The Evil Sonny Burnette Story Arc

[Bren10]

I have been somewhat torn over this throughout the years.  Many critcs say this is where the series "jumped the shark" some say otherwise.  I would like to know what other people think.  Do you think it ever should have happened?  Do you tolerate it just because it's part of the canon?  I kind of find Sonny turning bad for awhile akin to what happened to Luke in Last Jedi.  It's difficult to reconcile the earlier character with what you know will happen in his future.  I mean is it easy for you to connect the Sonny of season 1 with the guy in season 5 who's killing everybody?  Were you able to forgive him as a viewer?  Was it realistic to put him back on the force (the most common criticism)?  Was this an obvious ratings grab/attempt?  Or do you think the character of Sonny had become stale at this point and needed a real change?  Just some things to think about.  I do think there are some great moments and interesting things going on throughout this saga psychologically, but there are issues.  It's a bit tropey to turn the hero bad for a "what if" type situation like evil Captain Kirk or evil Superman.  Please chime in.

[Vicefan7777]

I personally had no problem with this story arc.  I remember when this first aired and thought WOW, what a plot twist. I wanted to see more and it kept my interest in watching.  I don't feel the show "jumped the shark"  at this point, in fact the show went on a different road but it was an enjoyable ride.  Just my opinion. 

[summer84]

Those are some good questions. It seems, when you get to the point, where the main character has to completely change his identity that it feels like, they have run out of ideas and have to make some over the top storylines. It felt a bit like a soap opera. But at the same time it gave DJ a chance to show range in acting and the storyline was really good and exciting. 

The definition of Jumping the Shark. "The beginning of the end. Something is said to have "jumped the shark" when it has reached its peak and begun a downhill slide to mediocrity or oblivion."

And I'd say, that the show started to decline in quality somewhere in the 4th season. With aliens, bull semen, supernatural stuff although S2 had some of that as well like vodoo, poetry and pirates. A good example for a cop going bad would be in the episode "Heart of Darkness." Because he was under so deep and it can mentally destroy you. So it could have lead to Crockett maybe becoming evil, but that could have also happened without using the typical amnesia story. 

Gina and Sonny in The Pilot: "You ever forget, who you are?" "Darling, sometimes I remember who I am."

There are many examples on the show of how it effects the cops mentally working undercover day in and day out.  

Edited September 14, 2018 by summer84

[vicegirl85]

Agree with Summer84 that a decline in quality had already happened during Season 4.  For me, the Sonny-Caitlin love story and all of their married life/different world stuff was less believable and less interesting than The Cows of October.  OK, I can accept that Sonny was desperate for a real person to love and I didn't hate Caitlin, but with Brenda in S2, Sonny realized that those two worlds could never really come together.  With Caitlin, he never looked before he leaped, and the whole relationship went way too fast from mutual hate to marriage.  

But the Burnett arc--for me that was realistic (not the part about being put back on the force) because of the terrible guilt he felt:  He had put a heartless killer back on the street, and Caitlin was killed by Hackman because of Hackman's desire to punish Crockett.  If Caitlin hadn't been married to him, hadn't had any connection to him, she would have been safe from Hackman.  To top it all off, he learns that Caitlin was pregnant when she was killed.  Sonny blames himself and is consumed with guilt.  I think he lost touch with reality to a degree, lost sight of his oath as a police officer and agent of the law, when he hunted down Hackman and killed him.  But Hackman being dead doesn't really stop the guilt for Caitlin's death, and now there's the guilt he feels for taking vengeance into his own hands--what he told Tubbs a cop couldn't do.  Emotionally he was a wreck when the boat explosion happened, and then he had a head injury.

I think his amnesia was a psychic break with his past life as much as, or more than, a result of the head injury.  When he awakens and doesn't know who he is, he accepts and adopts the identity everyone around him seems to expect of him.  That identity is a hired gun in the drug trade.  I feel he was acting on instinct and with the goal of self-preservation, living among the high-living criminal associates.  He was successful because of the typical Sonny initiative and the gift of leadership he's always had, but he has to constantly watch his own back, because his new cohort will turn on him in a heartbeat at the first hint of weakness.  If he had awakened around his own squad, in a safe environment, I don't believe he would have turned bad.  Some of that was self-protection because of the environment he found himself in.

Regaining his memory after the second head injury--yes, that is stereotypical and not too realistic.  BUT... during the ensuing time when he was part of the El Gato gang, he experienced a lot of flashbacks and I think his memory was actually coming back in bits and pieces.  I think he was confused by the flashbacks and he recognized that he was vulnerable because of the questions in his mind about the people and events of the flashbacks.  So he was on the verge of regaining his memory for a period of time.

Was he truly evil as Burnett?  Certainly he did things that most would call evil; he killed people.  Sonny's regular Burnett alter-ego might have portrayed himself as a rather small-time opportunistic crook, but basically he seemed rather harmless.  This new Burnett was very different, much stronger and deliberately cruel.  But was Sonny Crockett himself choosing to do all of the Burnett bad things of his own free will, with full knowledge of their evil and full agency?  I don't see it that way.  He didn't choose to lose his memory in an emotional breakdown combined with a head injury, so it could be said that he (Crockett) didn't know what he was doing.   Should he have paid the consequences for the crimes he committed as Burnett?  Even if, as Crockett, he couldn't remember them?   And really also, how much did Crockett remember the crimes he committed as Burnett?  Those are questions I think it would have been interesting if the show had explored.

Now:  would he have been allowed back on the force, and particularly back on the vice squad after his memory returned?  No, I don't find that realistic at all.  We do see evidence that he was put off work for some unspecified period of time and also that he was sent to therapy, but really, would he ever have been released to a full return to work in his old squad?  I certainly don't believe he would have.  But that's really post-Burnett unreality.  The actual Burnett arc was well-done in my opinion and I liked it. 

Edited September 14, 2018 by vicegirl85
spelling correction

[Remington]

The idea sounds really stupid on paper, but they somehow really pulled it off and we got some of the best episodes of the series.

[Matt5]

5 hours ago, Remington said:

The idea sounds really stupid on paper, but they somehow really pulled it off and we got some of the best episodes of the series.

I agree when you read it back/ or on paper it sounds ridiculous - but full credit they pulled it off completely and I agree some of the best episodes and best produced episodes of the 5 year run.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Matt5

[AzVice]

yes it could have been really dumb, like if you told someone who wasn't a MV fan about it they'd probably think that , but Mirror Image is the best episode of season 4 in my opinion and Hostile Takeover the best of season 5. just my opinion.

 

there were surely jump the shark moments in season 4, stuff like The Big Thaw and The Cows of October.

No, i don't believe the Burnett storyline hurt the show. Moving it to 9pm and poor writing did that.

[sdiegolo78]

I think the "Burnett Arc story" was expected after the events of late S4 and everything else that occurred in the years prior. His life as Vice/undercover cop was taking its toll at that point. That was something very realistic to show to viewers. As with Sonny going back to work as Metro Dade cop, well I have my doubts. I wouldn't call this 'jumping off the shark' though. I was happy to see him back and I'd rather take this over stories about aliens, reggae singers' dead bodies stored in pospsicles, bull semen etc...

On the other hand, Sonny return "to business" could have been depicted differently or in a more realistic fashion. Alternatively, the show final season could have gone the same direction as depicted in some fan fiction where Sonny does prison time and possible death penalty for killing Hagovic. But what we see in the cannon series is some hearing, a trip outside Miami where he bumps into some dangerous escaped convicts. In the episodes he is not seen, he's either taking time off (due to PTSD) or testifying in court.

[wolfie1996]

On 9/14/2018 at 10:42 PM, Vicefan7777 said:

I personally had no problem with this story arc.  I remember when this first aired and thought WOW, what a plot twist. I wanted to see more and it kept my interest in watching.  I don't feel the show "jumped the shark"  at this point, in fact the show went on a different road but it was an enjoyable ride.  Just my opinion. 

Very much agree! I enjoyed it. 

[wolfie1996]

On 9/15/2018 at 12:37 AM, vicegirl85 said:

Agree with Summer84 that a decline in quality had already happened during Season 4.  For me, the Sonny-Caitlin love story and all of their married life/different world stuff was less believable and less interesting than The Cows of October.  OK, I can accept that Sonny was desperate for a real person to love and I didn't hate Caitlin, but with Brenda in S2, Sonny realized that those two worlds could never really come together.  With Caitlin, he never looked before he leaped, and the whole relationship went way too fast from mutual hate to marriage.  

But the Burnett arc--for me that was realistic (not the part about being put back on the force) because of the terrible guilt he felt:  He had put a heartless killer back on the street, and Caitlin was killed by Hackman because of Hackman's desire to punish Crockett.  If Caitlin hadn't been married to him, hadn't had any connection to him, she would have been safe from Hackman.  To top it all off, he learns that Caitlin was pregnant when she was killed.  Sonny blames himself and is consumed with guilt.  I think he lost touch with reality to a degree, lost sight of his oath as a police officer and agent of the law, when he hunted down Hackman and killed him.  But Hackman being dead doesn't really stop the guilt for Caitlin's death, and now there's the guilt he feels for taking vengeance into his own hands--what he told Tubbs a cop couldn't do.  Emotionally he was a wreck when the boat explosion happened, and then he had a head injury.

I think his amnesia was a psychic break with his past life as much as, or more than, a result of the head injury.  When he awakens and doesn't know who he is, he accepts and adopts the identity everyone around him seems to expect of him.  That identity is a hired gun in the drug trade.  I feel he was acting on instinct and with the goal of self-preservation, living among the high-living criminal associates.  He was successful because of the typical Sonny initiative and the gift of leadership he's always had, but he has to constantly watch his own back, because his new cohort will turn on him in a heartbeat at the first hint of weakness.  If he had awakened around his own squad, in a safe environment, I don't believe he would have turned bad.  Some of that was self-protection because of the environment he found himself in.

Regaining his memory after the second head injury--yes, that is stereotypical and not too realistic.  BUT... during the ensuing time when he was part of the El Gato gang, he experienced a lot of flashbacks and I think his memory was actually coming back in bits and pieces.  I think he was confused by the flashbacks and he recognized that he was vulnerable because of the questions in his mind about the people and events of the flashbacks.  So he was on the verge of regaining his memory for a period of time.

Was he truly evil as Burnett?  Certainly he did things that most would call evil; he killed people.  Sonny's regular Burnett alter-ego might have portrayed himself as a rather small-time opportunistic crook, but basically he seemed rather harmless.  This new Burnett was very different, much stronger and deliberately cruel.  But was Sonny Crockett himself choosing to do all of the Burnett bad things of his own free will, with full knowledge of their evil and full agency?  I don't see it that way.  He didn't choose to lose his memory in an emotional breakdown combined with a head injury, so it could be said that he (Crockett) didn't know what he was doing.   Should he have paid the consequences for the crimes he committed as Burnett?  Even if, as Crockett, he couldn't remember them?   And really also, how much did Crockett remember the crimes he committed as Burnett?  Those are questions I think it would have been interesting if the show had explored.

Now:  would he have been allowed back on the force, and particularly back on the vice squad after his memory returned?  No, I don't find that realistic at all.  We do see evidence that he was put off work for some unspecified period of time and also that he was sent to therapy, but really, would he ever have been released to a full return to work in his old squad?  I certainly don't believe he would have.  But that's really post-Burnett unreality.  The actual Burnett arc was well-done in my opinion and I liked it. 

A truly excellent resumé, vicegirl85! Couldn't have put it better myself.

[AndrewRemington]

That's B-U-R-N-E-Double-T! 

Haha, sorry to be the spelling police... I had to say the great line!

Edited April 11, 2021 by AndrewRemington