Episode #47 "Killshot"


Ferrariman

Recommended Posts

  • 1 year later...

one of the best episodes of vice ever. It's an episode I keep coming back to. Everything is here - cool music including the excellent eminence front, great sport storyline, plot twists and turns and great Miami scenery. A 10 from me.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shill, I agree with you on this one.... The series is really coming around and this is an awesome episode. The intro with the Scarrab and funny how that little 28' Bertram is gonna give chase....Hmmm....Great music too. Frank drives a sweet Buick Grand National of 80' cars that could and it is great for the younger generation to see what a phone booth looks like. This episode also gave me a "The Fix" feeling in places, yet so well refined. Other than her face kinda spooks me, I just can't get enough on the lady Muscle used in a few shots...Man, her arms and legs...Sooooo Hott!! Sorry, just me I guess...Vice introduces viewers to a sport I never knew existed and that in itself is cool....I tossed a nine at this one, I really liked it and really sets the tone for season three, which I'm coming to love.....Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest neworder

Unfortunately I don't share the mostly positive reviews this episode has had so far! It has a stunning intro sequence, great to see Jai-Alai, there's decent music mostly throughout and there's some nice Testarossa scenes. BUT, the acting from all the supporting cast, the drug dealers and the Ariolla's is appallingly wooden, Icemanmike mentions it has a feeling of "The Fix" in places; that's not a good thing since both episodes are quite close in the episode order and The Fix wasn't outstanding either. Finally, the slow motion annoys me in the ending sequence. So poor acting, poor story to be fair, annoying slow motion all dog this episode significantly, it's a major disapointment after that stunning intro sequence 5/10 ; the only real slip up Season 3 has until The Afternoon Plane in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This episode starts excellently. Fab intro with very good use of The Who's 'Eminence Front'. A great song by the best band ever (although without legend Moony on drums, alas) and a rare Who song with Towshend on vocals. He's a great singer. He sang on two Who songs I love 'Cut My Hair' and 'I'm One', both from Quadrophenia. And then the Jai Alai montage with Iggy Pop's 'Real Wild One' was great too. But after that the whole ep goes rapidly downhill. It becomes a very boring episode that doesn't really hold your attention. It has a few stand-out moments like the rooftop explosion (although I didn't really like the song in that scene) and Tico's fate but overall the reminder of the episode is weak. Then it just whimpers to a close. I first became aware of Jai Alai when it was in a Jackass skit. Too bad they didn't get a good episode out of the sport. Mr. Burns played Jai Alai in a Simpsons episode too.Great opening but the rest of the episode is weak. 5/10 This ep has another Scarface actor in MV(like Pepe Serna and Al Israel before). The guy who played Frank played the anti-drug crusader Sosa wanted Tony to whack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Killshot" 1s a fair MV episode. What a waste of a talented person. Very sad! The music was great & I liked the clothes. Good vice action & atmosphere. The Miami Vice intro has a shot of the jai- alai player which gives this episode more prominence. There was a discussion before on whether Tico committed suicide or was killed accidentally. I feel he deliberately moved in front of the ball because of the trouble he caused his brother. I rate it 7. On further thought I'm changing my score to a 6.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My review from Apr 2007Here's my review This is an OK episode in my opinion, not one of my favorites, but certainly not one of my least favorites. I love the opening with Sonny acting as Burnett and Wisecracking to the Bad guy, all to the tune of Eminence Front by Pete Townsend & the Who. I thought the music especially appropriate as Sonny is putting on this front for the drug dealer trying to set up a take down pretending to be what he’s not. I loved the comments in the surveillance also “When are we going in?” “as soon as Silvio makes Crockett happy.” Then a few minutes later you hear Sonny say ‘You’re not making me very happy Silvio.” I love the part where Sonny grabs Silvio into his boat, and then evades the pursuit, Silvio’s boss’s boat blows up and now he’s left to hitch a ride with Burnett. But Sonny throws him into the drink and makes off with the cash and the drugs. Wonderful teaser! I like the Jai Lai game scene, although I don’t understand what the players are trying to do except stay alive. I’ve often wondered about that scene where they attend the Jai Lai game. In this crowded arena there are actually three seats available in the middle? Was the audience warned that they would be filming a scene or were all those ‘audience members extras called in? I loved the way Crockett explains about the ball going so fast and the art is staying alive. Kind of ironic when you think of the ending: Tico getting hit by one. I absolutely hated the set up of Tico. That prostitute was so mean and I felt uncomfortable through the whole scene. I was actually glad when Ms Baptista had her killed to sell that Tico had beaten her to death, and so the body would be found. Sonny certainly lives in an uncertain world. Here’s another friend of Sonny’s who ends up betraying him because he’s trying to save his brother. I couldn’t believe that Ariola told the drug dealer that Sonny and Rico were cops talking about blowing covers.(Yes, I know he thought that would only blow the deal not put his friends in danger although he must have had second thoughts after Getting the message from Sonny that the meet was on.) Is it normal procedure for other agencies to know the identity of undercover cops? Was Ms Baptista planning on getting rid of the Drug dealer and his sidekick all along or did she just take the opportunity when it presented itself. I’m also wondering would the US Customs let one person know all the codes, wouldn’t they kind of disperse them partially so that one person only knows a small part, and others know other small parts but none of them would know the whole you know like mission integrity? Was Ms Baptista actually at OCB? Or did metro hallways look like OCB hallways? Sonny and Rico met Gina and Trudy in the hallway (which looked like OCB hallways) and then Castillo introduces Gina and Trudy to Ms Baptista? Undercover cops getting introduced to a madam? Something doesn’t make sense here. Do all Basques play Jai Lai and think it’s a great goal to achieve? I don’t know I really had trouble with this episode. I give it a 5 for the teaser, 1 for Sonny and Rico and Arola attending the Jai Lai game and the conversation, 1 for Burnett and Cooper discussing a big drug buy with the drug dealer, and 1 for Sonny putting Silvio in his place at the Coffee stand. – 2 for the irritating prostitute at the beginning and the whole illogic of the set-up plan. .that gives this episode a 6. 9/24/09 After seeing this episode recently again. I still feel the same way, The scenery and the jai lai game is still interesting. Still love the opening teaser, Sonny speaking Spanish and puting Silvio in his place. I hated the drug lord. Is that muscle bound woman (body builder) the same as the one that hoists Izzy off the ground upside down in "Cows of October?" It looks like her. It also looks like that woman body builder named Corrie Everson that was in Double Impat with Jean Claude Van Damme. As some one mentioned this was one of the few Who Songs that Pete Townsend sang lead on (he did a few in Tommy). It also marked one of the few songs the Who did as a group in the 1980's before Pete disbanded them temporarily. I'm still giving it a 6 but that's probably generous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a discussion before on whether Tico committed suicide or was killed accidentally. I feel he deliberately moved in front of the ball because of the trouble he caused his brother.

That's what I thought too, but he also could have lost his concentration with those pills he was popping. Right before that game, some of the other players were warning him about how he wouldn't last too long if he kept doing that to himself...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tico getting hit - his possible motives

That's what I thought too' date=' but he also could have lost his concentration with those pills he was popping. Right before that game, some of the other players were warning him about how he wouldn't last too long if he kept doing that to himself...[/quote']I definitely think he did it on purpose. Rewatch the scene. He sees the police. He knows they are comming for him. He gets a very determined look on his face and just stands there as the ball comes for him. Remember he had reluctantly promised his brother Frank that he wouldn't go to the cops or tell anybody about the tape and what had happened. I think Tico felt this was the only way to keep his promise, and to get out of the mess. The fact that he was popping pills probably didn't make his thinking too clear, and this probably seemed the best way to him. Of course it wasn't but to his mind I think it was. Remember he tries to tell Sonny (not necessarily the cop, but Frank's friend) about the tape and Frank because he wants Frank stopped before he does something bad. He also wants Frank safe.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always assumed that Tico's death was an accident, but after reading your postings I can see it from another point of view now as well. I think the truth is that it was very ambiguous. When Tico had the conversation with Frank just before the game, he was anxious about the fact that Frank could get himself killed over Tico's mistakes. When Frank asked Tico to trust him and to promise him that Tico wouldn't say a word to anyone, when Tico looks away and eventually agrees to this promise, it's as if you can see in his face that he's planning on ending it all. Logically, Tico was obviously feeling depressed and empty already. As he said himself, he had no life besides Jai-Alai. He was also stressed out and anxious about the fact that he had believed that he had killed that prostitute. He may have considered that the only way to be able to keep his promise to Frank and also to avoid Frank ruining his own life would be to end his own. By this point Tico probably felt guilty over the Hooker's death and that he was bringing down his own brother, and knew that if he killed himself, then the people that were blackmailing Frank would not have any leverage over Frank anymore. Apart from anything else, the way that Tico had been acting up until that point would suggest that he didn't need much of an excuse to commit suicide anyway!Another way of looking at it would be that Tico tried to keep his promise to Frank, but then got scared and paranoid when he saw all the cops waiting for him, got distracted, and then got killed. At the end of the day you could have interpreted it either way.This was a good episode. The opening scene was a classic. Great Who song, and good end to the scene. Personally, I thought it was unrealistic how Crockett and Tubbs got away with being so pushy about wanting to deal with Morales face to face. If I had have been Silvio and Morales I would have figured them for cops right from the get go. It just smelled that they were desperate to set him up. There was no good reason that they had for not wanting to deal with Silvio.The actor who played Silvio, Xavier Barquet, also appeared briefly in "To have and to hold" in Season 5. He died three years ago of respiratory failure.Any idea what that woman said to Tubbs in the audience when they were watching the Jai-Alai game?Isabelle Batista surely has to go down as Miami Vice's biggest bitch. Watch her face as Frank watches the tape of Tico apparantly murdering the prostitute. Imagine also how that hooker felt when Isabelle was saying to Tico "Oh Tico, listen.. she's a tramp. She means nothing. Her life is unimportant. Yours is".Watch the scene where Crockett and Tubbs are negotiating with Morales on his boat. When they leave, Crockett seemingly pats the bodyguard on the side of his face. Yet if you watch closely, he doesn't actually even touch him.Something else I only noticed the other day after 21 years of watching this episode was the fact that after Crockett overpowers Silvio at the Cuban coffee bar, as Crockett walks off you can see Silvio with what appears to be a load of ice on his head. While the camera looked away, it appears that Crockett dumped a carton full of ice over his head.A question that I had in my mind was, did Tico turn to drink and drugs because his life was so empty?, and if so was it was the drink and drugs that was left him with sexual problems?Watch the scene where Frank makes the call to tip off Morales. DanJ took myself and Baron Samedi to this site. The phonebooth has gone (that's if it was ever there in the first place), and the white building in the background that you can see in the scene was the actual studios that were home to the Miami Vice production crew. These were the studios that contained the OCB set.My favourite scene is where Crockett and Tubbs are going to make the deal with Morales and Silvio. I love the Yello song "Desire" in this. However it took me a few years before I realised that this was actually Yello. I always assumed that it was Pink Floyd. The guitar solo sounded so much like them. Notice that DJ and PMT get substituted for stunt doubles as they are walking towards the car.Two things I didn't understand. Why did Isabelle kill Morales and Silvio? Morales didn't agree with what she was doing, but he wasn't standing in her way either. Also why did the detonation guy blow the car up before Crockett and Tubbs had even got there? Crockett and Tubbs seemingly didn't have time to react to Castillo's warning, so it's not like the detonation guy must have thought "Oh damn they've found out. I'd better hit the button now. Better early than never!".At least at the end of the episode you knew that Isabelle Batista got what was coming to her, and Tico's name was cleared with Crockett and Tubbs as witnesses.Like I say another great Season 3 episode. 8.5 out of 10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Not bad, not great. Yello - Desire Song comes to my mind when I watch this ep. Ending is really depressing. I also noticed that lots of bg music (Jan Hammer) comes from s2 ep."Whatever Works". Personally i'd love to hear these on my mp3 player (are u reading this Dadrian :) )7 out of 10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
  • 7 months later...
  • 9 months later...
Killshot belongs to the best VICE episodes and is one of my favorites:happy::clap::happy::clap:It's a typical Season 3 - episode: the plot takes centre stage and is coupled with overwhelming locations and interior design, protagonist-fashion-shows and a divine music-choice (here: Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel, Desire by Yello and Eminence Front by The Who):glossy::radio:I love the teaser 'cause it's a mixture between coolness and humour. Silvio is a real milksop. You want to smash his face in (Sonny is of the same opinion I think:) ).This is one of the typical VICE- "drug-dealer"-scenes which we know well from Season 1 and 2 and even in Season 4 and 5, such scenes are standard: Sonny or/and Rico meet dealers or drug buyers, meter purity level and the arrest of them follows.I enjoy these scenes everytime when I see them because they are pure coolness!Then the friendship between Sonny and Frank is focused and Frank's hopeless situation with his brother.The scenes during the Jai Alai-match are first-class - typical VICE :clap: !!! Iggy Pop's Real Wild Child fits more than perfectly to those - really really nice! :radio:After this, the episode gets more and more seriously and dramatically. Tico "kills" the prostitute and Frank is blackmailed. So, Frank betrays the OCB and Sonny and Rico nearly get killed (underlaid with Yello's fantastic Desire).Finally Frank goes crazy, wants to kill Batista. These scenes are unique due to Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street . I'm getting goosepimples when I see Sonny and Rico sitting in the new Testarossa, racing to Frank.:radio::radio::happy::happy: - So touching!!!I don't know a comparable strong scene in other TV-series - WONDERFUL!!!In this episode, music is - as I said - overwhelming 'cause all songs are world-class. Added to this, the plot is really great and touching and style and design is in any case perfect.10.000.000.000.000.000.000 points!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"KillShot"I'd have to agree with most reviews that the episode began strong but went downhill thereafter. I loved the Jai Alai Fronton scenes reminescent of one that I visited in Newport, Rhode Island back in the 80's when I lived in Rhode Island. The actor who played Tico was a real stiff. The music tracks, especially Iggy Pop "Wild One" was terrific. I did enjoy the ending when Frank pulls the revolver out of his hat and proceeds to shoot the female "gladiator". Favorite quote from the episode would propably be Tubbs to the woman in the audience " I don't bet on anything that can talk. My score 7.0.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Great start but the rest of the episode is weak. One of the worst of S3 for me IMO. Cool to see the Jai Alai fronton back in its heyday though. 5/10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Classic vice episode. Eminence front is one of the best songs ever used in vice! What a fantasic song and so typical vice! Really used perfect, because it fitis a night episode and it visits the scarab. One of the best intro's ever to the show!Also loved the way that Jai alai played a role. fascinating sport and I still regret immensely that during the time I lived in Miami, I didnt go and visit a jai alai game. Such a shame!As for the storyline: This could have been a season 2 episode, good scenery, strong story and some decent acting. The madame was an evil bitch for framing Tico, killing the call girl and killing Morales and almost killiong Tico's brother (sorry forgot the name.)Great episode with a nice twist at the end. I think Tico commited suicide, poor guy was totally on the edge and saw no way out. Surely the drugs accelerated the process, but it was disaster waiting to happen. Felt very sorry for the brother who seemed like a good guy.And of course poor Crockett got screwed over once again by a friend. Although this time you could not blame the friend.All in all, I enjoyed this one very much. I give it a 9.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

I really like this episode...good "Vice" feel to it! Love the action at the beginning, and the chase with the Scarrab--superb! :thumbsup: Love the other cars used too, and the Testarossa of course--as it's my favorite of Crockett's two Ferraris.I also really love the music--especially Desire by Yello! Very "haunting" and captivating song! :radio: The really cool fascet to this epsiode for me is the sport of Jai Alai...which I'd never heard of before "Kill Shot". It was just kind of fascinating to see how it was played. There was one humorous part though...and that was "Miss Muscles" bodyguard for Isabel Botista! :eek: She looked like a man with a woman's head! :)Overall I enjoy this one...and I gave it an 8! :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Killshot6/10 fairly decent plot good acting and jan larken was hot . Cons were could've been written better and i didn't like tico or ms. batista at all both just annoying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 points for the Yello song and the vibe of the entire episode:cool:

Yeah' date=' [i']Desire by Yello was one of the best aspects to this episode...superb and "haunting" song! :radio:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.