washed out but that's just me.

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I agree 100% that Crockett would never have been reinstated in OCB after the amnesia episode.  That was totally out of the realm of possibility.

But I think with the emotional and physical trauma he's endured between Caitlin's murder, his own act of personal revenge on Hackman, and the boat explosion, the whole amnesia thing could have happened.  And when he woke up/regained consciousness in a strange place, with dubious medical attention and no one around him that he knew (but people telling him he was a drug dealer), the fact that he took on the drug dealer identity he'd assumed in the past (so it felt familiar even if he didn't consciously remember it) has some believability as well.  

Would Crockett really have been as ruthless as Burnett was shown to be?  Would he have recognized Tubbs and regained his memories of his real life, instead of shooting Tubbs?

I think there's room for debate and I don't blame anyone for feeling the whole storyline is too far-fetched.  But with some actual medical background and research I've done, the basic storyline is possible and I think in many ways the writers laid the groundwork for Crockett to be broken and to lose his identity as a cop.

To each his own, but I have always felt there was some strong storytelling in the Burnett saga/arc.  The afterwards, when Crockett is reinstated and even does some undercover work... not so much.  IMO he should have been medically retired for mental health reasons, or at the very most lenient, given some kind of desk job.  Anything stressful would probably have been seen as a potential trigger to send him back over the edge.

Whoever was in charge missed an opportunity for delving into the reintegration of Crockett's personality and his efforts to regain the trust of his former teammates.  But of course, those story ideas may have seemed dull and plodding, and didn't offer potential for car chases, gunfights, and flashy style.

Edited by vicegirl85
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25 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

I agree 100% that Crockett would never have been reinstated in OCB after the amnesia episode.  That was totally out of the realm of possibility.

But I think with the emotional and physical trauma he's endured between Caitlin's murder, his own act of personal revenge on Hackman, and the boat explosion, the whole amnesia thing could have happened.  And when he woke up/regained consciousness in a strange place, with dubious medical attention and no one around him that he knew (but people telling him he was a drug dealer), the fact that he took on the drug dealer identity he'd assumed in the past (so it felt familiar even if he didn't consciously remember it) has some believability as well.  

Would Crockett really have been as ruthless as Burnett was shown to be?  Would he have recognized Tubbs and regained his memories of his real life, instead of shooting Tubbs?

I think there's room for debate and I don't blame anyone for feeling the whole storyline is too far-fetched.  But with some actual medical background and research I've done, the basic storyline is possible and I think in many ways the writers laid the groundwork for Crockett to be broken and to lose his identity as a cop.

To each his own, but I have always felt there was some strong storytelling in the Burnett saga/arc.  The afterwards, when Crockett is reinstated and even does some undercover work... not so much.  IMO he should have been medically retired for mental health reasons, or at the very most lenient, given some kind of desk job.  Anything stressful would probably have been seen as a potential trigger to send him back over the edge.

Whoever was in charge missed an opportunity for delving into the reintegration of Crockett's personality and his efforts to regain the trust of his former teammates.  But of course, those story ideas may have seemed dull and plodding, and didn't offer potential for car chases, gunfights, and flashy style.

Great post. Good points - I think the Burnett idea seen in those three episodes made for great television.

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