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As those of you who follow the location detective threads know, I just had a quick but excellent trip to Miami. This was spurred on by the discovery of the location of the turtle shell bar where Leon gets shot in the Pilot. Besides going to some great filming locations there was one Vice location that for a couple of years, I really wanted to go to and I finally was able to. Fans of this thread, I believe will appreciate this location. On Saturday 03/23/1985 during the filming of episode 22, Lombard, the cast took a filming break in order to do a now famous publicity photo shoot. Many examples of the resulting photos are shown in this thread which I greatly appreciated viewing here. Since I had an interest in the locale I thought others may also so I will share a sampling of my re-creation photos. I will be happy to aid anyone who wants to go to the exact spots themselves. If your good at photo shop or even if your not, feel free to use my shots to put yourself in the cast locations, it will be fun to see. Here are some with matching NBC shots.

March 25th - March 31st: "Nobody Lives Forever", the 20th episode of the 1st season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 29th, 1985 at 10PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki): * Crockett is the recipient of the famous "Castillo Staredown" (his second this season), for shirking his duty in favor of romance. * Brenda makes reference to the renovation of the Art Deco buildings in South Beach. This renovation trend is often said to be partially influenced by Miami Vice as, in early seasons of the show, producers would repair and re-paint damaged buildings so that they would form an acceptable background to the footage they were filming. Other initiatives subsequently followed suit, eventually leading to the revitalization of the South Beach area, a process that continues today. One example of this is the Tides hotel, seen in the background when Crockett shoots down the third wild punk. The building is now The Tides South Beach and is a luxury hotel. * Brenda's house would reappear as one of the cat burglar's targets in the third season episode "Shadow In The Dark." * During the opening sequence, Ace (Frank Military), tells one of Morgan's bookies "You don't look so bad, here's another." This line was allegedly spoken word for word by the New York vigilante subway shooter Bernhard Goetz, which caused over 50 complaint calls to NBC in 1985, mainly from New York City. According to NBC's then-head of Broadcast Standards, the line was ad-libbed by Military and was not in the script and that the scene in question was filmed two days before Goetz's admission was made public. * Tubbs is very obviously played by his stunt double, Ernest Robinson, in the scene where the last of the punks tries to run him down with his stolen car. **There was no Season 2 premiere episode this week** "Knock, Knock...Who's There?", the 21st episode of the 3rd season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 27th, 1987 at 9PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki): * This is one of two episodes whose title ends with a question mark. * IAD Agent Stroh will return to investigate Tubbs in Season 4's "Amen... Send Money." **There was no Season 4 premiere episode this week** **There was no Season 5 premiere episode this week**

Well I got back very early this morning from Miami and had to work today so I am just getting started going thru the nearly 700 pictures I took over my three day trip. Lots of great MV and BN locations visited and photographed. Great trip with lots of great people to tell you about but I will start with this location. On my location site I will post allot of the pictures in an expanded section on this scene. I already posted one shot on facebook while I was in Miami. Good news for anyone wanting to go here. The building will remain in it's current state with no plans to change the exterior. When I arrived I did not know what to expect being a small hotel with limited parking. I approached the bartender right away who was at first apprehensive until I related that Miami Vice had filmed there and I was there to shoot some re-creation shots if it were okay. Turns out she is a huge MV fan and she and some of her friends that were at the bar had been in the area since the 70's. My arrival caused quite a stir and she even called the hotel's owner. I got full access to do whatever I wanted and took numerous great re-creation shots. I showed them screen captures and behind the scenes photos on my lap top. They confirmed that that was how the bar looked back then. Some even recognized some of the extras and the bartender even knew the bartender from the time Vice filmed the scene. It was a great time and enjoyed reliving the vice scene. One of many great stories that came out of the trip. Vice fans truly are exceptional and super nice. I will get organized and post photos soon. I believe anyone who visits to photograph and relive the Vice experience will get a warm welcome.

My rating for the entire Season is 6.62. Season 3 & 4 both scored higher than this in my book, so that says it all really! I also gave the first 2 eps (the end of the Burnett trilogy) 10 out of 10 each, raising my overall score for the Season, so without them this Season would've scored unbelievably low. The Burnett trilogy is probably the best of MV in my book. But following the return of Sonny's memory he is a changed man, and is never fully accepted back into the OCB fold IMO. He is sulky and cynical for most of the eps in which we see him after this and although this is necessary to convince us that his time (and hence the show's time) is over, it just doesn't make for particularly entertaining viewing. It doesn't help that we see so little of so many of the cast for most of the Season either eg. Castillo, Rico at times. The one thing that Season 5 has to do, and it does it well in my book, is show us how Sonny's total disenchantment with the System must logically end. Top 5 Eps:1 - Redemption in Blood - 10/10 - Conclusion of the Burnett trilogy. Sonny's memory finally returns after wondering in to OCB during one of the most memorable scenes that MV ever gave us. One or two other scenes also showcase some of DJ's acting ability. Sonny still looks superb in this one.2 - Hostile Takeover - 10/10 - Weakest of the Burnett trilogy but still packing a heck of a punch. Sonny looks superb once again.3 - World of Trouble - 8.5/10 - Glorious throwback to early Seasons of Vice in terms of characters and style. Lombard is a great character who always makes a welcome return.4 - Fruit of the Poison Tree - 8.5/10 - Very clever plot and twists, great acting, very dark - classic Season 5. Great Vice style in some of the scenery.5 - Line of Fire - 8/10 - Great intro for Joey, classic late plot twists and revelations. Super face-off scene for Sonny. Other eps worth a mention and equally scoring 8/10 in my book: Miami Squeeze, and Freefall - although both of these only score so highly for a few ideas or strong scenes rather than the whole ep. 3 Weakest Eps:1 - Leap of Faith - 2/10 - Hope I never have to watch this again. Labelled as MV but it really is not. Awful ep.2 - Miracle Man - 3/10 - Popular opinion is that this is the worst ever MV ep. IMO it had potential to be very dark and much better, but abysmal execution let it down.3 - Bad Timing - 5/10 - The thugs are terrible, guitar is awful, poor acting. Only Sonny's excellent therapy scenes raise this to a score of 5. Top 16/Most memorable Scenes/Moments from Season 5: 1) Redemption in Blood - Return to OCB scene is perhaps in my top 3 scenes for the entire show. Beautifully melancholic piece of music accompanies Sonny's very private journey of self re-discovery, which it is simply an honour to share in. 2) Redemption in Blood - The scene where the bandage is taken off Burnett's eyes and he subsequently almost shoots Celeste at point-blank range is absolutely compelling viewing and is as good a showcase of DJ's superb range of acting ability as we get throughout the whole of MV and, dare I say it, probably throughout DJ's entire career. He is almost as psychotic as Pacino in Scent of a Woman. I also love how much of that scene is shot as a reflection of mirrors - heavy symbolism with what is going on inside Sonny's head.3) Hostile Takeover - Sonny steps off his jet and strides over to meet the Commandante with his shades and amazing suit and ponytail - looks so cool and self-assured - the epitomy of a supremely successful and ambitious head of a drug empire - it's another of those scenes that has stuck in my head for 20 years. 4) Line of Fire - Had they ended the ep with the excellent 'It ain't over til it's over' face-off shot between Sonny and Quinterro, it would've been a better ending IMO. This was an excellent scene as C&T leave court - Sonny looks superb - almost as good as Burnett with shades on again. 5) World of Trouble - loved the final scene with the spanish guitar, merging the scenes where Lombard says farewell to his grandson, and the final showdown. 'Inspiration' by the Gipsy Kings - a truly beautiful track. Works so well here: 6) The Lost Madonna - the party scene with Burnett and the Professor with Tanita Tikaram's Twist in my Sobriety playing in the background. Wonderful tune - just seems to fit Vice so perfectly, especially S5 - so laid-back. This scene is really cool and Burnett looks ace throughout it - hair, shades, dark clothes - seems very close to Burnett in the trilogy as far as looks go. Heck even the colour contrasts are given thought in this scene with blacks and whites all over the place. Joey and Nikos in silhouette is a good example. 7) Fruit of the Poison Tree - the line at the end 'did you think it was gonna look pretty?' - or words to that effect - followed by Sonny just walking off - superbly dark - so Season 5. 8) Freefall - The final 10 mins or so are classic - the Bad Attitude shootout, the Do it if you got the stones scene, the handshake scene, and the inimitable Tell Me montage. 9) Too Much, Too Late - the scene where C&T fallout at the lockers at OCB - all it needed was a dirty fist-fight to really clear the air! But again it's a sign of just how burnt-out Sonny is that he just doesn't even get riled enough to raise his fists. Never have these guys seemed so far apart. 10) World of Trouble - the scene where Lombard comes to his son's house and meets his grandson and pushes him on the swing - those trees the swing is hanging from look so aged and beautiful. They even manage to capture the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees - wonderful detail. 11) World of Trouble - scenes at OCB are cool - Sonny and Lombard in particular seem to be so light about it all - it's like a re-union of old adversaries - not too dissimilar to De Niro and Pacino in Heat actually - there's respect there on both sides, but both of them also know clearly where the line is drawn: Sonny says "Don't even J-walk" and Lombard retorts with a smile "I wouldn't have it any other way". Great stuff. 12) Miami Squeeze - specialist's office Sonny goes to see is superb - wow, what a stunner. Wouldn't you love to have an office like that? Well, maybe at least sometimes, sure would miss a window or two eventually... Sonny is also excellent in these scenes - I don't think we ever see him in Season 5 being this introspective for this length of time. 13) Miami Squeeze - Castillo and Sonny in the final scene are excellent. Castillo worried about how it all looked to the team, but Sonny just supports him 100% and calls him the 'glue man', binding the team together. The music in the background is good. As is the sun shining through the rain on the window onto Sonny and Castillo - odd, but seems to work.14) To Have and to Hold - final scene on the boat - great sunset - C&T musing over how tired they are of losing people - now that's what Season 5 is all about.15) Bad Timing - DJ's acting outside the police hearing room is excellent. 16) Borrasca - Worth watching for Castillo and Reese scenes alone. It's not often that Castillo comes up against such a chilling adversary. There's obviously history between these two and it's a shame we don't see Reese again - or before this ep for that matter.

This is the famous Rolls Royce dealership seen in every opening montage of Miami Vice. Also seen in montage of Miami locations when Captain plays music in Trust Fund Pirates

Very good Sonny- you got it. Here's another case, an easy one. Where do we see this?

Shades of flying boats and thoughts of One Way Ticket with Sagot...and C&T in a mini-boat getting a face full of salt water with some speed added to actual motion...and then a boat flying through the intersection in Lend me an Ear. at about the 3:34 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DOGsSagtVg

Another hint: it was the first ep that was filmed in 1987

Here's another video I created hope people can watch and enjoy.

Those were great episodes especially the two at the start of Season 5. Don Johnson directed "Hostile Takeover "

I really like "Hostile Takeover". It was really dark episode, Don was great as Burnett. Intro sequence from this EP is one of the best scene from MV.9/10

My rating for the entire Season is 6.7. Compare this to Season 3 which I rated a 6.9 overall. But I don't think this tells the whole story - Season 4 would have scored much lower if the last 2 eps (the best of Season 4) were taken away, so the 6.7 score masks well the fact that we have 4 or 5 of the worst eps in the entire show's run in Season 4. For the die-hard MV fan Season 4 is a must, but there are plenty of weak eps in this Season. Some of the plots and writing quality seem weaker, budgets generally seem smaller, and the baggier style clothing seen in much of the Season also doesn't impress. Beware! Perhaps the most important theme about Season 4 is those eps which detail some of the continuing disenchantment of Sonny towards 'the System' which finally culminates in the last 2 eps of the Season. We waited 4 Seasons for it but boy was it worth it. A glorious finale to the Season. Top 5 Eps:1 - Deliver Us From Evil - 10/10 - Ending the Hackman saga and precipitating the Burnett trilogy, this ep marks the end of Sonny Crockett as we knew him. Scenes on the boat as Sonny grieves Caitlin, together with the final blowing away of Hackman, are some of the most memorable in the whole of Vice.2 - Mirror Image - 10/10 - The Burnett trilogy kicks off with a bang - literally - and a cold-blooded Burnett is some of the most chilling viewing in the whole of Vice. Dream sequence and Burnett murdering scenes are MV classics. Extraordinary scenes for late 80's TV.3 - Child's Play - 9.5/10 - Outside of the Hackman and Burnett saga's, this might just be the best single episode of Vice for me. Excellent scripting, directing, and absolutely superb acting from DJ. Also includes perhaps the most memorable scene ever between Sonny and Castillo.4 - Death and the Lady - 8.5/10 - More wonderful acting from DJ with superb style of several scenes throughout this ep. Final scene with Sonny slapping our porno murdering director is another MV classic.5 - A Rock and a Hard Place - 8/10 - Prodigal Son comes to Hollywood, and it 'feels' much more MV than NY. Decent budget for a Season 4 ep with a series of good location shots and scenes developing Sonny and Caitlin's relationship. Other eps worth a mention and equally scoring 8/10 in my book: Contempt of Court, A Bullet for Crockett, Like a Hurricane, and Hell Hath No Fury... - although most of these only score so highly for one or two ideas or strong scenes rather than the whole ep. People seem to hate Hell Hath No Fury, but have a read of my review of it for why I think it's under-rated. 3 Weakest Eps:1 - Missing Hours - 3/10 - For UFO's, please watch the X-Files instead.2 - Big Thaw - 3/10 - For frozen organisms, please visit your refrigerator.3 - Cows of October - 4/10 - For frozen semen, please visit your local fertility clinic.Top 12/Most memorable Scenes/Moments from Season 4: 1) Deliver Us From Evil - Sonny blasting Frank Hackman away finally, walking off to the fast-approaching Burnett saga - the foreshortened gun and 'wrong' are immortal memories for any MV fan. Debate will rage forever as to whether or not the killing was in self-defence or pre-meditated; 2) Deliver Us From Evil - The shots of the sky on the boat towards the end are fantastic. Obviously 'doctored' to add the colour and contrast - seems almost like the effect used in Rihanna's video in her track 'Umbrella' with half the screen shaded in red ! I love the way we get Rico's silhouette in black pausing against the red/purple sky and we can only wonder how hard it must be for him to compose himself before going below deck. Beautiful shots and so very apt for such a critical part of the whole of Miami Vice; 3) Like A Hurricane - The 'Do you wanna talk' scene is just seconds long but I have never forgotten it. IMO the greatest scene in MV between Sonny and Gina - by a margin. As Sonny asks the question of Gina he can't even bring himself to look in her eyes. He already knows how much this is going to hurt her. Santiago is masterful in reply and this probably for me in Vice is her finest hour. Everything is perfect about this scene - even the fact that Sonny mentions his imminent marriage to her in private before anyone else gets to know at OCB, even before (apparently) his bosom-buddy Rico. DJ and SS act it out perfectly. I love the fact that even the relating of the actual story is left-out as it isn't important - all that we are given is the reaction to it. I even love the camerawork as it trains on DJ and slowly swings round to show us Gina and the state she's in. Her eyes and body language - the raised left hand - say it all. Utterly awesome acting;4) Mirror Image - The dream sequence is another of those unique scenes in MV that you can't shake from your head for 20 years. Castillo in shades! Which genius thought of that? Stan looks like his hair's been electrified or something... the shade of the sky in the background at the beach is ominous. Superb;5) Mirror Image - The shooting of the drug dealer by Burnett when he tells the others to get in the boot of the merc is shocking. The absolute ruthlessness with which he executes it is superb. Nonchalant in fact. Just another day at the office for Burnett. Not once, but twice to be sure, even though the second virtually point-blank bullet is probably hitting a corpse. First time I saw this I almost *****ed myself - we were thinking 'whoa! did I just see what I think I saw?' You just do not know what this man is capable of any longer; 6) Child's Play - Sonny vs Castillo in Castillo's office: First time I saw this scene I remember coming away thinking the greatest bit was the fact that Castillo tells us that he cares about Sonny. Wow! When does he ever say it this straight, even though we all know it anyway?! Sonny isn't just angry and frustrated in this scene. Look at his eyes. He is actually scared! Wonderful acting;7) Death and the Lady - Fantastic final scene with beautiful colour contrasts of green below with Sonny and white on the stairs with the director. Almost one uncut shot as Sonny slaps his way to slap-happy heaven, with the camera moving well around both characters, and then Sonny storms off into the night, forsaking his precious Testarossa; 8) Contempt of Court - C&T both instantly train their guns simultaneously on Mosca and his goons outside Court at the end of the ep - a classic visual moment;9) Mirror Image - Intro scene - Sonny behind shades says it all - he is hiding behind them. Rico is concerned. I suspect that Sonny has forgotten his coat rather than being worried about the heat - that's just an excuse to try and convince a sceptical Rico that he's thinking straight. As he sips at his drink he repeats 'I'm fine, I'm fine'. We of course are thinking 'Yeah right, who are you trying to convince, Rico or yourself?' Also just some wonderful laid-back music to that conversation. Can't quite put my finger on it but it seems to sum everything up - almost like the music says 'I don't know where we're headed, but I'm resigned to my fate, whatever it may be, and however much I might be hurting'. And yet that music says something more. Not even sure what, but it's just so cool. Perhaps the music is suggesting that this is the one thing that is going to pull Sonny through the Burnett saga - Rico's special friendship, so let's celebrate it's fineness and maturity;10) Honor among Thieves? - Billy Idol's 'Sweet 16' is my second fave track of his of all time so I loved its usage in a very appropriate manner here. Possibly the coolest scene in the whole ep with the camera training on Castillo and the other cop's legs as they walk over to the new victim, then panning up to their faces - the look on each man's face speaks volumes about the nature of Castillo. Here we see him hard and angry but completely committed to getting the perpetrator, whereas his colleague is simply shocked. Wonderful directing;11) God's Work - scene with C&T and Castillo at the waterside/forested area - this scene with the camera panning round the trio at the table before they get up together and walk off just oozes some of the MV cool. Sonny's pastel shirt, Castillo's voice seems to drop an octave or become even more gravelly (if that were possible!), Rico's snappy suit, the wonderful clouds and sky in the background as they walk off, the characters in dark as the camera swivels through some angles then in light again a few seconds later... ahhh visual candy!12) Vote of Confidence - Love the shot of Castillo and C&T in Castillo's darkened office as they watch the TV screen behind the blinds and the camera pans across to them. Classic Vice.