El Viejo - Willie Nelson

[Tony D.]

After watching Don Johnson hosting the Gershwin Award for Willie Nelson, I had to watch El Viejo with Willie.

Why they didn't play a clip from that MV episode, amazes me. Willie is really cool & his acting is great.  Here's my review of Episode #51 - El Viejo.

Posted October 14, 2009 · Report post

"El Viejo" just went from my top 5 episodes to my top 3 episodes. I must be in love with DJ and Willie Nelson!!! Wow, what a cool episode. The opening shot of the OCB glass block wall, the beautiful colored lights on the museum, the truck, the music, the great Miami scenes, Gina & Trudy at the hotel pool,the snake skin boots, the python or lizard skin briefcase....all make this a classic Miami Vice episode. But there's more....the acting is right on all around, even the drug dealers are cool, especially Steve Buscemi. Good wise-cracks in this one: Crockett: "Know what I like about you, Rickles...not a damn thing!" Funny lines from Stan also, & the manager of the run-down hotel. The the thing I like best is the awe & respect Sonny has for the old man when they find out he was a Texas Ranger. Rico, being from NY, doesn't know what Sonny does about them, like the monument in Dallas that has "One Riot, one Ranger." "These guys were legends" he tells Rico. I got the chills when they showed the b&w footage from the old cowboy movies, since they were my heroes. Willie Nelson was excellent as the ranger avenging the death of his partner's son. So cool the scene of him putting on his six-shooter & his badge to have the showdown at the cemetery! I shed a tear as always when Sonny says, "I'm a cop & Jake says " I knew that all along & then dies. Funny line when the manager at the hotel tells the woman that Switek is a police officer & she says "With that gut?" and he says it's probably bullet proof & she says "It better be"! Yes, this is one of my favorites and gets a 10+ from me! I don't understand why some people feel the fog was ridiculous.........it gave the cemetery shootout an eerie-old west feeling. After a Florida rain, we sometimes get fog that makes driving very hazardous.

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by Tony D.

[ivoryjones]

Fantastic review, Tony! To me, there's some sort of a unique effect around "El viejo", maybe others felt that way over the years too. It's a perfect episode, I would not change a thing in it, Yet, somehow, even so I've always adored it, it took me some years to realize it's actually Miami Vice best of the best. While since day one I knew "Definitely Miami" and "Evan" were the best of the best, it took me some full-series rewatching cycles to realize that. I can't see why, really. Maybe because it's a perfect episode that doesn't get much into the main characters personal lives (like "Evan" and "Definitely Miami")? I don't know.

What I also like in it is that the actual farewell to the Daytona!