Episode #38 "Florence Italy"

[Jack Gretsky]

Here we begin the "triple F" lull (Florence Italy, French Twist and The Fix) before we get to the next great episode "Payback."  Not to say "Florence Italy" is bad; it's got plenty to capture my attention.  The racing world (with talk of 962 engines - take that, 440 muscle cars!), a true "world of vice" teaser scene (one of the longer openers as well - almost 8 minutes) and a nicely filmed parking garage motorcycle race.  

Edited September 20, 2023 by Jack Gretsky

[sdiegolo78]

On 9/7/2021 at 9:23 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

Here we begin the "triple F" lull (Florence Italy, French Twist and The Fix) before we get to the next great episode "Payback."  Not to say "Florence Italy" is bad; it's got plenty to capture my attention.  The racing world (with talk of 962 engines - take that 440 muscle cars!), a true "world of vice" teaser scene (one of the longer openers as well - almost 8 minutes) and a nicely filmed parking garage motorcycle race.  

The best Vice intro ever, period! I appreciate the parking garage motorcycle race, a nice distraction from the central plot. It showed you how weird the MV world and setting can be.

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

1 minute ago, sdiegolo78 said:

The best Vice intro ever, period! I appreciate the parking garage motorcycle race, a nice distraction from the central plot. It showed you how weird the MV world and setting can be.

Danny can control that motorcycle, right here, right there, in that parking garage; sadly, he lost, but he has a son!

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 9/7/2021 at 4:23 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

Here we begin the "triple F" lull (Florence Italy, French Twist and The Fix) before we get to the next great episode "Payback."  Not to say "Florence Italy" is bad; it's got plenty to capture my attention.  The racing world (with talk of 962 engines - take that 440 muscle cars!), a true "world of vice" teaser scene (one of the longer openers as well - almost 8 minutes) and a nicely filmed parking garage motorcycle race.  

I do like these three episodes, but the general feeling about them is they aren't Vice episodes of the highest caliber, and I can understand that perspective. What I enjoy most about 'French Twist' is Tubbs: I like this "maximum danger" line (so very Tubbs) and when he confronts the stuck-up Danielle, telling her that she's messing with his best friend, and he doesn't like that (with Tubbs also not liking machine gun fire and favoring ice cream, his perfect day would be hanging out with Crockett in a quiet place eating ice cream).

'The Fix'. Well, I just can't argue with William F. Russell, Bernard King, Harvey Fierstein, and Michael Richards. Yeah, I gotta love that.

One more thing about 'Florence Italy': when Danny Tepper said,  "I hope Danny Jr. enjoyed it as much as I did" (this was also the last line of the episode) after he won the Miami Grand Prix, that was the point that I realized that Danny was a total cheese wheel. I mean, c'mon, I get it that you're a proud papa, but Danny Jr.'s all wrinkly-faced and being cooed at by family members and well-wishers, not enjoying some fine racing. If that line of his leaves no doubt that Danny Tepper couldn't be a sadistic killer (I see a better chance of Bob Rickert becoming a player), nothing will.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Eillio Martin Imbasciati
capitalization, re-wording

[Jack Gretsky]

38 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I do like these three episodes, but the general feeling about them is they aren't Vice episodes of the highest caliber, and I can understand that perspective. What I enjoy most about 'French Twist' is Tubbs: I like this "maximum danger" line (so very Tubbs) and when he confronts the stuck-up Danielle, telling her that she's messing with his best friend, and he doesn't like that (with Tubbs also not liking machine gun fire and favoring ice cream, his perfect day would be hanging out with Crockett in a quiet place eating ice cream).

'The Fix'. Well, I just can't argue with William F. Russell, Bernard King, Harvey Fierstein, and Michael Richards. Yeah, I gotta love that.

One more thing about 'Florence Italy': when Danny Tepper said,  "I hope Danny Jr. enjoyed it as much as I did" (this was also the last line of the episode) after he won the Miami Grand Prix, that was the point that I realized that Danny was a total cheese wheel. I mean, c'mon, I get it that you're a proud papa, but Danny Jr.'s all wrinkly-faced and being cooed at by family members and well-wishers, not enjoying some fine racing. If that line of his leaves no doubt that Danny Tepper couldn't be a sadistic killer (I see a better chance of Bob Rickert becoming a player), nothing will.

I think Danny Tepper could be the next door neighbor on "Rickert Fences" 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

1 minute ago, Jack Gretsky said:

I think Danny Tepper could be the next door neighbor on "Rickert Fences" 

Yeah, on the other side next door, but still keeping the Tom Skerritt/Kathy Baker duo, of course! Danny Tepper, yeah, he'd fit right in with the Rickert world for sure; there's no easy way out of that neighborhood for Danny Tepper, or no shortcut home, even if he's a racer (it would be great if Danny had a relative named Robert Tepper though, and EVEN better if played by Robert Tepper himself).

[Jack Gretsky]

3 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

Yeah, on the other side next door, but still keeping the Tom Skerritt/Kathy Baker duo, of course! Danny Tepper, yeah, he'd fit right in with the Rickert world for sure; there's no easy way out of that neighborhood for Danny Tepper, or no shortcut home, even if he's a racer (it would be great if Danny had a relative named Robert Tepper though, and EVEN better if played by Robert Tepper himself).

Yeah, why were there no Robert Tepper songs on MV? 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

1 minute ago, Jack Gretsky said:

Yeah, why were there no Robert Tepper songs on MV? 

I think that's a fantastic question; even having a lesser-known Tepper song in an episode (sometimes Vice would throw a surprise in there; for example, I never heard much word on Madonna's "Gambler", but there it is in 'The Fix') could've been a thing. I know Sylvester Stallone used "No Easy Way Out" & "Angel of the City" (love 'em), but that shouldn't have tempered that Tepper for Vice.

[ViceFanMan]

Only a sociopath would threaten their own son & baby grandson (anonymously or not)...pretty messed up! This was a very good episode, and a very “dark” scene! 

[johnnyfarragut]

'Everybody has a last name, except Madonna and Sting' 

Too bad we didn't see more of Tommy. Funny character.

[RedDragon86]

Is it safe to say that Frank Tepper is a serial killer? 

It always creeps me out the way he says "I will try anything once"

That actor that plays him put in a great performance.  

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, RedDragon86 said:

Is it safe to say that Frank Tepper is a serial killer? 

It always creeps me out the way he says "I will try anything once"

That actor that plays him put in a great performance.  

Possibly so…never thought of him that way before? But, you very well may be right! He wouldn’t really be considered a serial rapist, considering Florence was a hooker and already expecting sex anyway. He was definitely a creeper sociopath! 

[pahonu]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:58 AM, johnnyfarragut said:

'Everybody has a last name, except Madonna and Sting' 

Too bad we didn't see more of Tommy. Funny character.

The mechanic of choice for my 35 year old VW camper bus is a woman with her own shop here in Long Beach, West Coast VW.  She has the same bus model as mine, so there’s no better mechanic to be found, Deb! 

[jpaul1]

just a small OT to say that the Porsche 906 is now featured in Forza 5.  the game features also fw others MV/80s cars (countach, testarossa 512, daytona GTB, regal GNX, camaro 69, Stinray...)

sry for the OT but it's really a nice game