Episode #88 "A Bullet For Crockett"

[ViceFanMan]

The idea of doing a flashback type episode to still keep production going during the writer’s strike was understandable...boring as it may seem later, it was one way to not just air reruns. “Bullet” is not my favorite episode, but I get why it was done.

However, overall with Seasons 4 & 5—whether it was the writers coming up with bizarre & bad scripts/plots, or the producers accepting/okaying them to be filmed, the “production team” during the last couple seasons needed to have been relieved of their duties, and new “fresh eyes”, so-to-speak, brought in.

Edited May 13, 2022 by ViceFanMan

[Robbie C.]

11 hours ago, Augusta said:

Oh no, you're right, RobbieC, and I should have explained myself better.  I wouldn't want the admin to try to "write" an episode on their own.  

I meant to express that once one of these "less quality" writers who were operating during the strike came up with a story, THEN the admin staff could sit down and spend one afternoon per episode tackling how best to improve his script and make it a more Vice-worthy product.  Go back to him afterwards and tell him "hey, revise your script to do THIS, and make Tubbs say THIS.  And you've got 24 hours to get me back the revised script---hurry, hurry, hurry".

I want to think the administrators have been working with the show for X-seasons now, and know a little of what good Vice "feels" like, so are in a position to spruce up the writer's mediocre script better than he himself can.

Given how frequently the producers screwed up simple stuff like character backgrounds, I don't know how much they could have done. That and so much of Vice from the production side was visual. That was where it was truly groundbreaking. Mann focused on that, I think, more than he did storylines, and that trend carried over throughout the run of the series. Yerkovich was the one from a serious cop drama who'd look at characters and the like, and he was gone by the end of the first season. You also had churn on the production side, too. I don't get the impression Vice was a settled production team like you so often see today or did on shows like Gunsmoke or Perry Mason (for two older examples).

Vice had some good stories, but that was never really the main focus. What was Mann's line? Bringing movie production standards to TV or something similar. That was the main focus. That doesn't mean they discounted storytelling, but it was never in my view the main effort. Visual impact and effect tended to overshadow it.

[Miami Beau]

I recently went back and re-edited the entire episode. I trimmed down the excessive reused footage seen in the original, and mainly focused on Sonny’s recovery scenes, incorporating all the actual footage that was shot for the episode.

When it came to the flashbacks, they were just too long and are sometimes a pain to go back and rewatch. In my edit, I shorted down the flashbacks and put emphasis on the Evan Freed character, plus added in a Bobby Diaz Red Tape reference.

My overall re-edit came to a brisk 24 minutes. I wanted to upload it fully but it got blocked. Below is an abbreviated shorter YouTube version which still gives you an idea of what I’ve done.

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Miami Beau

[wolfie1996]

8 hours ago, Miami Beau said:

I recently went back and re-edited the entire episode. I trimmed down the excessive reused footage seen in the original, and mainly focused on Sonny’s recovery scenes, incorporating all the actual footage that was shot for the episode.

When it came to the flashbacks, they were just too long and are sometimes a pain to go back and rewatch. In my edit, I shorted down the flashbacks and put emphasis on the Evan Freed character, plus added in a Bobby Diaz Red Tape reference.

My overall re-edit came to a brisk 24 minutes. I wanted to upload it fully but it got blocked. Below is an abbreviated shorter YouTube version which still gives you an idea of what I’ve done.

 

A nice piece of work! I enjoyed it.

[Miami Beau]

17 minutes ago, wolfie1996 said:

A nice piece of work! I enjoyed it.

Thanks @wolfie1996, I appreciate the kind words. When it comes to Vice, you know your stuff. Glad you enjoyed it pal 

[dragon48]

I don't like these filler episodes.  I gave it a 4.  Does anybody have the story behind this though?  I'm guessing something like the producers were under a deadline for an episode and they either had no material or a low budget, so they shot a little original footage and then used all the flashbacks.  There wasn't even any original Jan Hammer music; it was all from previous episodes.

[Robbie C.]

9 hours ago, dragon48 said:

I don't like these filler episodes.  I gave it a 4.  Does anybody have the story behind this though?  I'm guessing something like the producers were under a deadline for an episode and they either had no material or a low budget, so they shot a little original footage and then used all the flashbacks.  There wasn't even any original Jan Hammer music; it was all from previous episodes.

I think it's discussed earlier in the thread, but there might have been a writers' strike of some sort going on at the time.

[vicegirl85]

There was a writers' strike going on at the time.  If I recall correctly, it dragged on for some time.  MV may have had some scripts already written/ may have had a couple of episodes in the can (although I believe they almost always shot an episode one week and broadcast it the next or in even less time).  But they certainly weren't prepared (as no one else was either) for a strike that went on for a few weeks.  Many, if not most, network TV shows resorted to reruns during the strike.  I give MV credit for at least coming up with a story, although I agree it's a weak episode.

[pahonu]

11 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

There was a writers' strike going on at the time.  If I recall correctly, it dragged on for some time.  MV may have had some scripts already written/ may have had a couple of episodes in the can (although I believe they almost always shot an episode one week and broadcast it the next or in even less time).  But they certainly weren't prepared (as no one else was either) for a strike that went on for a few weeks.  Many, if not most, network TV shows resorted to reruns during the strike.  I give MV credit for at least coming up with a story, although I agree it's a weak episode.

Typical production time for a one-hour drama at that time was 7 filming days per episode.  It is quite quick because it involves a very large crew.  Pre-production was several weeks getting the script finalized, casting complete, locations secured, etc…  Post-production including editing and scoring was usually a few weeks also. These were longer time frames because they involved fewer people, meaning less $$$ per day.  
 

Regardless of these details, lack of scripts from a writer’s strike would throw off the timeline, though it wouldn’t become apparent until the most recent episode’s completed production footage was used.  You are absolutely correct that showing reruns was the usual method of response.

Another method was to look for scripts that had already been filmed (and therefore already owned) from other somewhat similar shows and altering them to fit.  This was actually sometimes done on shows without a writer’s strike, particularly if one of the producers had been a writer and had scripts filmed before.  The Rockford Files did this with one of its creators old scripts.
 

I suspect that using an existing script may have been the case here.  I have no evidence to back that up, but I recall seeing shows over the years involving unintended shootings by officers.  I’m thinking there was one on the old 70’s series Police Story.  Using existing footage would also help make up for lost time even more.  
 

I would add one final note.  Using existing footage for a “flashback” episode was sometimes used when productions fell behind schedule and were struggling to meet the deadline for the required number of episodes for the network.  It was often toward the end of the season which were typically 22 episodes at the time MV was filmed.  It had been 26 episodes about 20 years earlier and even more in the 50’s before reruns were the norm.

 

[apocalypse]

I think this kind of flashback episode was a great idea. But I don't understand why some of the flashbacks were used. Like the boat chase. Was it from Knock Knock Who's There... not sure. But it didn't make any sense.

The flashbacks should have been full of really emotional moments, not action packed chases.

In my country there was always a significant delay when they originally aired these. So between the pilot and this one might have been 4-5 years, even. So back then it was really cool to see clips of those early ones that you already had "forgotten". DJ also looked so different in the early episodes compared to the 4th season look where he gained some weight and had that bleached long hair. 

It also could have been some kind of break for the production team because they probably put some extra effort to the last two episodes which started the "Burnett saga".

Good idea but some of the clips were kinda silly.

Edited February 4, 2023 by apocalypse

[Jack Gretsky]

On 11/13/2021 at 11:19 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

One of the best teasers of Season 4 - tense standoff, bullets flying, chases through the night, the location used for Sonny's shooting is cool, and his shooter, played by Lisa Vidal, is hot!  (Not that Sonny is really caring about such things at the moment...)

Unfortunately, this is a dreaded clip show, so it's actually a mini-story surrounded by tons of excerpts from earlier episodes.  Someone earlier in this thread mentioned this would have been welcome when first aired in 1988 before DVDs, Netflix, etc., but don't forget that many fans were videotaping all the episodes anyway and thus had easy access to past shows.  It's nice to have Izzy back, at least!  

Not essential viewing, in my opinion.  Not that I'm going to skip it during re-watches, but I do flip through the clips.

Indeed, a Dreaded Clip Show - but the story itself is fine.  Corny, but really enjoyable.  I will retract my statement of two years ago saying, "not essential viewing."  The teaser, as I mentioned is praise-worthy with its locations, lighting and action.  The caring and hugs from our OCB people are well-earned; an earlier poster mentioned that this episode is a good reminder of "likable Sonny" before the amnesia stuff soon to come. 

Humor is not forgotten - I like the reaction of the nurse behind the desk when Izzy asks permission to borrow her phone halfway through his call.  And I cracked up that one of the brief clips was the scene of Stan testing his thumb guillotine not quite certain that his thumb will survive! 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Jack Gretsky

[ViceFanMan]

6 minutes ago, Jack Gretsky said:

Indeed, a Dreaded Clip Show - but the story itself is fine.  Corny, but really enjoyable.  I will retract my statement of two years ago saying, "not essential viewing."  The teaser, as I mentioned is praise-worthy with its locations, lighting and action.  The caring and hugs from our OCB people are well-earned; an earlier poster mentioned that this episode is a good reminder of "likable Sonny" before the amnesia stuff soon to come. 

Humor is not forgotten - I like the reaction of the nurse behind the desk when Izzy asks permission to borrow her phone halfway through his call.  And I cracked up that one of the brief clips was the scene of Stan testing his thumb guillotine not quite certain that his thumb will survive! 

This isn’t really a favorite of mine…but, I know & understand why it was done. The acting is actually pretty strong, regardless of the “weak” plot—but, again I understand why it was created & “needed” at that time. 

My favorite parts actually involve Switek and Izzy…one being the quick but heartfelt moment Stan & Izzy share when they learn Crockett is going to be okay (regardless of the crazy/wild situations they’d found themselves in, in the past…Izzy & the Vice team actually did care for & about each other), and the other the hilarious moment when Switek tries out his thumb guillotine magic trick, lol!!  

[Matt5]

Great episode 10/10

[Noggie]

I’ve been going through season 4 and just watched this. I posted a comment years ago that it reminded me of why I enjoyed Miami Vice so much in the first two years. I’m sure it doesn’t play today when we have access to every episode & various clips on YouTube but I enjoyed it at the time.   I came into season 1 around February I think so I had never seen “Evan”. Didn’t watch that until the USA Network airings in 1989. 
 

Some of the clips don’t work. Why would Tubbs think of  that boat chase from season 3?  That just felt so out of place.  The other thing that stood out was how, during the scene, the used a shot of  Crockett driving from season 3. 
 

7 for me. Nothing great but I remember how it got me back into the show at the time. 

[ViceFanMan]

11 minutes ago, Noggie said:

I’ve been going through season 4 and just watched this. I posted a comment years ago that it reminded me of why I enjoyed Miami Vice so much in the first two years. I’m sure it doesn’t play today when we have access to every episode & various clips on YouTube but I enjoyed it at the time.   I came into season 1 around February I think so I had never seen “Evan”. Didn’t watch that until the USA Network airings in 1989. 
 

Some of the clips don’t work. Why would Tubbs think of  that boat chase from season 3?  That just felt so out of place.  The other thing that stood out was how, during the scene, the used a shot of  Crockett driving from season 3. 
 

7 for me. Nothing great but I remember how it got me back into the show at the time. 

It was done I believe during a writer’s strike…so in order to try and still boast a “new” episode during that time, they created one that would involve flashback scenes from previous episodes.

I’m sure a lot of the flashbacks were purposely chosen as “action” ones…to try and keep it from getting too boring. 

I actually watched most of Seasons 1-3 when they first aired. It was towards the end of 3 and on, that I kind of got out of watching the show. So I didn’t see every single episode of Seasons 4-5 until TV Land reruns, around 2004-05 (although I too did occasionally watch some of the first reruns on the USA Network in the early 90s). However, I did watch the finale when it originally aired.

This is not really one of my favorite episodes for sure…but, I do understand now why it was done, and the purpose behind it. I can watch it easier now, than I used to.   

[NeonHumidity]

There's an interesting coincidence in that this is episode #88 and that was also Crockett's football number.

A "bullet" for a wide receiver there would be a well-aimed pass from the QB.

Might be another sign that like Burnett, things are planned much earlier than they air and Crockett may have always been meant to be shot in this ep (allowing for DJ and for the show to run that long, of course).

[ViceFanMan]

1 minute ago, NeonHumidity said:

There's an interesting coincidence in that this is episode #88 and that was also Crockett's football number.

A "bullet" for a wide receiver there would be a well-aimed pass from the QB.

Might be another sign that like Burnett, things are planned much earlier than they air and Crockett may have always been meant to be shot in this ep (allowing for DJ and for the show to run that long, of course).

Although the #88 is an interesting coincidence…in all honesty, this is “reaching” way beyond what was actually there & meant to be!  We all can take some aspects of whatever episode & turn them into supposed “signs” of things yet to possibly come.

But, actually there were no “Burnett plans” much before they decided to do those episodes for shock value (during that season)…to try and “shock” viewers into coming back and/or continuing to watch (which didn’t work & backfired bad).

Most episodes were a one-time thing, and then the next was something else. That was the style of crime shows back then…they didn’t have too many continuing or “connecting” storylines or character backplots (although some character backgrounds were mentioned or referred to occasionally).

As for this episode, I don’t think there were any plans to have Crockett shot & do flashback scenes while doctors are trying to save him, until the writers strike. Then they came up with the idea to still have a “new” episode, of-sorts, to get people to watch…as most other shows were probably in reruns.

[vicegirl85]

8 hours ago, NeonHumidity said:

There's an interesting coincidence in that this is episode #88 and that was also Crockett's football number.

A "bullet" for a wide receiver there would be a well-aimed pass from the QB.

Might be another sign that like Burnett, things are planned much earlier than they air and Crockett may have always been meant to be shot in this ep (allowing for DJ and for the show to run that long, of course).

An intriguing theory! 

I tend to believe this episode was dreamed up in response to the writers' strike that was going on at the time, and had sent nearly all regular TV shows into reruns.  But, I don't know that there's any solid proof either way.  It's a more solid episode than most "clip" shows and I like it for the bits that reveal Gina's feelings.

[Robbie C.]

4 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

An intriguing theory! 

I tend to believe this episode was dreamed up in response to the writers' strike that was going on at the time, and had sent nearly all regular TV shows into reruns.  But, I don't know that there's any solid proof either way.  It's a more solid episode than most "clip" shows and I like it for the bits that reveal Gina's feelings.

I think this is far and away the most likely explanation for this. Clip shows at this time were typically intended as filler for one reason or another.

[NeonHumidity]

12 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

An intriguing theory! 

I tend to believe this episode was dreamed up in response to the writers' strike that was going on at the time, and had sent nearly all regular TV shows into reruns.  But, I don't know that there's any solid proof either way.  It's a more solid episode than most "clip" shows and I like it for the bits that reveal Gina's feelings.

I also like the bits with Gina, although some of the framing is interesting (the memory of the night she brought dinner isn't presented as his or hers, so it's just kind of... there?  And it's three years since the breakup, technically, which is much longer than they dated, and she's still being presented as the love interest... more so than the current wife... and if Caitlin had showed up, what would Gina have had to do?  Sit there and look busy??).  

It's also appropriate that the bullet "for Crockett" is "from Calabrese" in the end, both since she's the one who was already badly shot, and the show likes taking things that happened to Gina and later using them for him as the main character.

[vicegirl85]

LOL I did read your fanfic story that covers this!

It's always been my head-canon that although Gina broke up with Sonny after the Brenda episode, she always harbored a romantic love for him.  She repressed those urges because she recognized that he wasn't a person to settle down with.  In turn, Sonny avoided a romantic entanglement with her because he believed he wasn't worthy and would break her heart.

In Prodigal Son and again in When Irish Eyes Were Crying, my hopes were raised that they would get back together, but the powers that be didn't go in that direction.  In A Bullet for Crockett, to my eyes Gina clearly showed that she was still in love with Sonny.  In Blood and Roses we see there is still a strong emotional connection between them, although some people don't see them as romantically linked but just good friends.  I always saw a certain amount of sexual tension between them.

Many believe Sonny and Gina were friends with benefits at least up until he married Caitlin, and I concede that's possible.  But I never took it that way, and I watched the show as an adult, when it was first broadcast.  It just seemed to me that after the "breakup," there may have been jealousy (especially on Sonny's part in Irish Eyes and on Gina's part in Like a Hurricane) but not a sexual relationship.   

Others definitely haven't seen it the same way; I'm not arguing that my interpretation is correct.

Edited March 18 by vicegirl85
added sentence

[ViceFanMan]

2 hours ago, vicegirl85 said:

LOL I did read your fanfic story that covers this!

It's always been my head-canon that although Gina broke up with Sonny after the Brenda episode, she always harbored a romantic love for him.  She repressed those urges because she recognized that he wasn't a person to settle down with.  In turn, Sonny avoided a romantic entanglement with her because he believed he wasn't worthy and would break her heart.

In Prodigal Son and again in When Irish Eyes Were Crying, my hopes were raised that they would get back together, but the powers that be didn't go in that direction.  In A Bullet for Crockett, to my eyes Gina clearly showed that she was still in love with Sonny.  In Blood and Roses we see there is still a strong emotional connection between them, although some people don't see them as romantically linked but just good friends.  I always saw a certain amount of sexual tension between them.

Many believe Sonny and Gina were friends with benefits at least up until he married Caitlin, and I concede that's possible.  But I never took it that way, and I watched the show as an adult, when it was first broadcast.  It just seemed to me that after the "breakup," there may have been jealousy (especially on Sonny's part in Irish Eyes and on Gina's part in Like a Hurricane) but not a sexual relationship.   

Others definitely haven't seen it the same way; I'm not arguing that my interpretation is correct.

I too watched the show when it was originally on, and many times over in the decades since. I fully agree that there was always a sexual, emotional, and even “deep” connection between Crockett & Gina.

Whether it was planned that way (even after different writers had them supposedly fade out their relationship), or it was DJ & SS’s idea, or it just was there & was natural…the attraction & connection was definitely there! Even when Sonny was with Caitlin, the attraction with Gina was still present.

 I don’t necessarily think they had a sexual relationship much after they supposedly were done—around Season 3…but, I think they still wished for & wanted one, by how they were presented.