OVERALL REVIEW & RATING--SEASON 5

[ViceFanMan]

I realize another thread here is about this as well, but it doesn't have a poll of the episodes...and which one is the best episode of the season. So, I created one, along with my thoughts and review of the last season: I know there were some changes with the last couple seasons of the show...the plotlines or episodes seemed to take on a "darker" feel to them and sometime things were more depressing. But, I love the fashion for Season 5!! It seemed the pastels were back with the clothes, compared to even Season 4, and that was awesome! But, the "tone" of the show and the characters seemed to enter a darker or more depressing place than previous seasons, and that's one aspect that kind of saddened me and I didn't particularly care for. But, I still think Season 5 is awesome and enjoyable! I'm not sure what the huge deal, about how supposedly this season was so terrible, was all about?? :confused: Despite the sometimes "darker" feel, there was still plenty of action and wild, bizarre episodes to keep you captivated, superb colors & filming locations, phenomenal acting & music, etc...!! As with Season 4, in this season we got to again see a more personable side to each character, whether problems or joys, and that was interesting and sometimes even heat-touching or heart-wrenching to watch! Jan Hammer will always be the "master" of music with "Miami Vice"...but I thought Tim Truman did an awesome job as well...and I enjoyed a lot of his music and songs with the episodes! :radio:My favorite episode of Season 5 is "Heart of Night"! It's wild, kind of bizarre, the acting/colors/filming locations/suspense were perfect, and the music used was "haunting" and captivating! Castillo and Mai Ying were phenomenal, and even though their story was a tragic one, there was still hope that someday they did end up back together. But, there were a few other episodes that I also felt were the best or most enjoyable of the season/show, and ones I love watching...which are:"Line of Fire""Asian Cut""Fruit of the Poison Tree""To Have and To Hold""Miami Squeeze""The Lost Madonna""Over the Line"Other episodes that were really good too, but maybe not quite the best were:"Hostile Takeover""Redemption In Blood""Borrasca""The Cell Within""Victims of Circumstance""World of Trouble"Some of the more poor/weak plotline...and/or the few really bad episodes of Season 5 were:"Bad Timing""Hard Knocks""Jack of All Trades""Miracle Man"--(probably the worst episode of the season )"Leap of Faith"--(mainly because it wasn't really an "MV" episode...not because of content or acting!)"Too Much Too Late""Freefall"--(Not a fitting ending, too disjointed, and it leaves you hanging on a depressing note! )

[Vincent Hanna]

The only episodes i find watchable are the rest of the Burnett Saga..--Line of Fire--Over the Line--Too Much Too Lateand the FinaleThe rest are junk, the show isn't MV anymore..None of the crew or actors care anymore.

[ViceFanMan]

The only episodes i find watchable are the rest of the Burnett Saga..--Line of Fire--Over the Line--Too Much Too Lateand the FinaleThe rest are junk' date=' the show isn't MV anymore..None of the crew or actors care anymore.[/quote']Well, I know you and I disagree some with this season. I don't think the season is junk...it's not my favorite season by any means, but it's no where near as bad as several make it out to be. I think DJ was wanting to move on...but I think that was because the show was getting ready to be cancelled and I think he knew it. But, I really don't see this huge difference in his acting or character of Crockett compared to other seasons (except he's absent more during this season). I think if he and EJO were still willing, and NBC had pulled their heads out of their butts, the series could have gone on for a few more seasons. Granted, the writers would need to "polish" things up a bit, but the show was primarily still there! Out of the episodes you listed I like "Line of Fire" and "Over the Line" ...but "Too Much Too Late" was exactly what the title states. It was over-the-top ridiculous and nothing but a whacked-out Tubbs/Valerie soap-opera. The finale, "Freefall", ticked me off! It was way too rushed and "thrown-together"...it did not flow smoothly at all, and it leaves you hanging on a negative/depressive note. We had no closure! I'm like...what the heck?? Also...you didn't vote! What's your favorite Season 5 episode? There has to be at least one you can choose. LOL!

I realize another thread here is about this as well' date=' but it doesn't have a poll of the episodes...and which one is the best episode of the season. So, I created one, along with my thoughts and review of the last season: I know there were some changes with the last couple seasons of the show...the plotlines or episodes seemed to take on a "darker" feel to them and sometime things were more depressing. [u']But, I love the fashion for Season 5!! It seemed the pastels were back with the clothes, compared to even Season 4, and that was awesome! But, the "tone" of the show and the characters seemed to enter a darker or more depressing place than previous seasons, and that's one aspect that kind of saddened me and I didn't particularly care for. But, I still think Season 5 is awesome and enjoyable! I'm not sure what the huge deal, about how supposedly this season was so terrible, was all about?? :confused: Despite the sometimes "darker" feel, there was still plenty of action and wild, bizarre episodes to keep you captivated, superb colors & filming locations, phenomenal acting & music, etc...!! As with Season 4, in this season we got to again see a more personable side to each character, whether problems or joys, and that was interesting and sometimes even heat-touching or heart-wrenching to watch! Jan Hammer will always be the "master" of music with "Miami Vice"...but I thought Tim Truman did an awesome job as well...and I enjoyed a lot of his music and songs with the episodes! :radio:My favorite episode of Season 5 is "Heart of Night"! It's wild, kind of bizarre, the acting/colors/filming locations/suspense were perfect, and the music used was "haunting" and captivating! Castillo and Mai Ying were phenomenal, and even though their story was a tragic one, there was still hope that someday they did end up back together. But, there were a few other episodes that I also felt were the best or most enjoyable of the season/show, and ones I love watching...which are:"Line of Fire""Asian Cut""Fruit of the Poison Tree""To Have and To Hold""Miami Squeeze""The Lost Madonna""Over the Line"Other episodes that were really good too, but maybe not quite the best were:"Hostile Takeover""Redemption In Blood""Borrasca""The Cell Within""Victims of Circumstance""World of Trouble"Some of the more poor/weak plotline...and/or the few really bad episodes of Season 5 were:"Bad Timing""Hard Knocks""Jack of All Trades""Miracle Man"--(probably the worst episode of the season )"Leap of Faith"--(mainly because it wasn't really an "MV" episode...not because of content or acting!)"Too Much Too Late""Freefall"--(Not a fitting ending, too disjointed, and it leaves you hanging on a depressing note! )

[Vincent Hanna]

but the show was primarily still there! Out of the episodes you listed I like "Line of Fire" and "Over the Line" ...but "Too Much Too Late" was exactly what the title states. It was over-the-top ridiculous and nothing but a whacked-out Tubbs/Valerie soap-opera. The finale, "Freefall", ticked me off! It was way too rushed and "thrown-together"...it did not flow smoothly at all, and it leaves you hanging on a negative/depressive note. We had no closure! I'm like...what the heck?? Also...you didn't vote! What's your favorite Season 5 episode? There has to be at least one you can choose. LOL!

The Finale was a little weak and i didn't like the whole rescue mission. When they get back to Miami starts to get a little better though, some good shootouts..and stuff..They could have done way better..How come we never saw the scarrab in S5? they were so lazy they couldnt get it running..Too much too late..ha...Yeh maybe it is but I love Pam Grier so she makes it watchable.You can definitely see a difference in DJs acting man, It's so awful. He's not even crockett anymore, he's some ungrateful asshole who's lucky to have that gig but thinks he too good for Vice now..and we know how is movie career turned out after Vice..

[ViceFanMan]

The Finale was a little weak and i didn't like the whole rescue mission. When they get back to Miami starts to get a little better though' date=' some good shootouts..and stuff..They could have done way better..How come we never saw the scarrab in S5? they were so lazy they couldnt get it running..Too much too late..ha...Yeh maybe it is but I love Pam Grier so she makes it watchable.You can definitely see a difference in DJs acting man, It's so awful. He's not even crockett anymore, he's some ungrateful asshole who's lucky to have that gig but thinks he too good for Vice now..and we know how is movie career turned out after Vice..[/quote']The finale was definitely weak, and I didn't like how rushed and ridiculous it all was! But, some of the shoot-outs were okay, that's true. But, they definitely could have and should have done WAY better for "Freefall"! :shout:"Too Much Too Late" was annoying and ridiculous to me, and I don't really care for Pam Grier's character of Valerie...to me she was "poison" for Rico, and a toxic choice for a girlfriend. But, that is just my opinion. ;)I do think that DJ thought he was eventually too good for "MV"...and thought he could do all these movies instead...but like you said we all know how his movie career ended up. Farrah Fawcett was the same way...she eventually thought she was too good for "Charlie's Angels" and left to do these movies with her then husband Lee Majors. That turned out the same for her, as it did for Don Johnson...the movie star career just never took off--and that poor girl had a very tumultuous and chaotic life after that, till her last days with cancer in 2009. :cry: But, hopefully we will see more of Don, as I do like him as an actor.

[Viceguy]

The finale was definitely weak, and I didn't like how rushed and ridiculous it all was! But, some of the shoot-outs were okay, that's true. But, they definitely could have and should have done WAY better for "Freefall"! :shout:"Too Much Too Late" was annoying and ridiculous to me, and I don't really care for Pam Grier's character of Valerie...to me she was "poison" for Rico, and a toxic choice for a girlfriend. But, that is just my opinion. ;)I do think that DJ thought he was eventually too good for "MV"...and thought he could do all these movies instead...but like you said we all know how his movie career ended up. Farrah Fawcett was the same way...she eventually thought she was too good for "Charlie's Angels" and left to do these movies with her then husband Lee Majors. That turned out the same for her, as it did for Don Johnson...the movie star career just never took off--and that poor girl had a very tumultuous and chaotic life after that, till her last days with cancer in 2009. :cry: But, hopefully we will see more of Don, as I do like him as an actor.

 

I think that Season 5, while not as good as the first three seasons, is still a very strong season.Aside from a few crappy ones, all episodes range from good to top-notch.I can't understand why a lot of people bash it.They just tried to reinvent, modernize the show after unsuccesful and bland 4th season.I like the new darker tone, Tim Truman music is awesome.Sure,the show is nowhere near as stylish as it was in the first three seasons (and especially the first two) but many scenes still look much more stylish than anything I have seen on TV since Vice.I have no problem with DJ wearing jeans, while I prefer his classic look, I admit that this look looks more modern from today's point of view.For me it would be hard to pick just one.Lots of good ones,storyline-wise.

[Matt5]

Don Johnson and the producers really tapped into a late 1988 feel for the fifth season - the show was different from Season 1 -2 - no fluffiness - DJ and Pmt looked tired and not enthusiastic or fresh faced like Season 1 . Great job - a journey almost coming full circle with the finale also.    

[Campion]

To me, the 5th season is a disaster. The perfect example of what I mean can be found in Miami Squeeze. First, the villain would look more at home in an episode of Adam West's Batman more so than Miami Vice. The same can be said for El Gato from the Burnett arc,  as well as the baddie from The Cell Within to name a few. Second, in Miami Squeeze the budget--or lack thereof--is showing: Crockett and Tubbs going solo on a drug bust. Where's the back up? Then there's the ridiculous attempt to frame Castillo, particularly since the episode tries to make you believe that he may actually go down for corruption.  That to me was the whole of Season 5 with few exceptions--bad or melodramatic acting, ridiculous characters, silly writing, and poor directing. 

I admit I hated Tim Truman's music when I first watched those episodes some thirty years ago, but it's grown on me a bit and I am glad they brought him in; Hammer's music would have been a waste to use with this season, like taking a Testarossa to a demolition derby. 

I think In the Line of Fire, the Lost Madonna, Fruit of the Poison Tree, and maybe Over the Line are watchable (not great--watchable), but the rest is cringe worthy.  I submit as evidence the episode Borrasca; it was nice to see Switek get a lot more screen time in this episode but whoever handled wardrobe for Season 5 was getting high on their own supply: Switek wore a black trench coat to the beach. To Miami beach. I doubt too many people own trench coats in Dade County and if they do, they don't wear them to the beach (and don't get me started on Tubbs' fashion sense in Season 5...uggg). 

On the plus side, there was some good music used in a few episodes. But the "Lost Episodes" should have stayed lost and they should have ended the entire Miami Vice series by wrapping up the Burnett arc and calling it a run. Yes, I found Freefall a big disappointment, Just silly and so lacking in budget that it turned what could have been a great farewell into something, well, less great. Take a moment and compare Prodigal Son to Freefall and tell me they are from the same series. Michael Mann should have gotten more involved in putting his baby to rest. 

So, in summary, I did not like the 5th season--the deterioration of budget, energy and effort that began during the second half of season 4 dropped even further, and I remember finding it painful to watch Miami Vice back in '88/'89. 

Edited February 7, 2018 by Campion

[Tommy Vercetti]

I disagree. I am and always was a big fan of season 5. I personally think it has a lot of great eps; Burnett eps, Line of Fire, Fruit of the Poison Tree, Lost Madonna, World of Trouble, Too Much Too Late, Heart of Night, Borrasca, Hard Knocks, To Have and To Hol. I enjoy all of those. I enjoy all those. I can overlook some bad fashion.

[Jerry B.]

I'm with the few who like S5 and I'm maybe the only one who doesn't like the "Burnett Saga". I explained why in another post, but basically I found the character so fake, artificious and far away from the usual Burnett. To me it's one of the things showing the lack of ideas, and a presage of the upcoming end.

But I liked the stories, the clothes (DJ) and I have to say that time was also the climax of my vice-life: I used to feel so right in my Armani blazers as well as in a leather jacket, enjoyed my long blonde hair, and driving my convertible in a neverending summer. But - as anyone - I also knew that was the end of an era.

As I wrote before, my fave eps are the pilot and Freefall. They both were ahead of their respective times,

[Adrian321]

Season 5 was........ half a disaster, half good-quality. The Burnett saga is in my top 10 episode list.

Freefall is also my favourite episode, among other great ones such as Deliver us from evil and Forgive us our debts, Definitely Miami, Brother's keeper, Payback, The prodigal son, Evan, Child's play......... and a few others; a great finale in my opinion, awsome aswell.

And....... episodes like Line of Fire, Fruit of the poison tree, Hard knocks, The Lost Madonna and Over the line are also a 9/10; also good.

Tim's appearance is also fitting for this season, and the increased detail in gunfights is also good.

 

Now comes the bad part...... Season 5; with its cousin, Season 4 are made up from about half mediocre to bad episodes..... from ones like World of trouble and Miami Squeeze to ones like Bad timing and Heart of night to horrible ones like Miracle man and Leap of faith (top 5 worst MV episodes).

Also....... besides those 8 good/very good episodes the rest feel tiring, boring, and just TOO dark at times.

The lack of the Testarossa in many episodes except the good ones mostly; is also concerning, and we have no popular boat scene like in the other seasons. Even Season 4's episode "God work" has a good scene, and Season 3's "Killshot" have a popular Scarab scene.

I won't even go to mention Season 2, and especially 1, because of many boat scenes they have.

 

Another bad aspect is the lack of popular music; even if Tim's performance was moslty awsome and fits like a glove on the hand..... the popular music was pretty bad, like the constant rock from Line of fire (which makes me give it a 9/10 and not a 10/10). The music average dropped even more compared to Season 4, on average per episode.

The actors also felt tired in a lot of scenes, even in good episodes........ I think we can all agree on this.

And, in a bad way, Don Johnson was absent in many episodes, or made VERY short appearances; Castillo is also missing from many (the lost ones).

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Adrian321
Forgot something

[Swevicus]

It's clear by this point that the show had run out of steam and ideas, along with the originality that made it something special when it started. I think the suits made the right decision to end it here, because I don't think it could have survived into the 1990s.

[Adrian321]

On 3/14/2023 at 3:16 AM, Swevicus said:

It's clear by this point that the show had run out of steam and ideas, along with the originality that made it something special when it started. I think the suits made the right decision to end it here, because I don't think it could have survived into the 1990s.

Seasons 4 and 5 had bigger ups and downs than previous ones-- for me atleast. And this kinda ruined the continuity of entertainment. After some filler episodes, you were left with a bad taste.

They were mature enough to produce higher quality episodes in the right circumstances; but in most cases they just were out of ideas, and the tone was already as dark as it could get. It wasn't the light fun in previous seasons of past years. For most people, the most memorable MV moments are in the first 2 seasons, with a couple of phenomenal gems and moments in the latter seasons. And when I say gems, I mean gems.

Also, the budgets seem to have been getting tighter and tighter, just as the views were dropping, which in turn already made the crisis of ideas worse. With the exception of the Finale of the show which had some incredible views at the time, people, rightfully so just weren't interested anymore.

 

[johnnyfarragut]

 A newspaper piece that came out right before the series' finale.It's an overall review of the series.

Pretty interesting I'd say, avoiding the 'all-style-and-no-substance' clichè the TV critics used to dismiss the series back then.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by johnnyfarragut