Episode #16 "Rites of Passage"


Ferrariman

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I also think that Valerie was wrong for Rico. He deserved a woman who loved him' date=' but Valerie only used him.[/quote']I agree...I think Valerie cared for Rico but did not love him like he loved her. But, she knew he truly was in love with her but used him for whatever means she needed or wanted at the time. My favorite "woman" for Tubbs was his girlfriend in "Afternoon Plane". Now there was one that was willing to fight almost to her death to protect him! :klatsch:As for "Rites of Passage"...I liked the whole "Rico-past" thing and the episode was very well done--but for me that's also the problem! ?( It was a little too well done/realistic and was very sad and tragic. ;( I know that "MV" did not always have a happy ending (aka some drug dealer might get away...hopefully to return in a later episode to finally be brought down) but I hated (and still hate episodes of current shows that do the same thing) episodes where people that we got to know or care about died. ;( Sorry, but I'm a sucker for as close to a "Leave It To Beaver" ending as you can get. :daumenrauf:
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  • 7 months later...

Rites of Passage - one of the best episodes of the whole series!:happy::happy::clap::glossy:From plot, music and locations to style, design and humour - all aspects which I love are present in this terrific episode.:clap:Director David Anspaugh and scriptwriter Daniel Pyne create an excellent plot which touches me very deeply. One the one hand there's the romance between Rico and Valerie: Rico admires and loves Val very very much, but his affection was not returned by her.:cry:Already in the scene where Rico and Valerie meet for the first time in Castillo's office, I noticed that only Rico hugs her, but she doesn't.So, the question is whether Valerie only uses Rico to take revenge on Traynor respectively to gathers information about Traynor. In later Valerie-episodes it's getting clear that she always sails close to the wind and needs Rico to bails her out.Naturally Rico helps her wherever he can - he is just a man in love!In spite of these facts, the end of Rites of Passage is brilliant because nobody expects that Val stays in Miami to kill Traynor.:hot: Not only this is a typical VICE ending, but also viewers can understand Val's desire for revenge. So, VICE manages to make us pensively.:clap:On the other hand, there's the unemotional story about Val's sister who is converted into a hooker and a junkie. It's awful to have to see how Traynor influences her and destroys her...I love the interrogation-scenes when Rico goes overboard and wants to beat up Traynor. A rare moment because usually Rico is always balanced and stays cool.Beside the great plot, I'm overwhelmed by the fantastic music: Waiting for You, Beat Away and Till the End by The Reds is extremely cool and fits perfectly into the party scenes. I love rare 80s bands who has only one or two albums full of cool music.:radio:Then one of the best songs ever is used: I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner is really awesome in the scenes where Diane is killed and Rico and Valerie whisper sweet nothings in bed:glossy: - I'm always getting goose pimples when I'm listening to this song.Jan Hammer's Tubbs and Valerie is also very nice and relaxing.:radio:Finally I want to mention the extremely fantastic style of Sonny and Rico. For example Rico's grey suite when he walks with Valerie.:happy:And Sonny's outfit at Traynor's party respectively in the last scenes - overwhelming!Valerie's boots are also typical 80s!Of course 10 of 10 points!:happy:

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  • 2 months later...

Rites of Passage16. Rites of PassageThis was a pretty good episode. It was nice to see a story focused on Tubbs. John Turturro made a pretty good bad guy. The opening scene at the party was pretty good. You could tell the guy was trouble. Switek and Zito working on the bug van was humorous. Then Tubbs does his ghoulish laugh. We first get introduced to Valerie. I am still not quite sure about her even after watching the series 5 times. At times she really leads on Tubbs and then gives him the cold shoulder. Don’t be messing with Tubbs. The scenes with Diane shopping were great because of Rockwell’s “Change Your Waysâ€. Great tune. Diane did annoy me though when Crockett and Tubbs took her away from Traynor’s house. I am glad Valerie gave her a good slap. Then of course Foreigner playing when Diane gets killed was a treat. Very overplayed 80’s song but its good. I also liked when Tubbs was harassing Traynor and then Castillo tells him he better not pull that again. The final scene was good too. Valerie gets revenge but doesn’t do it “by the book†even though she was preaching Tubbs to follow that rule. Anyway, good soundtrack to the episode and good story. 9/10

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  • 1 year later...

This has all the elements that make Vice my favourite show ever. Just the little touches, like the editing when Diane is getting herself ready for the night, or the intercutting of Tubbs and Valerie in bed with Diane's murder. It's not a TV show, it's a 45 minute movie. 10/10

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  • 3 months later...

Had some high expectations for this episode, but they unfortunately weren't met. This was one of the weaker episodes of the season, but it was better than Glades and Give a Little, Take a Little for sure. First off, the story didn't have C&T involved that much, more so Valerie and I just found her character not too interesting. Diane was boring as well, the actress was pretty and she did a good job, but I think they wrote some terrible lines for her at times. The only interesting parts in this episode were with Switek+Zito, and the ending where the shoot-out occurred.So this one is a 6.5/10, could've been a 7 if not for the overreaction of Diane at the party. Too far imo.

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 year later...

You guys are nuts for giving this a 6/10. It's one of the best in the entire series. A 10/10 easily.

 

Daniel Pyne wrote some of the of strongest eps, Jan hammer's music is awesome, You got Pam Grier and the chick who plays Diane who are smoking. You got a Foreigner montage. There's actual emotion and character development.

 

I wish there were more eps like this.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is an excellent episode almost like a mini-movie . The direction by David Anspaugh was fantastic. Great locations and great music.

This appears to be one of the most highest rated episodes of Miami Vice and can really see why.

Fantastic 9.5/10 :D

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This is an excellent episode almost like a mini-movie . The direction by David Anspaugh was fantastic. Great locations and great music.

This appears to be one of the most highest rated episodes of Miami Vice and can really see why.

Fantastic 9.5/10 :D

 

Yep loved this..

And the other david Anspaugh episode Golden Triangle is awesome too

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  • 5 months later...

I just watched it tonight (I am no longer going in order)...so far it is the best one of the episodes that I have seen. Once again, they do such an excellent job with balancing the light and the dark. The lighthearted music and fun beach scene at the beginning, Rico and Valerie, two lovers re-uniting, we get to see how sweet Rico is and how much he loves Valerie, but how unfortunately their lives are always touched by tragedy, which sets the stage for how things don't end well for them despite how strong their love is. Then the tragedy that's to come...this is another one of those episodes that made Miami Vice what it is, and if they had kept this up in seasons four and five, this series would have gone on for several more years. It also showed the emotional part of being a vice cop, as both Tubbs and Valerie are emotionally involved in the case. The scene where Tubbs interrogates the Traynor guy and Castillo tells him to keep things in check, and then ironically, Valerie telling him that he has to be the good cop here, so they can close the case and put the bad guys behind bars for good. I think the best and most moving part of the entire episode is the Valerie and Rico together in bed, reminiscing about their relationship, and so in love with each other, and so happy together interspersed with the scenes of her sister getting killed and them being oblivious to it and powerless to stop it. And the song..."I Wanna Know What Love Is...I have loved this song since high school and listen to it so often...to see it employed the way it was in this episode was pure genius (just as genius as the In the Air Tonight scene, once again you guys just don't know how great a feeling it is for me as a newcomer to MV, to see these songs I love actually used in a tv show the way I imagined them all these years I've listened to them It's like being in a great dream for me!) This episode is definitely one of the ones I will be re-watching plenty of times. I have a lot more episodes to watch, but I'm betting this will be in the top 20 for me. 

Edited by viceystyle
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I just watched it tonight (I am no longer going in order)...so far it is the best one of the episodes that I have seen. Once again, they do such an excellent job with balancing the light and the dark. The lighthearted music and fun beach scene at the beginning, Rico and Valerie, two lovers re-uniting, we get to see how sweet Rico is and how much he loves Valerie, but how unfortunately their lives are always touched by tragedy, which sets the stage for how things don't end well for them despite how strong their love is. Then the tragedy that's to come...this is another one of those episodes that made Miami Vice what it is, and if they had kept this up in seasons four and five, this series would have gone on for several more years. It also showed the emotional part of being a vice cop, as both Tubbs and Valerie are emotionally involved in the case. The scene where Tubbs interrogates the Traynor guy and Castillo tells him to keep things in check, and then ironically, Valerie telling him that he has to be the good cop here, so they can close the case and put the bad guys behind bars for good. I think the best and most moving part of the entire episode is the Valerie and Rico together in bed, reminiscing about their relationship, and so in love with each other, and so happy together interspersed with the scenes of her sister getting killed and them being oblivious to it and powerless to stop it. And the song..."I Wanna Know What Love Is...I have loved this song since high school and listen to it so often...to see it employed the way it was in this episode was pure genius (just as genius as the In the Air Tonight scene, once again you guys just don't know how great a feeling it is for me as a newcomer to MV, to see these songs I love actually used in a tv show the way I imagined them all these years I've listened to them It's like being in a great dream for me!) This episode is definitely one of the ones I will be re-watching plenty of times. I have a lot more episodes to watch, but I'm betting this will be in the top 20 for me. 

 

 

Some great points - this was a fantastic episode !!

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The chick who plays Diane Gordon is gorgeous. John Turturro is a lucky guy from just pretend kissing her xD

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  • 2 months later...

She is gorgeous -Tery Ferman not sure what else she did after MV - not much it does not look like on Imdb . A good young actress too who made her debut in Miami Vice from modelling.

Edited by Matt5
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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

(snipped)You can tell right from the first hug between Tubbs and Valerie that Valerie isn't comfortable with the hug, whereas Tubbs is obviously in love, and gives it readily. Like the saying "First impressions last", this first meeting sets the whole stage for the entire Tubbs and Valerie relationship i.e he loves her, whereas she just likes him. Throughout the three Valerie episodes, Valerie always makes excuses for her distance towards Tubbs, but you can't help but feel that she still likes the attention she gets from him. It provides a comfort for her. (snipped)

During this conversation [Valerie and Tubbs' walk in the park], Valerie mentions that she and Tubbs didn't part on good terms the last time they were in New York. It would be interesting to find out what happened as you never get to find out.Whilst back at Valerie's hotel room, notice how when Tubbs and Valerie talk about their relationship, Valerie talks about it in the past tense, whereas Tubbs is the one talking about how things could be rekindled between them right now. We see Valerie initiate the love making with Tubbs, at the point where she is most vulnerable i.e when she's lost hope of finding Diane. If you notice, in future episodes, Valerie also seeks comfort from Tubbs in this way whenever she's feeling vulnerable!

Just watched this episode last night; only vaguely remember seeing it before and it's been a LONG time.  I hate to just say "me, too!", but Papa Legba's comments on Valerie fit in very well with my impressions of her character as well.  I recently watched Too Much, Too Late and Prodigal Son and noticed the same thing.  Tubbs was crazy in love with Valerie (although it's kind of hard to understand why, since she didn't ever seem to feel the same toward him).  I also would have liked to learn more about their original relationship and breakup.  Instead, we were given a succession of eps in which Tubbs was ready to fall into bed with every attractive woman he met after one meeting (yes, Crockett tended to do this as well, but in most cases I don't think he did it with the optimism that Tubbs displayed ;)).

 

Rites of Passage was a good episode and I liked the story setup, but would have liked a little more of a buildup to show that this innocent-looking young girl (Diane) was ready to embrace the life of a high-priced call girl.  Was she already addicted to drugs before she made it to Miami?  She didn't look like I'd expect a drug-addicted young woman who was ready to fall into the arms of a dealer-pimp to look--too clean-cut and conservatively dressed in her first appearance.   

 

Also, I was surprised that C&T would participate in the kidnapping of Diane--an adult who had made her choice clear--she was determined to stay in her place as a hooker for Traynor and keep the nice things and the drugs coming.  I could understand why Valerie was determined to take her home, but it just didn't seem true that the police would help once Diane refused and tried to fight them off.

 

Tubbs, Castillo, and Crockett were all excellent in the interrogation scene, as mentioned by others.  While Tubbs isn't usually shown losing control in an interrogation, any time someone is messing with his woman, he loses all objectivity.  So this instance fit right in.  Crockett was also fantastic in the scene where he calls Tubbs from the car to inform him of Diane's death.

 

Valerie's vigilante act at the end took me by surprise on this viewing.  I had forgotten that.  But it fit in with the overall feel of the story.  Once again, Crockett's expression at the end hints that he foresees the chance he could cross over the line to take vengeance into his own hands if the reason was strong enough and the legal recourse was weak enough. 

Edited by vicegirl85
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  • 2 months later...

I just rewatched this episode. I remembered this being one of the most memorable episodes of Vice, but as I rewatched it, it wasn't as good as I remembered.

 

The woman playing Diane was gorgeous. And the way she looked at Traynor when she met him for the first time upstairs, man, I would've melted. So damn seductive !

 

The kidnapping of Diane from the party was alittle odd. Can cops do that? Don't remember if they identified themselves as cops but there was a room full of witnesses. I mean, that's how gangsters snatches people... Fell little outside of C&T's character I think.

 

Also how Diane just "turned" after the kidnap and sobering up, it was too...quick... For little earlier she was kicking like a child claiming "I don't wanna go home". Well, guess she was a brat afterall.

 

I totally agree with the earlier analysis here: Tubbs loved Valerie when she just liked him. She didn't mean to use him as she was in town for 2 weeks without contacting him, but when she kind of did, she started using him. BTW, how was she in the OCB-office? I thought that was kind of "covert"-base, as undercovers like C&T worked there, and it wasn't like a building with a "Police"-sign..... So I find it odd someone with a missing person -case would get there, even if sshe was a cop herself (but from another city) - ofcourse there could be some strory there left untold, she could've bounced around one or two precincts before winding up there.

 

Valerie insisting to go by the book was great, as she clearly wanted Treynor out so she could cap him herself. I had forgotten all about this ending. Thing that struck me as odd was how conveniently she got to Traynor's apartment only after her friend had told Tubbs that she never arrived to NY, or even boarded the plane, so that C&T have enough time to get on the scene. And why was Traynor living in an apartment building? He threw his parties in a fricken mansion, and in the scene where he went to the room where Diane was reading on the bed, he was wearing a bathrobe (what did he give her anyway, she started eating it?). I sort of imagined he was lliving in the house, accommodating his hookers.

 

The scene however, where Diane was killed (deliberate OD I guess) and I Wanna Know What Love Is was great! Very powerfull. Great acting, especially DJ when he was leaning against the headrest and let the handset fall.

 

So, all in all it was a good episode. Could even say 'great'. The writing was alittle weak, referring to the points I brought up, but still I loved Jan Hammer's Tubbs And Valerie. I'll give this ep a solid 8/10. Definitely still one of the better episodes in the 1st season, and one of the most memorable episodes of the whole series(mainly thanks to I Wanna Know What Love Is -sequence).

Edited by JDe75
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  • 10 months later...
  • 7 months later...

Another episode that I appreciate more as time goes on. 

I always liked Pam Grier. That hair. Damn.

Great music as usual.

Little too much drama for me.

I love Tubbs and Valerie by Jan Hammer.

Good ending.

8.5/10

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  • 7 months later...

What I loved:  Pam freaking Grier!  Pam is utterly fantastic as NYPD Detective Valerie Gordon in Rites of Passage. Equally charismatic to both Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Pam is a joy to watch as she searches for her sister caught up in the drug infused darkness of high-priced call girls. Her presense is electric, and she has amazing chemistry with Philip and the rest of the cast. Bravo!

Tery Ferman as Valerie's younger Diane Gordon was also perfectly cast. She had the right mix of doe eyed innocence and younger sister rebellion to play a young girl caught up in a dangerous game she was too naive to see.

Wait!  This episode not only has Pam Grier, but John Turturro as the big bad boss as well? John freaking Turturro??? Wow!  John is just an amazing actor and so brilliantly cast as David Traynor, the man that will unbeknownst to Valerie, directly (and indirectly) bring the Gordon family down.

This episode's story is so well paced, highly engaging and sharply directed. It's at its tense and realistic best when the crew rescues an unwilling, screaming Diane from the call girl soiree. (These rescues are a reality for some families, trying to save family members from crack houses and the like.. technically kidnapping only if the person being saved or someone in the illegal house presses charges - which is very unusual.)

Later, to have tragedy strike when Tubbs and Valerie are at their happiest is so poignant (and so Vice).  Plus the reveal that Valerie never got on the plane is equally dramatic.

Foreigner's I Want to Know what Love Is fits perfectly in the loving-turned-painful scene it accompanies, and Jan Hammer was on his A-game with this episode!  Simply put, it was yet another genius stroke by the master!

What I would change: If anyone deserved a spinoff show, it was Pam Grier as Valerie Gordon. In an alternate universe somewhere, "New York Vice" aired on NBC and I tremendously enjoyed it!

Final Grade:

IMG_20171215_095946.thumb.jpg.3c47f4d28f723cd9cef642d1861e0dab.jpg

Edited by ComplimentsofMrCalderone
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59 minutes ago, ComplimentsofMrCalderone said:

What I loved:  Pam freaking Grier!  Pam is utterly fantastic as NYPD Detective Valerie Gordon in Rites of Passage. Equally charismatic to both Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Pam is a joy to watch as she searches for her sister caught up in the drug infused darkness of high-priced call girls. Her presense is electric, and she has amazing chemistry with Philip and the rest of the cast. Bravo!

Tery Ferman as Valerie's younger Diane Gordon was also perfectly cast. She had the right mix of doe eyed innocence and younger sister rebellion to play a young girl caught up in a dangerous game she was too naive to see.

Wait!  This episode not only has Pam Grier, but John Turturro as the big bad boss as well? John freaking Turturro??? Wow!  John is just an amazing actor and so brilliantly cast as David Traynor, the man that will unbeknownst to Valerie, directly (and indirectly) bring the Gordon family down.

This episode's story is so well paced, highly engaging and sharply directed. It's at its tense and realistic best when the crew rescues an unwilling, screaming Diane from the call girl soiree. (These rescues are a reality for some families, trying to save family members from crack houses and the like.. technically kidnapping only if the person being saved or someone in the illegal house presses charges - which is very unusual.)

Later, to have tragedy strike when Tubbs and Valerie are at their happiest is so poignant (and so Vice).  Plus the reveal that Valerie never got on the plane is equally dramatic.

Foreigner's I Want to Know what Love Is fits perfectly in the loving-turned-painful scene it accompanies, and Jan Hammer was on his A-game with this episode!  Simply put, it was yet another genius stroke by the master!

What I would change: If anyone deserved a spinoff show, it was Pam Grier as Valerie Gordon. In an alternate universe somewhere, "New York Vice" aired on NBC and I tremendously enjoyed it!

Final Grade:

IMG_20171215_095946.thumb.jpg.3c47f4d28f723cd9cef642d1861e0dab.jpg

Lol I actually thought of a New York spinoff a few years ago myself. The Vice of the 90s.

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6 minutes ago, Remington said:

Lol I actually thought of a New York spinoff a few years ago myself. The Vice of the 90s.

See! Intelligent minds think alike!  :cheers:

IMG_20171218_125529.thumb.jpg.1f4918199c555c7114406f8b825bcbc8.jpg

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I just watched this episode last night and I'll have to agree with everything @ComplimentsofMrCalderone said. 

An amazing episode, great story, great soundtrack, everything about it is great! "I want to know what love is" playing, while Valerie and Rico are happy and enjoying themselves, all of a sudden get the call from Sonny. A very touching scene.

And the picture quality is amazing on the Bluray releases.

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5 minutes ago, James said:

And the picture quality is amazing on the Bluray releases.

Indeed!  Sometimes a low lit shot has come across grainy (to me) in a few of these episodes, but otherwise they did a beautiful job!

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21 minutes ago, ComplimentsofMrCalderone said:

Indeed!  Sometimes a low lit shot has come across grainy (to me) in a few of these episodes, but otherwise they did a beautiful job!

That's normal. Even in modern shows on current tech you get gain in low lit areas. Some episodes are actually more grainy than others, even in lit scenes. However Rites of Passage looked stunning, like it was filmed yesterday. 

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