Tracing the chinks in the armor of Crockett's sanity

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

If you use the Burnett Trilogy as your point of culmination, how far back can you trace the key events in Crockett's life that played a role his breakdown and amnesia?  Was his breakdown merely due to Caitlin's death, or do you think it goes back much further?  Though I'm positive the show's producers had no idea during seasons 1, 2 and 3 that Crockett was going to experience what he did in season 4, I think you can build a solid case that Crockett's breakdown was a long time coming, using a bit of retrofitting and hindsight.  Even in season 1 the chinks in the armor are beginning to accumulate: the betrayal of Scottie Wheeler, the divorce from Caroline, the death of Barbara Carrow, witnessing the killings of Tony Amato and Eddie Rivers, the helplessness he felt when Tubbs was "arrested" in Columbia, the guilt he felt after oversleeping at Brenda's and Tubbs got beat up and, of course, the lingering guilt he felt over Mike Orgel.  There were many other stressful moments in season 1, but to me these seem like the ones that Crockett took most personally.  No sign of mental collapse yet, but they must have taken a toll.  I believe a similar litany of stressful events can be drawn from seasons 2, 3 and 4, all leading up to the season 4 finale.  So, what do you think?  What armor-chinking events would you include?  I especially want to hear what you would include from seasons 2, 3 and 4.  

By the way, a few days ago I created a new topic under "Miami Vice - The series, "General"" about season finales, and the season 4 finale especially, that was quickly buried under subsequent posts and nobody ever had a chance to respond.  Please check this topic out as well, and let's discuss it.                                 

Edited March 4, 2018 by mirrorimageegamirorrim

[vicegirl85]

I agree that many of the events throughout the series' run contributed to Crockett's ultimate breakdown and amnesia (in addition to the head injury he was said to have sustained in the boat explosion). 

Caroline's comment in one of the first episodes, to the effect that he and his buddies were "hooked on the action" can even be interpreted as a hint that he was already scarred by his combat experiences in Vietnam before going into law enforcement; that in fact that was one of the reasons he went into undercover work.

I believe that in (S1) Heart of Darkness, (S2) Out Where the Buses Don't Run, Payback, and (S3) Streeetwise, Crockett observed the potential disastrous effects of crossing the line in undercover work. 

With (S3) By Hooker by Crook, he realized that his undercover work caused him to meet so many other people living a false identity that he was having a hard time distinguishing true from false.

(S1)No Exit, (S2)Prodigal Son, and (S3) Stone's War demonstrated that right and wrong don't always count for everything when it comes to a showdown between federal agencies and the local law enforcement.  Other agendas may be at play and outweigh the piece that the vice squad holds. 

Of course, in (S3) Forgive Us Our Debts, he is played by Frank Hackman, who smirks as he lets Crockett know just exactly how he was taken in.

For S4, Contempt of Court and Child's Play affected Crockett deeply.

For me, those were pivotal events in his susceptibility to an amnesic episode that had psychic as well as physical causes. 

 

[airtommy]

This was one of the reasons the show got stale so quickly.  Crockett starts out the series as a cop who gets deeply personally involved in his work, and he's been working the job for a while.  He suffers crushing blows right from the start.  In the first episode, his partner is killed and Crockett has to tell his wife the bad news.  Then, his family friend Scotty Wheeler betrays him and the department.   Finally, Calderone gets away.  Bobby dies in Cool Runnin.  Lt. Rodriguez is killed right next to Crockett in Hit List.  In Milk Run the kid gets killed at the end.  And on and on and on.  I remember by the 3rd Season it just became too much.  It became impossible to believe Crockett was BOTH committing his entire psyche to these cases, casting aside his personal life, withstanding one devastation after another,  AND avoiding breakdown or burning out.