Your Pick: Season Four or Season Five?

[Lar]

Okay, let's settle this, it's been cropping up here and there lately. Which season, as a whole, do you prefer: season four or season five? I've always been of the mind that S5 was an astounding season, a true return to form as far as quality goes, and groundbreaking in that it's ultra-dark, pessmistic views and revised wardrobe (save for Tubbs' crap), on top of the already revolutionary MV concept, really paved the way for many 90's cop dramas. People complain of Jan Hammer leaving, and I can understand, Hammer is a genius. But, Tim Truman was a superb replacement. His hard rock scores reallly fit the new super dark & gritty tone. And make no mistake, this is MV at it's darkest.As for S4, there's some good episodes, a handful of great ones, but way too many that are either boring or outright ridiculous, especially compared to the previous seasons. S5, on the other hand, IMO is almost consistently strong; Only "The Cell Within", "Leap Of Faith", and "Miracle Man" drag down S5.But, as I've said before, to each their own. So, there's my arguement, your turn.

[Shill]

I'm a big fan of the Burnett trilogy and that combines the two seasons perfectly in my opinion. Sometimes however, season 5 is too dark. Thankfully though there are few comedy episodes in 5 which can only be a good thing

[Lar]

That's true, S4 ended strong and S5 started strong with the Burnett saga. My only problem with the Burnett saga is that the whole idea is sort of implausible to begin with (and frankly, I'm amazed how genuinely good those eps really are).(Shill, without going off-topic, I just have to say, your current signature pic is AWE-SOME.)

[Shill]

Heather is one hot chick ain't she?! Celeste in season 5 was a babe too though. Yeah, I'm coming round to season 5 as my favourite

[agent 47]

For me, definitely season four, season five was okay but a couple of terrible flops that are the worst in the series, now I haven't seen all season four episodes and season five episodes, there were a few I missed but season four was to me, the ultimate season, Contempt of Court, Indian Wars, Amen... Send Money, Honor Among Thieves?, A Bullet for Crockett, Hell Hath No Fury and tons of other greats. (I saw the season in 2003, can't remember exact tiltles for some.) I loved a few season five episodes, such as Hostile Takeover and Borrasca, but the ending is a disappointment, like most tv finale, I wouldv'e been happy with a "just go on as usual ending" but the over the topness erked me. Plus one reason ssn 4 is better in my books: shame of the series-season five's Miracle Man.

[Lar]

See, I loved the finale; in fact, it's my favorite episode! Not because the series was ending, but because IMO it encapsulated all that was Vice, but without diluting what MV was really about: A fruitless, redundant, some would say pointless, battle against the drug trade that nevertheless must be waged. Crockett and Tubbs are burnt out (Crockett especially), on a downward spiral (as the title implies), big things are going down, and just when they have the chance to take down a real 'big deal' bad guy, it blows up in there face. All set to a fantastic soundtrack, with great action, cool cars, and hip clothes.That's the way I see it, at least.

[Tommy Vercetti]

Season 5 is way better than season 4.There were only 8 good episodes in S4 (Death & The Lady, Child's Play, The Rising Sun of Death, Indian Wars, Honor Among Thieves, A Bullet For Crockett,Deliver Us From Evil, Mirror Image). Apart from that, all the remaining S4 episodes were crap. S4 is the weakest season of Vice.Season 5 is a much better season. The writing is much stronger and the quality of the episodes is more consistent. I love Season 5 for the same reasons that Lar listed.Freefall is an awesome finale. There are a good 15 episodes in S5 that I consider high quality. Season 5 is a great season.

[gypsy]

I agree with Lar. Season 5 is overall stronger quality wise than season 4. In season 4 there are 4 - 5 episodes at the most in my perspective on the same level as season 5. Including Death & The Lady and CHilds Play. Season 5 is darker, I agree, but I see that as positive. It opened up for new possibilities and a new direction of the show. And I agree with EJO when he was interwieved on E. He said that he did not agree that the show should end. It had only scratched the surface of the possibilities, which is true. When all is said and done I could easily imagine the show running for atleast a 6th season. But the writing overall would have to improve. The bad episodes of season 5 were really crap. But on a bigger scale way better than season 4, which is the only season I´ve only seen once since i purchased it. When I look at the dvd´s and I get to season 4 I tend to leave it. Actually the seasons I watch most is 1 , 2 and 5.

[Matt5]

Definately Season 5 , Season 4 imo was all over the place - except till the end of the Season.Season 5 seem to progress into the Crockett burnt out mode which fit the show well - there were some fine episodes "Redemption in Blood", "Bad Timing", "Freefall" etc. The show was different to the fluffier approach of Seasons 1/2 and more realistic.

[rodriguezisdead]

The votes on .org thought that Season 5 just edges it over Season 4. Personally I disagree - I think both Seasons have their fair share of weaker eps (and the criminals in Season 5 were some of the worst, almost farcical in some cases) - but I think it's the greater number of 'defining' moments in Season 4 over Season 5 that do it for me.Season 5 for me had a few outstanding scenes/moments but Season 4 for me had more: the blasting away of Hackman, Sonny grieving over Caitlin, Sonny marrying Caitlin of course and having to tell Gina, the dream sequence in Mirror Image, Burnett out of control for much of Mirror Image, Sonny vs Castillo showdown scene in Child's Play, final slapping scene in Death and the Lady, etc. The critical thing for me is that many of these moments are central to Sonny and the whole point of MV in a way - some people even think MV's main point was to illustrate what happens to this cop who just gets increasingly burnt-out and disillusioned - for me Season 4 tells most of that story, Season 5 just wraps it up.

[Viceman Cometh]

If I had to make a decision today, I'd pick S4. I recently did an informal review and found that S4 has 12 eps I like, vs. 9 for S5.BUT, what I love about this site is how I learn and get inspired by the other members, so I now plan to give S5 another, more thorough look. So, I guess in that respect the jury's still out. (I will not, however, be watching Miracle Man or Leap of Faith!)

[Lar]

(and the criminals in Season 5 were some of the worst' date=' almost farcical in some cases)[/quote']Yes, there's no getting around that. There's only a handful, but compared to how deadly-serious S5 overwhelmingly is, I can't believe they thought whats-his-name from "Jack Of All Trades" would be a good idea.

[rodriguezisdead]

I think the issues I had with Season 5 were the lack of the main characters for several eps, really bad fashion/clothing sense for some of them (although Season 4 had also had its fair share of that!), and personally preferred JH to TT.But I have to stress that we are nit-picking as usual here - I could easily compile over an hour of classic moments from both Season 4 & 5 and would happily prefer watching it to 99% of anything else on TV today.

[MiamiCop123]

Very good discussion, but I think that they are both a tie. Even though Season 4 had bad episodes, there's always a good side to the bad.(eg. Death and the Lady, Mirror Image). Season 5 was trying to go back to the old days of Seasons 1 and 2, but wasn't producing well esp. with Tim Truman there. If Jan Hammer was still rockin' for Season 5, things would probably be a lot better.

[Guest neworder]

Season 5 for me.Sorry for my lack of appearence here recently, my PC at home broke so stuck using Uni Library PC's...

[chum981]

When I started watching Season 4, I noticed the look and feel had changed a little from Season 3. I didn’t like that, but thought I’d embrace the changes anyway. The first half of Season 4 wasn’t that good and I was upset/surprised at where MV was going. I thought they had lost the essence of MV, i.e. what the fans fell in love with. But things got a lot better generally going into the second half of Season 4, and so I thought it was just a lapse that the creator/producers had with the first part of Season 4. This said, there were still a few decent episodes in the first half of Season 4…â€Contempt of Courtâ€, “Death and the Ladyâ€, “Childs Playâ€, “God’s Workâ€, “Rising Sun of Deathâ€â€¦And apart from “Hell Hath No Furyâ€, I enjoyed all the episodes in the second half of Season 4. When I started watching Season 5, I noticed that the look and feel had changed considerably. The first two episodes were very good and were a continuation of Season 4, but from then on, there was the absence of Crockett and Truman just didn’t do it for me. There was too much change and it felt like I wasn’t watching MV anymore.There was more consistency in Season 5, but again, it wasn’t MV for me. It would be really good if Hammer could redo Season 5 with his touch – I think that would change my perception of Season 5 greatly. Also, when I look back and want to watch any episodes again from Season 4 or 5, there are more in Season 4 I’d like to watch than in Season 5.

[agent 47]

Sorry for my lack of appearence here recently, my PC at home broke so stuck using Uni Library PC's...That sucks! I hope you manage to get it fixed or something.

[Guest neworder]

Cheers Agent 47 and its fixed now so im back to add additional comments.SO why have i chosen Season 5?Even though its a huge change from the traditional vice image, i.e sort of light hearted with bright vibrant colours...Season 5 is very dark and to be fair rightfully so.After the Burnett thing Crockett was a broken man, burnt out, as was Tubbs the theming for the season was perfect, it stuck with it even in the face of decreasing ratings unlike Season 4 that tried to change the image from week to week, pastels for the first half, crockett getting married, dark clothes for the second half, season 4's direction changed too much which is why I prefer S5.I quite like the look of crockett clothes wise, it stands the test of time quite well. The same cant be said about Tubbs though. Season 5 also has some **** episodes as we all know, miracle man, leap of faith, cell within...But season 4 out does it in this department.I do like the look of the first half of season 4, it seems bright in some respects except for childs play. But the stories were poor and there was too much comedy that in respect took the piss out of Miami Vice, that should've been the job of spoof films or series not the actual TV series. Although Hammer departed, Truman was good and fit the season 5 mood perfectly. Plus the john peterson stuff in S4 was very poor in places, see Hell Hath No Fury and Blood & Roses in places.Overall, S5 is better for me, it has consistency and a new look which I can understand if it does not impress everyone, I was very scepticle of S5 at first but i grew to like it.

[Pal]

For me it goes:1.) Season 32.) Season 23.) Season 14.) Season 55.) Season 4

[Guest myonlyvice]

Season 4 gets my vote. Some of you may remember all the accolades I gave it over on that other site which shall not be mentioned. It's got Jan Hammer which is a huge plus. It also maintained more of the traditional "Vice" look which was almost completely absent in season 5. And of course let's not forget what really matters, the stories. UFOs, frozen Rastas and urban cattle rustling is supremely weird for Vice, I'll admit that. But if you look beyond these traditional stumbling blocks, you'll find 19 (I believe) other episodes that range from standard to stellar. There simply is no topping "Mirror Image" as far as I'm concerned. You can possibly find it's equal elsewhere in the series, but none are better. Season 5 is still Vice, and I love it, too. But season 4 is like my child. Don't go messin' with a man's kid!