Episode #10 "Give A Little Take A Little"

[Matt5]

1 minute ago, RedDragon86 said:

The strange thing is the guy who acts poorly at home with his wife did OK at the lockup scene with Sonny and Tubb's. Maybe the writing and scene was set up badly.

I thoroughly enjoyed as well last night, at they end near Gina's apartment during the shootout that was the closest Tubb's got from getting killed, that bullet just missed him.

Yes that’s a good point I didn’t consider - the guy did act better in the Fisheries lockup scene and by the river. Yes those two house scenes seemed set up badly and the dialogue was not well written at all.

[Matt5]

I think Tubbs came closest to being killed was in the series finale “Freefall” he was grazed in the shoulder then and in the Pilot.

Edited July 27, 2019 by Matt5

[GoombayPunch]

Not impressed by this episode unfortunately. The appearance of Noogie immediately drops it a few rungs as I think he is the worst reoccurring character on the series.  Gina and Trudy's storyline is ok, but I never really felt they were in any danger. Other than being with Stan and Larry, not sure how they would get away with no other clients for long periods of time. In addition, the acting by Lenny von Dohlen (Rickert) and Burt Young was atrocious. The only time I was invested was with Gina actually being forced to sleep with Ramirez. I was surprised she was that committed to remain in her undercover role. I would have liked to see more of Michael Madsen, who even back then was playing his typical sleeze-ball role. Throw in some already seen spark-producing speeding and you have an episode that can be skipped during future re-watches. 

[Dadrian]

On 7/27/2019 at 7:55 AM, Matt5 said:

I think Tubbs came closest to being killed was in the series finale “Freefall” he was grazed in the shoulder then and in the Pilot.

Don’t forget “Viking Bikers” and “Tale of the Goat”  

[RedDragon86]

3 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Don’t forget “Viking Bikers” and “Tale of the Goat”  

Or this  

[Dadrian]

1 minute ago, RedDragon86 said:

Or this  

Yeah good thing that was Tubbs’ imposter 

[Matt5]

35 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

Or this  

Wow

[Matt5]

41 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Don’t forget “Viking Bikers” and “Tale of the Goat”  

Oh yes 

“Viking Bikers..” he was shot quite nastily and spent time in hospital.

[Tom]

vor 36 Minuten schrieb Dadrian:

Yeah good thing that was Tubbs’ imposter 

But bad thing that his imposter (stunt double Ernie Robinson got so badly burnt on his legs when doing this stunt that he had to cease his stuntman career.

[RedDragon86]

On 1/7/2021 at 8:32 PM, GoombayPunch said:

Not impressed by this episode unfortunately. The appearance of Noogie immediately drops it a few rungs as I think he is the worst reoccurring character on the series.  Gina and Trudy's storyline is ok, but I never really felt they were in any danger. Other than being with Stan and Larry, not sure how they would get away with no other clients for long periods of time. In addition, the acting by Lenny von Dohlen (Rickert) and Burt Young was atrocious. The only time I was invested was with Gina actually being forced to sleep with Ramirez. I was surprised she was that committed to remain in her undercover role. I would have liked to see more of Michael Madsen, who even back then was playing his typical sleeze-ball role. Throw in some already seen spark-producing speeding and you have an episode that can be skipped during future re-watches. 

Lenny Von Dohlen acted OK and Burt Young played the part well I thought.

Edited September 25, 2022 by RedDragon86

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 1/8/2021 at 7:18 AM, RedDragon86 said:

It's strange Lenny Von Dohlen acted so poorly in this because he was impressive in "Electric Dream's" and that was on the cusp of Miami Vice. I think the problem with Burt wasn't his acting but his accent changes, one minute he's speaks Columbian? then he goes back to his normal accent.

Aside from all that I still rate this highly. 

I really do like "Electric Dreams", and Lenny Von Dohlen as the star; I thought he did a good job. I'm with RedDragon86, the scenes with his Bob Rickert at the warehouse/dock opposite Crockett are strong, but I found the scenes at home with his wife extremely stilted. Maybe it was the writing, I don't know.

Yeah, I thought Burt young's Ramirez character was pretty awkward, but he was oily and sleazy enough to turn my stomach, so that's a plus. One the other hand Tony Plana's Cinco makes up for it to me (then again I like Plana, especially in "Three Amigos!" & "Disorderlies"; I want to punch his character in 'Baseballs of Death' though, but I think that's the right reaction to have:-): he's cold, mean, direct, and urgent, but also very calm (his serene demeanor after being shot and feeling he was dying may be him in a state of shock, but I thought it was well done). Also Michael Madsen as Sally Alvarado in the club was low-key and menacing. I thought Terry O'Quinn had a nice moment as the defense attorney, as did the Judge Cohen character for me (I like that Crockett went to jail for his principle, and he was right to do what he did; he would've never been trusted with a CI again). All these points make me feel pretty good about this episode

I like how this episode merges the "A" story and the "B" story at the end, so to me even if the individual stories may not have been able to carry the entire weight of the episode, together they got the job done for me, even if it has a few hiccups along the way.

Oh, and Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me"? Love it!

[Tom]

Am 8.1.2021 um 13:18 schrieb RedDragon86:

It's strange Lenny Von Dohlen acted so poorly in this because he was impressive in "Electric Dream's" and that was on the cusp of Miami Vice. I think the problem with Burt wasn't his acting but his accent changes, one minute he's speaks Columbian? then he goes back to his normal accent.

Aside from all that I still rate this highly. 

In my opinion the actress who played Lenny“s wife is much worse and SHE is the one spoiling this scene completely.

And regarding Burt Young: he was known as a quite heavy drinker and I heard that also his work on the MV set was affected. 

[Bren10]

Sorry, but Burt Young is in a coma in this ep.

[Mr. Vigilante]

On 1/7/2021 at 3:19 PM, Tom said:

But bad thing that his imposter (stunt double Ernie Robinson got so badly burnt on his legs when doing this stunt that he had to cease his stuntman career.

Yikes!  This is why stunt performers/coordinators absolutely deserve several Academy Award/Emmy categories!

Edited January 16, 2021 by Mr. Vigilante

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

15 hours ago, Mr. Vigilante said:

Yikes!  This is why stunt performers/coordinators absolutely deserve several Academy Award/Emmy categories!

It truly seems like a profession that deserves combat pay; remember Dar Robinson?

[Matt5]

45 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

It truly seems like a profession that deserves combat pay; remember Dar Robinson?

I agree combat pay indeed. No not heard of Dar Robinson?

Edited January 16, 2021 by Matt5

[Matt5]

21 hours ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I really do like "Electric Dreams", and Lenny Von Dohlen as the star; I thought he did a good job. I'm with RedDragon86, the scenes with his Bob Rickert at the warehouse/dock opposite Crockett are strong, but I found the scenes at home with his wife extremely stilted. Maybe it was the writing, I don't know.

Yeah, I thought Burt young's Ramirez character was pretty awkward, but he was oily and sleazy enough to turn my stomach, so that's a plus. One the other hand Tony Plana's Cinco makes up for it to me (then again I like Plana, especially in "Three Amigos!" & "Disorderlies"; I want to punch his character in 'Baseballs of Death' though, but I think that's the right reaction to have:-): he's cold, mean, direct, and urgent, but also very calm (his serene demeanor after being shot and feeling he was dying may be him in a state of shock, but I thought it was well done). Also Michael Madsen as Sally Alvarado in the club was low-key and menacing. I thought Terry O'Quinn had a nice moment as the defense attorney, as did the Judge Cohen character for me (I like that Crockett went to jail for his principle, and he was right to do what he did; he would've never been trusted with a CI again). All these points make me feel pretty good about this episode

I like how this episode merges the "A" story and the "B" story at the end, so to me even if the individual stories may not have been able to carry the entire weight of the episode, together they got the job done for me, even if it has a few hiccups along the way.

Oh, and Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me"? Love it!

Such a great review - thank you for taking the time to write here for us. 
 

 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

Dar Robinson was a stuntman killed when his stunt bike slid off a cliff. It was when he was doing a stunt run for the 1987 film "Million Dollar mystery". I only know about him because "Lethal Weapon" was dedicated to his memory and I looked him up from that. What happened to Ernest Robinson (no relation) in 'Baby Blues' though, I think it's freaky that we're actually seeing what happened to him happen onscreen.

[Tom]

vor 4 Minuten schrieb Eillio Martin Imbasciati:

Dar Robinson was a stuntman killed when his stunt bike slid off a cliff. It was when he was doing a stunt run for the 1987 film "Million Dollar mystery". I only know about him because "Lethal Weapon" was dedicated to his memory and I looked him up from that. What happened to Ernest Robinson (no relation) in 'Baby Blues' though, I think it's freaky that we're actually seeing what happened to him happen onscreen.

At least Ernie Robinson could work as a stunt coordinator after that. He died later in the 90s as far as I remember. Red Bull, the soft drink company started the Taurus award for stuntmen/women around 10-15 years ago. Hollywood still has no comparable award for their cause.

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

2 minutes ago, Matt5 said:

Such a great review - thank you for taking the time to write here for us. 
 

 

Oh, thank you for the compliment! Yeah, I just try to be thoughtful and put my viewpoint together in a digestible form, unlike when Moon turned Oswaldo Guzman's check into an undigestible meal in the episode 'Down for the Count Part I':-).

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

2 minutes ago, Tom said:

At least Ernie Robinson could work as a stunt coordinator after that. He died later in the 90s as far as I remember. Red Bull, the soft drink company started the Taurus award for stuntmen/women around 10-15 years ago. Hollywood still has no comparable award for their cause.

Yeah, it is a plus that Robinson remained ambulatory and was still able to work. Nice fact about Red Bull; I did not know that!

[Mr. Vigilante]

41 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

Dar Robinson was a stuntman killed when his stunt bike slid off a cliff. It was when he was doing a stunt run for the 1987 film "Million Dollar mystery". I only know about him because "Lethal Weapon" was dedicated to his memory and I looked him up from that. What happened to Ernest Robinson (no relation) in 'Baby Blues' though, I think it's freaky that we're actually seeing what happened to him happen onscreen.

Kinda like the scene in Back to the Future 2.  A female stunt performer was seriously injured in the scene where Griff's gang crashes into the courthouse on their hoverboards.  You can actually see her freefall and hit the ground full force.  From what I remember she had to have serious reconstructive surgery.

[zachbmarsh]

"Give a Little, Take a Little" is about 1000x better on paper than it is in execution. This is a really weird conclusion to a three-episode run of episodes that really did little-to-nothing for me, although this is arguably the "best" of those three, technically. Burt Young is shockingly weak here as the bad guy. I expect far better from him. There's some really awful direction, all of the setpieces are shot and edited like complete trash. The car chase in this makes the car chase in "Calderone's Demise" look like "Bullitt" by comparison. And then we get to Bob and his wife. Two worst actors in Miami Vice history? They certainly are up to this point, at least. Sonny's entire story is great in this episode, paying off the scene where he busts his partner in "Brother's Keeper" in spades as he sticks to his rigid morals, and the Bob stuff could've been so complementary to it if they hadn't grabbed some random guy off the street to do some of the worst acting ever put on TV. And I'm really fond of what they do with Gina in this episode as well, especially that final scene with her and Sonny. There's just a lot of crap surrounding the good parts of this episode. Like Switek is suddenly bombing as a stand-up comedian? And we have to sit through, like, 4 straight minutes of it? What the hell? Why did they have to bury a handful of great scenes and character work in a pile of... this? 3/10.

EDIT: Also, "Crockett's Theme" is really overused and, more importantly, MISused in this episode. The scene where Crockett first confronts Bob is a good use of it, but playing it over Bob lamenting Crockett being in jail was an odd choice.

Edited March 10, 2021 by zachbmarsh

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

4 minutes ago, zachbmarsh said:

"Give a Little, Take a Little" is about 1000x better on paper than it is in execution. This is a really weird conclusion to a three-episode run of episodes that really did little-to-nothing for me, although this is arguably the "best" of those three, technically. Burt Young is shockingly weak here as the bad guy. I expect far better from him. There's some really awful direction, all of the setpieces are shot and edited like complete trash. The car chase in this makes the car chase in "Calderone's Demise" look like "Bullitt" by comparison. And then we get to Bob and his wife. Two worst actors in Miami Vice history? They certainly are up to this point, at least. Sonny's entire story is great in this episode, paying off the scene where he busts his partner in "Brother's Keeper" in spades as he sticks to his rigid morals, and the Bob stuff could've been so complementary to it if they hadn't grabbed some random guy off the street to do some of the worst acting ever put on TV. And I'm really fond of what they do with Gina in this episode as well, especially that final scene with her and Sonny. There's just a lot of crap surrounding the good parts of this episode. Like Switek is suddenly bombing as a stand-up comedian? And we have to sit through, like, 4 straight minutes of it? What the hell? Why did they have to bury a handful of great scenes and character work in a pile of... this? 3/10.

I don't agree with Switek bombing as a comic though, as I found him to be pretty reliably funny throughout the first four seasons. I mean, he's Mr. comedy, what happened?

[zachbmarsh]

1 minute ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I don't agree with Switek bombing as a comic though, as I found him to be pretty reliably funny throughout the first four seasons. I mean, he's Mr. comedy, what happened?

Oh, no, Switek is hilarious. But there's absolutely no question in this episode that he was TERRIBLE as a literal stand-up comic. The only good in that sequence was Zito laughing his ass off when no one else was (although that quickly got tired) and that AMAZING shot where Madsen tries to make an exit and Crockett comes out of the shadows with a gun pointed right between his eyes.