Episode #39 "French Twist"

[Ferrariman]

Begin posting

[Tommy Vercetti]

This episode is boring as hell. It nearly put me to sleep. It was very slow paced and completely failed to hold my interest. Rubbish story, no songs, barely any style, everyone looks bored out of their minds, Crockett's romance with that woman is unconvincing, the girl witness is stupid, the ending is dumb and abrupt. This is a very very poor episode. I think it's safe to call it a filler episode. The episodes that proceeded and followed it weren't much cop either. But luckily the great Payback compensated for this trio of weak episodes - Florence Italy, French Twist and The Fix. Then they killed time with two more filler episodes, Trust Fund Pirates and Free Verse, until they got to the season finale Sons and Lovers. The only thing I really like about this ep is Leonard Cohen's guest appearance as I'm a fan of his music but his role was far too brief and inconsequential to make any kind of impact. The explosion at the Blue Waters hotel was a good scene too but apart from that there is practically zilch to recommend about this episode. Very bad episode. I won't be watching French Twist again in a hurry. 3/10

[Tony D.]

Again an episode that is not one of my favorites, but I must give it a good rating since it is suspenseful & has good acting. Right from the start, my attention was grabbed by Cindy inadvertantly photographing a man being knifed while taking her boyfriend's pic! She's a cute & likeable teen, although not too good at following instuctions for her own safety. Zolan's house in France is a knockout! Danielle, is a snotty b***h right from the start. Then when she blames Tubbs for Cindy getting shot, it's no wonder he starts his own background check on her. Crockett defended his partner though. How Sonny jumped into bed with her beats me, unless he considered it a conquest! Castillo didn't take her c**p when she let them walk into Bandi's trap at the Blue Water's Hotel. That place looked like The Maze. Colors I liked: Cindy's wierd-shaped, pink phone; her friend's blue T-Bird with the fuzzy dice; the hospital was in a matching blue glow! Danielle had an ugly striped dress with white panels on it. Man, what were they thinking! I liked her bath tub though. Gina had good cover near the end, I really thought she was a homeless guy! The ending boosts my rating from 8 to 9. It was certainly a cliffhanger or bridgehanger. Sonny struggling to climb the rising drawbridge & shooting that wench before she killed Tubbs. Yep, a 9 !

[Guest neworder]

For starters, Cindy is a pain in the ass character who's quite annoying. In addition, Danielle is also a pain in the ass character who's quite annoying. Right that aside let's get to some serious discussion. Nice shot of the Pan Am 747 as Danielle arrives in the US. I believe that the story is actually not too bad, it's atleast kinda different and there are a few interesting twists in there, I just wish that Danielle has been casted better. Tubbs is flipping hilarious in this episode, I love his negativity towards Danielle, he's quite possessive of Sonny clearly but then again maybe he's seen his partner been through enough with women this season, Margaret in Prodigal Son, Calley in Definately Miami...Crockett and Tubbs are sporting some smooth threads in this episode, I really like the dark jacket Tubbs wears in the scene where he's looking after Cindy. Jan Hammer's music in this one is decent enough although none notably special except for the piece used at the Blue Water's Hotel - fantastic electric guitars and a brilliant scene overall probs the highlight of the episode, although the ending is good. Some nice scenes shot at Sonny's boat at night. So overall, there is a good story here, and good tension between Crockett, Tubbs and Danielle, It keeps me interested enough, some top notch scenes aswell. But, Cindy and Danielle are annoying and the Leonard Cohen bit seems a little pointless and should have be longer. Overall a standard episode 7/10

[Papa Legba]

I thought the girl was annoying as well. To say she was supposed to be 19, she acted more like a 16 year old. This was not one of my favourite Vice episodes. However I thought it was ok. This has one of the shortest intros to any Vice episode, only 1m 10 secs.Notice the bizarre editing goof when Tubbs is babysitting Cindy at the Safehouse, and Crockett and Danielle turn up. One minute Danielle is asking Cindy to recall everything that she can about the murder. Then you see Cindy leaning on Tubbs. She says "I already told Sonny and Rico everything". Then you see Danielle reply "...and now you must tell me, Oui?". Then the camera cuts back to Tubbs, at which point Cindy appears to have vanished into thin air!In this episode, it's Tubbs who's got the sixth sense, as opposed to Crockett who whilst to a certain extent shares Tubbs' cynicism of Danielle, also at the same time has his perceptions clouded by becoming sexually involved with her.Bandi didn't mess about. He practically turned into Spiderman just to put a bullet in Cindy at the hospital. Total professional. The actor who played him also played the bogus "contact" that met Crockett and Tubbs in Costa Morada in "Freefall".I enjoyed the conversation between Crockett and Tubbs on the boat "you know I was thinkin of er.. tappin her phone?"... "you mean you already have!".There's an interesting bit of acting at the end of the strategy meeting in the conference room at OCB when Tubbs stares at Danielle and Danielle stares back at him. Neither of them says a word, but you can tell that Tubbs is communicating to her "I'm onto you", and she's looking back at him as if to say "I know you are, but don't underestimate me".I thought the sex scene was a bit racy for mid-80's tv. That was a bit embarrassing when you're 14 watching that with your parents!Why does Tubbs always ask for favours from Gina and Trudy? Is is because he is useless at admin tasks? Is he trying to charm them into thinking that because they do things for him then they must like him? or does he think it's beneath him?Just before Sullivan's meet with Bandi, Crockett and Castillo have a conversation about using Sullivan in the set up, as he is a civilian. Crockett says "I don't like it, but Bandi's not gonna go for a decoy". Why wouldn't he though? Bandi had never met Sullivan up until that point, and by the time Bandi may have twigged that the Decoy's voice may not be the same one as he heard on the phone, the team would have already been moving in to arrest him. I realise Bandi was supposed to be a professional, but surely he wasn't that good.I thought it was funny how when Tubbs is telling Crockett about how his new love interest is actually a Terrorist, he has to rub it in by adding "she could have been one of their assassins!?".The park where the meet took place, Jose Marti Park, is the same one where Crockett met Rita for the first time in "No Exit", and where Tubbs chased Montana Stone in "Badge of Dishonour".I give this episode 7 out of 10.

[timm525]

This was a sleeper ep. for me for the most part. The girl was a pain in the ass as stated.The French chick was not attractive at all. Why Sonny would have to jump in the sack with her is a big :confused:I gave this a very generous 7.

[Fresh Prince]

I dislike this episode, and that's mildly put.The teen is brainless. I hoped she'd get killed off for her stupidity.The french are suddenly teaching the MV team the police works IN Miami at their own home ground!?!?!Danielle character was horrible and her wardrobe horrendous!There was no music!Oh and the 'best' the killer, Bondi; Bondi this, Bondi that, to be honest the guy seemed like a shmuck! They made him look like he's world's most notorious assasin while he was everything but. Wanna see a real assasin, see the argentinian in Calderone's Return, Bondi couldn't classify to polish his guns ...The only good thing in this episode was that there was pastel, but without music ... it wasn't enough.

[rodriguezisdead]

7 out of 10. Didn't mind this ep at all. Surprised, as I know a few fans traditionally don't like this ep at all. But for me there was plenty of style and some good camerawork - some of it even reminded me of the Pilot ep eg.sharp foreground at night shots with blurred bright coloured lights in background. Cohen was cool and his manor superb. Some great mellow shots of the sky it seemed - especially at the set-up scene at the motel.Great theme tune in this ep - quite mysterious and almost haunting - very appropriate for a woman like Danielle. Who's Zooming Whom on the tape recorder in the bathroom - gotta love that tune! Doesn't Sonny do the 'gutted' look so well... what's with Castillo in this ep? He seems really annoyed at everyone for not playing it by the book - a bit like Hell Hath No Fury. Plot not amazing but definitely some style about this ep - even with Danielle's appalling sense of fashion!

[rodriguezisdead]

Why does Tubbs always ask for favours from Gina and Trudy? Is is because he is useless at admin tasks? Is he trying to charm them into thinking that because they do things for him then they must like him? or does he think it's beneath him?

Possibly a bit of all of the above and maybe also for security reasons - limited no. of people able to run/access checks on systems to minimise risk of abuse etc. What's funniest though is the way he has to appreciate Trudy's 'booty' every time before he asks for the favour - his eyes always seem to wander down south!

[timm525]

Possibly a bit of all of the above and maybe also for security reasons - limited no. of people able to run/access checks on systems to minimise risk of abuse etc. What's funniest though is the way he has to appreciate Trudy's 'booty' every time before he asks for the favour - his eyes always seem to wander down south!

Yea, mine do too!

[agent 47]

Kind of a meh watch. Nothing too outstand or exciting here. Leonard Cohen's guest star wasn't much a stand-out and the whole "protect the witness" aspect just seemed to be dropped a little over halfway. The villain was a bore and only the finale seemed at the very least memorable. Just a bag of nothing. 4/10. 

Edited October 19, 2016 by agent 47
New review due to Blu-ray viewing.

[Icemanmike]

I gave this one a six...Dull as dull can be. The short intro gave this one away and I should have passed on it. I liked the music and the constant wardrobe changes and loved Tubbs's jacket and tie in some scenes!! Other than that, if you haven't saw it in awhile(why would you?) just fast-forward it to where Rico approaches Dani in the tub and it kinda takes off from there...The cars, plane Crockett's sail boat and it was nice to see Elvis again....Weird having to gun down someone you spent time with, yet I also agree, she was a waste for Sonny's likes...My 2¢....Mike

[Shill]

I think I stand alone cos I gave this episode a 10. Has nostalgic reasons for me because I remember watching it so clearly when it was first broadcast back in the day. Like the way Tubbs undermines yet another Crockett woman. Just a shame there was no noticeable music but glad to see the "Candy" score return.

[AzVice]

Yeah i always think of "Candy" when i think of this episode. They needed some music like that in seasons 3 and 4.Not a spectacular episode, but ok. Woman was not attractive. Hard to see Sonny/Don with her. There were a couple of suspensful parts though.

[Guest neworder]

During these reviews' date=' this season really has dropped in quality in my eyes.[/quote']Ive noticed this trend with quite a few fans. To be fair I'm part on agreement with you here, a few eps Ive watched on this S2 viewing have felt a little less special - but crucially I've watched Season 2 to death so I'm trying to review them with my opinion of them when I first viewed them in mind - having said that my original view of Buddies was it was awful but now love it, the only episode that has seen an increase in rating from me aswell as LMD (only by .5 tho). Think the S2 box will be going away for a while after Ive finished. Quite looking forward to S3, haven't seen a few of them for ages.

[agent 47]

Think the S2 box will be going away for a while after Ive finished.

Same here, this season just seems too light to me, maybe I'm too used to later seasons rather than the early seasons.

Quite looking forward to S3, haven't seen a few of them for ages.

Me too, although I haven't got the box set for them yet, I have some on tape and still remember the season very well.

[chum981]

5/10.I find the character of Danielle very annoying and really can't see why Sonny would go for her. Maybe of they had a better actor, or if the character was better developed, the episode would have been better...I found the episode quite frustrating, especially since the previous few had been quite good...

[vicenarc]

I give this episode a 6. It was fairly flat throughout. There was not much action or compelling story to speak of in this ep.

[2morgen]

I give this ep an 8.(i just watched it again)The actress who plays Danniele is monotonous in her part. A bit annoying at time she showes the same emotions during the love scene as in the scene she wants to shoot Tubbs. ( No emotions at all .....)But the story line was strong in my eyes. In the acting of the other actors was strong.And I specially liked the scene where Crocket is feeding Elvis and says alligator ALLIGATOR to Tubss about Elvis.

[Matt5]

About 8/10 - I really like the JH Score to this episode.

[ViceFanMan]

I like this episode! Right from the start, it's suspenseful and action-packed with the girl seeing Bandi knifing the drug delivery guy at the hospital--and of course she gets the only photograph.The rest of the episode is action-packed as well--as Bandi comes after the girl, and I like the storyline of (once again) another "naughty" or bad ugly woman that Crockett gets involved with LOL ! This is just my opinion, but to me most of Crockett's choices in women left little to be desired--except for Gina! They should have stuck together...but we can thank the writers for that one. ;)One of my favorite parts of the episode is when Tubbs confronts Danielle about who and what she really was, and says: "I think you're a bad dream, baby! I just wanna wake up and...find you gone!" Tell her, Tubbs! :thumbsup:Anyway, I also like this episode because it's the other "main" one that includes the old Blue Waters Hotel. As I've posted before, I love historical old places (even abandoned ones) and I always liked that old place--wishing I could've explored and photographed it before it was torn down.Even though maybe this wasn't the best or most memorable episode of 2nd season, I definitely thought it was a very "strong" and "supportive" one for the season! I gave it a 7.

[MrsEvanFreed]

Never was a fan of this one, just watched it again as part of the MV rewatch I'm doing.Still feel the same.5/10

[CrockettandTubbs]

I gave this episode a 7, although I don't like Danielle or the main storyline *looks embarrassed*I DO like, however, the way Crockett and Tubbs are in this episode; it has one of my favourite lines (can anybody guess) which is "You're messing with my best friend and I don't like it." I LOVE THAT because it has profound meaning for me and my best friend, and because I am, as you may not have gathered yet, a Crockett and Tubbs parntership fan.I also love, as 2morgen mentioned, the scene where they are talking about Elvis..."alligator...alli-gator"-never fails to make me smile.And the ending did have me sat in my seat going; "RUN FASTER CROCKETT SHE'S GOING TO KILL TUBBS!"Which is rather embarrassing when sat with parents who aren't quite as obsessed as me!So yes, for Crockett-angst and the bromance (love when Crockett takes the phone and listens to Tubbs going into the hotel room!) that I like so much, this episode gets a 7.

[sonnysgirl]

Why does Sonny always pick such ugly women?? Were there not any better looking (and better acting) actresses back then? The love scene would have been real sexy if it werent for Danielle.. And who picked her wardrobe, even for the 80's that was buttugly! At least he didnt give in to her on the boat, boy was I relieved! :)Overall I liked this ep, gave it a 7. Really loved Tubbs in this one, loved his shoe on the bathtub and pulling the plug on her LOL Cant remember any good music in this one, watched it last night but nothing stuck, guess I'll have to watch it againALLI GATOR

[LNGLK]

Why does Sonny always pick such ugly women?? Were there not any better looking (and better acting) actresses back then? The love scene would have been real sexy if it werent for Danielle..

She is SO ugly! :evil:How can a man find ANYTHING attractive in her?!