Episode #38 "Florence Italy"

[Ferrariman]

Begin posting

[timm525]

I gave this one a 10 because Florence Italy was just too cute to be a hooker! :happy:Need I say more?

[Tommy Vercetti]

A string of three poor episodes starts here.Florence Italy is yet more style over substance, so typical of season 2. But this ep does have some good moments. The intro is pretty good with a good chase sequence. The motorcycle race through the car park was a good sequence. There were nice shots of the downtown skyline and the racing scenes are good if you like that. Bad points about this ep are an utterly feeble and almost non existent storyline, some very bad acting on display and that stupid abrupt ending. Difficult to imagine a weaker ending to an episode. This episode has virtually no rewatchable value.Instantly forgettable episode. 5/10

[rodriguezisdead]

Over on the other site I see that this ep scored more than Junk Love. Both eps aren't MV's finest hour but I'm still surprised that this one seemed to score more than Junk Love - in my opinion this is a far weaker ep than that one.It's been a long time since I've seen an ep that I had to rate as 'weak' by MV standards so I actually had to review my scores from Seasons 3 to 5 to see what would be fair. I think this deserves a 4 out of 10 in my book - which is consistent with my other scoring and basically means 'weak' (in my book 6 is 'average', 5 is 'below average', 4 is 'weak', 3 is 'very weak'). Thank God I've only ever given one ep a 2...Hard to think of some of the things that were good in this ep - Rico had a very smart suit and shirt/tie on at one point - but just looked odd at the race circuit. And Becky looked far hotter than Florence, Italy! (That is until she began to overact...)Clearly an ep to showcase the cars but I don't even think it did that well. C&T looked completely out of place at the circuit. Some really poor acting from several guesting characters. Difficult to think of a more obvious plot in MV so the 'twist' was hardly that when it came. Not crashing the car was clearly the cheaper option at the end but for MV it was just a bit classless.BTW really long intro on this one - 8m15 or 16 secs I think. Contrast with next ep which has an unusually short intro?

[Guest neworder]

Here we enter the 2nd weaker stretch of Season 2, the first being around Junk Love, Tale of the Goat. That said it may be weak by S2 standards for me, overall it isn't as weak as some other stretches in Vice. Anyway, Florence Italy, another Style over Substance episode as Vercetti has mentioned; its at this point you realise that Vice probably did need a substantial change like in S3 in order to keep it popular. This episode is probably the worst of Season 2 for me. All the car chases is nice but the lack of music at the end car races is annoying. Also the end where he drives through the wall with the smashing noise is annoying too. Danny's acting is pretty poor. That all said the style is good, lots of blue skies in Miami at this time. If you want to see a more thrilling representation of the Miami Grand Prix, check out the CSI Miami S2 episode 'Grand Prix', one of CSI Miami's best and actually filmed in Miami. For this episode I give a low 6/10 and this is the weakest of Season 2 IMO.

[Shill]

It's a case off too much padding and footage towards the end of this episode. Good to see a relentless Sonny - he knows Tepper is innocent but pushes him all the way to get the truth

[Tony D.]

Florence Italy is a strange name for a hooker & for an episode Title! This episode is kind of HO-Hum for me. I liked the street racing & the bike race in the parking garage. Also enjoyed Tubbs in Danny Tepper's interrogation. I dig Sonny's pink shoes. I would get a pair! Marty Worthington was wierd or high at the party. At the beginning of the race, I liked the song "Mercury Blues" I rate this one a 6 since there wasn't much suspense, gun fights or cool lines. The car chase scene made me raise it from 5 to 6.

[CarolineUK]

This wasn't one of the best of Season Two however it wasn't one one of the worst which (with the motor racing) I'm giving it a 6.Sue x

[23bw]

Just saw this episode last night for the 2nd time since it first aired on TV. I didn't remember Florence Italy being an enjoyable episode back then but it wasn't so bad this time around. I enjoyed the car chase, the interrogation of Danny, and the coffee shop lady's clean up the street attitude. Also first time we see Sonny horsing around in the Daytona with Rico right before the car chase. At the driver's reception cocktail party right before the motorcycle race, there's an extra who looks a lot like George Clooney. He was wearing a teal color suit sporting a mullet. Is that really him?

[Murphy's Law]

Florence Italy is one of my least favorite episodes, due in large part to the lousy acting by the guest stars and a predictable, weak plot. I gave this one 6/10.

[Papa Legba]

What's surprised me about the voting for this episode is the wide range of scores. Normally there is a lot of consistency around the voting for a particular episode, but for this one there is everything from a 1 to a 10!I think that this is the ultimate style over substance episode, but none the less, although it is not one of my favourite episodes, I still think it wasn't a bad one.There were a number of continuity errors in the opening scenes before Florence got killed. For example, at 0:55 you catch a glimpse of Giancarlo Esposito's character from "Little Prince". Then again I don't remember him getting killed or arrested during "Little Prince", so I guess it could be argued he was a regular hustler on the street. After Florence gets picked up by Tepper Senior, you see her still on the street on three occasions afterwards. Also, when the team are analysing the CCTV footage near the end of the episode, you see the picture moving from side to side as the camera was supposedly doing the same. Yet when you see the camera in the background when Florence initially gets picked up, it isn't moving.Credit has to be given to this episode at the very least for containing one of the best car chases in Vice (during the opening teaser). In fact the episode contained two car chases and two races. But then this was the theme of the entire episode... racing.Danny Sullivan displayed probably the worst acting i've ever seen in Vice, bad actor, but to be fair to the guy, he was a racing driver, not an actor.The bike race scene between Tepper versus Tepper was actually filmed in two locations. The scene where they both exit the building is filmed in a different place from where the race actually takes place. DanJ showed myself and Baron Samedi where the location of this exit in the scene is. The scene where Tepper senior shouts "Hey everybody, Danny's got a son", to which you see the party goers applaud is an illusion. The building looks only about 3 stories high. So when Tepper shouts this, he does it in a way that makes it seem that the people are about 50 stories above. Yet they are only 40 feet above him. This scene was filmed on the same street where the Voodoo Arcade is located in "Tale of the Goat", and also where the scene takes place in "Whatever works" where Crockett says to Tubbs "Tubbs..throw me the keys!".I believe that when Danny was telling his wife about the car being stolen the night before, he already knew by that point it was his dad who did the murder. The burnt toy car gift is a mystery that we've discussed before. I can only conclude it either came from Danny's dad, in order to make a point to him to keep his mouth shut, or from someone who had heard about Danny being a suspect for the murder and was trying to start some hate campaign.I like Crockett's use of psychology where he tells Danny what Florence's real name was. In that way he was clearly trying to personalise her to try and tug at Danny's guilt at keeping quiet.If you pause the episode at 40:29, you can see Zito sat in the middle of the screen on his own, watching the race.The really stupid part to this episode though was not it's end per se, but the fact that Crockett and Tubbs were involved in the final persuit of Tepper Senior in such a conspicuous way. Here are two undercover cops who need to maintain their cover to the criminal community of Miami, yet they are driving through the streets of Miami as part of a very loud and noticable police convoy whilst driving an open top Ferrari! They could have still been involved in the persuit, but it would have made more sense for them to be far more discreet!Still enjoyed the episode though. 7.5 out of 10.

[agent 47]

This a decent episode, love the motorcylce race, although the story has the same theme as Little Prince (son is being hounded by the cops, father actully behind everything) it's not bad, I think around this time is when the series started to become more darker in spirit, especially the great end of the episode, I give it an 8 out of 10.

[agent 47]

The really stupid part to this episode though was not it's end per se' date=' but the fact that Crockett and Tubbs were involved in the final persuit of Tepper Senior in such a conspicuous way. Here are two undercover cops who need to maintain their cover to the criminal community of Miami, yet they are driving through the streets of Miami as part of a very loud and noticable police convoy whilst driving an open top Ferrari! They could have still been involved in the persuit, but it would have made more sense for them to be far more discreet![/quote']Crockett and Tubbs have done a lot in the past that would break their cover.When Calderone escaped, wouldn't somebody have talked to Calderone about it and then all of a sudden word would get around that Burnett is actually a cop?Lombard certainly would know about Cooper being a cop, mob cases would have been proved useless when going undercover due to one of the biggesdt mob bosses knowing that they are cops.In Whatever Works, they scream out they are police officers, even go inside the house where all the suspects were and walks around, wouldn't at least one of them talked in jail or something?I guess the best thing to do is just drop realism, after all Crockett and Tubbs done, their covers would have been blown in season 1.

[Papa Legba]

Crockett and Tubbs have done a lot in the past that would break their cover.I guess the best thing to do is just drop realism' date=' after all Crockett and Tubbs done, their covers would have been blown in season 1.[/quote']Most definately, my friend!

[rodriguezisdead]

Also' date=' when the team are analysing the CCTV footage [/quote']What I found weird was how it took Rico and several days of police investigation work to even chance upon the idea of CCTV coverage as something to look at - surely they should have considered CCTV for most of the shops / businesses in that district or street as one of the first things to research?

[Papa Legba]

What I found weird was how it took Rico and several days of police investigation work to even chance upon the idea of CCTV coverage as something to look at - surely they should have considered CCTV for most of the shops / businesses in that district or street as one of the first things to research?

Good point!

[Matt5]

Thought this episode a little "cheesy" - but great backdrop of the Miami Grand Prix.

[vicenarc]

I'd rate this episode at 7. The theme was just too fixated on the racing scene for an MV ep. It didn't have that much intrigue overall.

[MrsEvanFreed]

One of the weakest episodes of S2, with Sullivan being one of the ABSOLUTE WORST guest stars.On MV or any other tv show, he was LOL bad.5/10

[sonnysgirl]

I really liked the first half, I think it started out real promising and then just got weaker unfortunately. The music during the motrocycle race sucked and overall it could have been much better. Sonny is the only man on earth who can get away with wearing pink shoes for me! I just watched this 2 nights ago and thats really all I can remember about it.. I think the car chase in the beginning was probably the best thing about it. Oh and I really like Tommy, the mechanic girl, she's pretty cool. And I still wonder what kind of car the white one was (a Porsche??)gave it a 6 for the car chase and the pink shoes

[Joe]

Although Florence Italy isn't often well received, I like it. I'm of the opinion that it is a very creative episode because it's set in a milieu where normally I don't expect such brutal crimes.:clap:The teaser is very awesome because it offers good humour, a costly chase scene and a cruel murder.The dialogue between Florence Italy, the transvestite and the shop owner is funny, likewise the scene with the Fat Boys! :DThen the episode changes the setting and shows the preparation for the Grand Prix and details of racing cars. I love that because it's unusual and unique (and expensive) at that time to show such scenes in a TV show. :cool:OK, such scenes aren't important for the plot, but VICE stands for innovation, creativity and extravagance.It appeals to me that Sonny and Rico treat famous persons just like normal ones. Danny Tepper and his father are normal suspects for them and no VIPs.:thumbsup:Moreover the motorcycle race is also very cool because camera work is fantastic. :happy:The end of the episode come very abruptly, but that's also specific for VICE - so this isn't a negative point for me.About the style and design I haven't to write... it is - as always - gorgeous!However Jan Hammer's score is mentionable. It's a very very nice one, unfortunately it's unreleased. So, Dadrian Wilson: I need you!:D10 of 10 points, not due to the plot but due to the overwhelming car and motorcycle scenes. We have to consider that there weren't such scenes in 80s TV! People were used to shows like Columbo or Matt Houston, well-behaved crime series with brown suits and one murder per episode. So, such a VICE episode is praisable!

[BlackJack]

One of my favourite episodes from season 2 with possibly the best intro ever. Loved everything about it 9/10

[ViceFanMan]

This is another 2nd season episode I really enjoy watching! It's an interesting one to me because of how it starts off so humorous and "light"...then instantly turns "dark" and tragic!First you have the two hookers, Florence and the transvesdite "Lewis", mouthing off to the chubby coffee shop lady Beatrice (after she'd first mouthed off to them)--telling her she'll be arrested for criminal fatness. Then Lewis talks in his deep man-voice after "chubby" pushes him...telling her: "Push me again, and I'm makin' you bacon!" Then you have Crockett and Tubbs making the pot smoking rapper literally eat his pot! After that Lewis makes fun of Trudy's shoes...making her and Gina look down like, "What's wrong with my shoes?" :pSuddenly, Florence is murdered and dumped on the street like garbage, from one of the Grand Prix race cars...come to find out she was only 17! From that point on, it gets serious real quick and laugh-time's over. :cry: I liked the Miami Grand Prix being the back-drop to this one, and something "fresh" or different that they hadn't done before.The drama between Danny and Frank Tepper, the father and son drivers, was played out superbly and I thought both did awesome acting jobs! The end is another famous Michael Mann trademark "abrupt" ending. I just like this one and the acting jobs all-around--from funny to serious it's something kind of different. I gave it an 8!

[pahonu]

The only reason this isn't a 10 for me is Danny Sullivan's acting. Great opening with the Fat Boys; great closing with the shattered windshield; great motorcycle race. It has it all, but every time I watch it I think how much better some of the father son interaction scenes could have been with a better actor. Granted, Sullivan did a pretty decent job for a non-actor, but it still isn't as good as it could have been. I assume they wanted the name recognition of an actual Indy driver more than a professional actor.

[ViceFanMan]

The only reason this isn't a 10 for me is Danny Sullivan's acting. Great opening with the Fat Boys; great closing with the shattered windshield; great motorcycle race. It has it all' date=' but every time I watch it I think how much better some of the father son interaction scenes could have been with a better actor. Granted, Sullivan did a pretty decent job for a non-actor, but it still isn't as good as it could have been. I assume they wanted the name recognition of an actual Indy driver more than a professional actor.[/quote']This is true...maybe I jumped-the-gun a little in my above post. I enjoyed the episode enough that everything seemed awesome. But, thinking back to what you said I agree. Sullivan's acting probably wasn't the best. I do think he did a decent job for a non-actor. You're right, they wanted a real driver to guest-star, because of the real race as the background, instead of a professional actor. They were also trying to have as many famous guest stars (actors or no) as possible.