Season 4: Overall Assessment

[rodriguezisdead]

My rating for the entire Season is 6.7. Compare this to Season 3 which I rated a 6.9 overall. But I don't think this tells the whole story - Season 4 would have scored much lower if the last 2 eps (the best of Season 4) were taken away, so the 6.7 score masks well the fact that we have 4 or 5 of the worst eps in the entire show's run in Season 4. For the die-hard MV fan Season 4 is a must, but there are plenty of weak eps in this Season. Some of the plots and writing quality seem weaker, budgets generally seem smaller, and the baggier style clothing seen in much of the Season also doesn't impress. Beware! Perhaps the most important theme about Season 4 is those eps which detail some of the continuing disenchantment of Sonny towards 'the System' which finally culminates in the last 2 eps of the Season. We waited 4 Seasons for it but boy was it worth it. A glorious finale to the Season. Top 5 Eps:1 - Deliver Us From Evil - 10/10 - Ending the Hackman saga and precipitating the Burnett trilogy, this ep marks the end of Sonny Crockett as we knew him. Scenes on the boat as Sonny grieves Caitlin, together with the final blowing away of Hackman, are some of the most memorable in the whole of Vice.2 - Mirror Image - 10/10 - The Burnett trilogy kicks off with a bang - literally - and a cold-blooded Burnett is some of the most chilling viewing in the whole of Vice. Dream sequence and Burnett murdering scenes are MV classics. Extraordinary scenes for late 80's TV.3 - Child's Play - 9.5/10 - Outside of the Hackman and Burnett saga's, this might just be the best single episode of Vice for me. Excellent scripting, directing, and absolutely superb acting from DJ. Also includes perhaps the most memorable scene ever between Sonny and Castillo.4 - Death and the Lady - 8.5/10 - More wonderful acting from DJ with superb style of several scenes throughout this ep. Final scene with Sonny slapping our porno murdering director is another MV classic.5 - A Rock and a Hard Place - 8/10 - Prodigal Son comes to Hollywood, and it 'feels' much more MV than NY. Decent budget for a Season 4 ep with a series of good location shots and scenes developing Sonny and Caitlin's relationship. Other eps worth a mention and equally scoring 8/10 in my book: Contempt of Court, A Bullet for Crockett, Like a Hurricane, and Hell Hath No Fury... - although most of these only score so highly for one or two ideas or strong scenes rather than the whole ep. People seem to hate Hell Hath No Fury, but have a read of my review of it for why I think it's under-rated. 3 Weakest Eps:1 - Missing Hours - 3/10 - For UFO's, please watch the X-Files instead.2 - Big Thaw - 3/10 - For frozen organisms, please visit your refrigerator.3 - Cows of October - 4/10 - For frozen semen, please visit your local fertility clinic.Top 12/Most memorable Scenes/Moments from Season 4: 1) Deliver Us From Evil - Sonny blasting Frank Hackman away finally, walking off to the fast-approaching Burnett saga - the foreshortened gun and 'wrong' are immortal memories for any MV fan. Debate will rage forever as to whether or not the killing was in self-defence or pre-meditated; 2) Deliver Us From Evil - The shots of the sky on the boat towards the end are fantastic. Obviously 'doctored' to add the colour and contrast - seems almost like the effect used in Rihanna's video in her track 'Umbrella' with half the screen shaded in red ! I love the way we get Rico's silhouette in black pausing against the red/purple sky and we can only wonder how hard it must be for him to compose himself before going below deck. Beautiful shots and so very apt for such a critical part of the whole of Miami Vice; 3) Like A Hurricane - The 'Do you wanna talk' scene is just seconds long but I have never forgotten it. IMO the greatest scene in MV between Sonny and Gina - by a margin. As Sonny asks the question of Gina he can't even bring himself to look in her eyes. He already knows how much this is going to hurt her. Santiago is masterful in reply and this probably for me in Vice is her finest hour. Everything is perfect about this scene - even the fact that Sonny mentions his imminent marriage to her in private before anyone else gets to know at OCB, even before (apparently) his bosom-buddy Rico. DJ and SS act it out perfectly. I love the fact that even the relating of the actual story is left-out as it isn't important - all that we are given is the reaction to it. I even love the camerawork as it trains on DJ and slowly swings round to show us Gina and the state she's in. Her eyes and body language - the raised left hand - say it all. Utterly awesome acting;4) Mirror Image - The dream sequence is another of those unique scenes in MV that you can't shake from your head for 20 years. Castillo in shades! Which genius thought of that? Stan looks like his hair's been electrified or something... the shade of the sky in the background at the beach is ominous. Superb;5) Mirror Image - The shooting of the drug dealer by Burnett when he tells the others to get in the boot of the merc is shocking. The absolute ruthlessness with which he executes it is superb. Nonchalant in fact. Just another day at the office for Burnett. Not once, but twice to be sure, even though the second virtually point-blank bullet is probably hitting a corpse. First time I saw this I almost *****ed myself - we were thinking 'whoa! did I just see what I think I saw?' You just do not know what this man is capable of any longer; 6) Child's Play - Sonny vs Castillo in Castillo's office: First time I saw this scene I remember coming away thinking the greatest bit was the fact that Castillo tells us that he cares about Sonny. Wow! When does he ever say it this straight, even though we all know it anyway?! Sonny isn't just angry and frustrated in this scene. Look at his eyes. He is actually scared! Wonderful acting;7) Death and the Lady - Fantastic final scene with beautiful colour contrasts of green below with Sonny and white on the stairs with the director. Almost one uncut shot as Sonny slaps his way to slap-happy heaven, with the camera moving well around both characters, and then Sonny storms off into the night, forsaking his precious Testarossa; 8) Contempt of Court - C&T both instantly train their guns simultaneously on Mosca and his goons outside Court at the end of the ep - a classic visual moment;9) Mirror Image - Intro scene - Sonny behind shades says it all - he is hiding behind them. Rico is concerned. I suspect that Sonny has forgotten his coat rather than being worried about the heat - that's just an excuse to try and convince a sceptical Rico that he's thinking straight. As he sips at his drink he repeats 'I'm fine, I'm fine'. We of course are thinking 'Yeah right, who are you trying to convince, Rico or yourself?' Also just some wonderful laid-back music to that conversation. Can't quite put my finger on it but it seems to sum everything up - almost like the music says 'I don't know where we're headed, but I'm resigned to my fate, whatever it may be, and however much I might be hurting'. And yet that music says something more. Not even sure what, but it's just so cool. Perhaps the music is suggesting that this is the one thing that is going to pull Sonny through the Burnett saga - Rico's special friendship, so let's celebrate it's fineness and maturity;10) Honor among Thieves? - Billy Idol's 'Sweet 16' is my second fave track of his of all time so I loved its usage in a very appropriate manner here. Possibly the coolest scene in the whole ep with the camera training on Castillo and the other cop's legs as they walk over to the new victim, then panning up to their faces - the look on each man's face speaks volumes about the nature of Castillo. Here we see him hard and angry but completely committed to getting the perpetrator, whereas his colleague is simply shocked. Wonderful directing;11) God's Work - scene with C&T and Castillo at the waterside/forested area - this scene with the camera panning round the trio at the table before they get up together and walk off just oozes some of the MV cool. Sonny's pastel shirt, Castillo's voice seems to drop an octave or become even more gravelly (if that were possible!), Rico's snappy suit, the wonderful clouds and sky in the background as they walk off, the characters in dark as the camera swivels through some angles then in light again a few seconds later... ahhh visual candy!12) Vote of Confidence - Love the shot of Castillo and C&T in Castillo's darkened office as they watch the TV screen behind the blinds and the camera pans across to them. Classic Vice.