Episode #6 "One-Eyed Jack"

[Jack Gretsky]

This one's a classic.  The first Lombard! (Interesting that Dennis Farina has to share a credit card.  I guess he wasn't as well-known then.) The first Castillo!  The first Castillo stare-down! A "gripping" teaser scene.  Dallesandro!  There's a lot of drama for Sonny here: the killing of an old girlfriend, an investigation by IA, dealing with the stern new loot. 

Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight," criticized in some rock circles for being too soft and sleepy, sure sounds good in that nighttime boat scene with Sonny and Gina.  It's a great "mellow" track, so be it! 

I always like the tension of the sequences when our guys are undercover, even the seemingly "fun" ones like when Tubbs goes clubbing with Lombard and De Marco.  Also interesting to see Sonny and Lester teamed up out in the field as Tubbs is on Lombard's boat.  I think they later retconned Lombard to be more sympathetic in later episodes.  He's pretty ruthless here. If Sonny is a "one-eyed jack," according to Dan Hedaya's scuzzy IA agent, then the old girlfriend's husband is the wild card who gums up the climactic arrest scene.  

[ViceFanMan]

41 minutes ago, Jack Gretsky said:

This one's a classic.  The first Lombard! (Interesting that Dennis Farina has to share a credit card.  I guess he wasn't as well-known then.) The first Castillo!  The first Castillo stare-down! A "gripping" teaser scene.  Dallesandro!  There's a lot of drama for Sonny here: the killing of an old girlfriend, an investigation by IA, dealing with the stern new loot. 

Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight," criticized in some rock circles for being too soft and sleepy, sure sounds good in that nighttime boat scene with Sonny and Gina.  It's a great "mellow" track, so be it! 

I always like the tension of the sequences when our guys are undercover, even the seemingly "fun" ones like when Tubbs goes clubbing with Lombard and De Marco.  Also interesting to see Sonny and Lester teamed up out in the field as Tubbs is on Lombard's boat.  I think they later retconned Lombard to be more sympathetic in later episodes.  He's pretty ruthless here. If Sonny is a "one-eyed jack," according to Dan Hedaya's scuzzy IA agent, then the old girlfriend's husband is the wild card who gums up the climactic arrest scene.  

Awesome episode, and superb entrances for both Lombard & Castillo! My favorite song, though, is “New Girl Now” by Honeymoon Suite!  

[Jack Gretsky]

1 minute ago, ViceFanMan said:

Awesome episode, and superb entrances for both Lombard & Castillo! My favorite song, though, is “New Girl Now” by Honeymoon Suite!  

Yup!  What a kick-ass rocker! 

[ViceFanMan]

Just now, Jack Gretsky said:

Yup!  What a kick-ass rocker! 

Definitely...the first line: “Hot summer nights...”, makes me think of, and gets me in the mood for, MV instantly, lol!  I have it downloaded to my phone, and it’s one of the songs I like to run to. 

[Jack Gretsky]

2 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

Definitely...the first line: “Hot summer nights...”, makes me think of, and gets me in the mood for, MV instantly, lol!  I have it downloaded to my phone, and it’s one of the songs I like to run to. 

lol, for a long time I thought "Hot Summer Nights" was its title, until Miami Vice Wiki came to the rescue!

[ViceFanMan]

Just now, Jack Gretsky said:

lol, for a long time I thought "Hot Summer Nights" was its title, until Miami Vice Wiki came to the rescue!

I originally couldn’t remember what the title was...I think I eventually found out the title and who sang it off IMDB. 

[ViceFanMan]

Regarding the previous discussions right above, I felt in the mood to watch this one again...love this one, and it’s a Season 1 gem!  Still jammin’ to “New Girl Now” in my head.  

However, as is the case with many episodes & times I’ve gone through the show, there can be little details or aspects that I happen to notice that I didn’t really remember or focus on before. This always makes the episode & show continually interesting and fun! 

This time I happened to notice Castillo’s desk when he’s finally letting Schroeder have-it about his stupidity of going along with the idea that Crockett is “dirty”. I’ve not really ever paid that much attention to it before...but it appeared that the only things on it at the time, were a couple small containers. One definitely looks like a Tylenol/Excedrin/Ibuprofen bottle (I can only imagine the headaches Castillo has to try and endure)...but what is the other little container? Is it some kind of Asian remedy? Little crack eye-dropper? Just kidding!  Just noticed them, and thought it interesting that, that’s all he had on his desk. 

[RedDragon86]

Does anyone know what that metal object is on Castillo's desk?

He had it in his hand at the crime scene as well.

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by RedDragon86

[ViceFanMan]

2 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

Does anyone know what that metal object is on Castillo's desk?

He had it in his hand at the crime scene as well.

 

This is exactly what I asked right above, last August...never got an answer??  My guess is some sort of natural remedy or supplement for headaches, or perhaps just for overall general health? But, with Castillo...who knows? 

[RedDragon86]

12 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

This is exactly what I asked right above, last August...never got an answer??  My guess is some sort of natural remedy or supplement for headaches, or perhaps just for overall general health? But, with Castillo...who knows? 

You did  maybe it's a container for his pills when he is out of office?

This modern day one looks similar.

 

 

 

[apocalypse]

Tubbs getting into Lombard's inner circle immediately was pretty silly though. In real life you have to be known for years before getting anywhere NEAR the mafia businesses. Getting immediately the trust of the major mob boss was just a bit too much.

But of course, you have to build up these things to 45 minute episodes so it can't always be realistic.

Lombard was a great crook and Dennis Farina had amazing charisma. He should have been much more involved with this series. But I recall he was in Mann's other cop show Crime Story (along with the guy who played his assistant Charlie, John Santucci). They both were excellent actors.

[ViceFanMan]

Watching this episode again tonight. It's one of my Season 1 favorites...as it introduces us to Castillo and Al Lombard all-in-one.  The picture below is a scene-clip of Crockett's desk. Although I am definitely old enough to remember office desks looking somewhat like this, I still have to laugh & somewhat shake my head at the "technologically advanced" typewriter Crockett has to use, LOL!  How time passes...as most have desk top computers, and/or laptops that they take with them if needed. But, even in cities like Miami, in the early to mid 80s computers weren't everywhere yet. We didn't have computers in my grade school until I was in 4th grade...and only certain classes got them. Mine was one...we got 2 Apples (your old, typical tan with green-screen ones) at the back of the room, that we as a class got to name 'Gus' & 'George'.  We kicked some serious butt (or I should say our butts lived) on Oregon Trail! 

Edited March 12, 2023 by ViceFanMan

[pahonu]

12 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

I hope the link below works. I have to now try and use the site from a work laptop computer, and getting images to show and/or imported in is more difficult than when I could use my cell phone. But, watching this episode again tonight. It's one of my Season 1 favorites...as it introduces us to Castillo and Al Lombard all-in-one.  If the pic shows up, this is a scene-clip of Crockett's desk. Although I am definitely old enough to remember office desks looking somewhat like this, I still have to laugh & somewhat shake my head at the "technologically advanced" typewriter Crockett has to use, LOL!  How time passes...as most have desk top computers, and/or laptops that they take with them if needed. But, even in cities like Miami, in the early to mid 80s computers weren't everywhere yet. We didn't have computers in my grade school until I was in 4th grade...and only certain classes got them. Mine was one...we got 2 Apples (your old, typical tan with green-screen ones) at the back of the room, that we as a class got to name 'Gus' & 'George'.  We kicked some serious butt (or I should say our butts lived) on Oregon Trail! 

https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/mailboxes/@.id==VjN-FNOaUrHRtouONBkZl9gp07xJk0yZbbERgHib16832XwTj3Oa1eWYtvxerwlx3yZcWd14YSIwJYFDv3EjIdqYcw/messages/@.id==ADmxTlk9TqTYZA06GwQmgKWGLyk/content/parts/@.id==2/thumbnail?appid=YMailNorrinLaunch

Sorry, no luck on the pic.  An error message pops up for me.  I can picture it though. 

I didn’t have a computer in my classroom until late middle school, and  just a single one.  In high school they had a computer lab… with Oregon Trail!  That was right when MV was originally airing.  

One thing I remember was that long after desks started having computers on them, offices still had typewriters around.  My principal’s secretary had one on a side desk until maybe eight or ten years ago.  They still needed them to fill out official forms and things like that.  I remember seeing her feed in some triplicate form or the like, and lining it up multiple times to type into the correct spaces.  That’s an office skill that’s probably gone now!   There might still be one around somewhere.  

It seems that police officers would have had to do something similar for official government forms like court requests for warrants, etc…. I also remember hearing a story on NPR a few years ago about a guy who still fixes and stocks parts for typewriters. He was one of just a handful around the country who still did so!  He mentioned that a big part of his clientele was for offices that still had to fill out official forms.  

He also spoke about some writers who simply prefer to use the old typewriters as a small but growing group.  Maybe it’s like vinyl records that way.  I’ve even had a couple of students recently that are listening to cassettes and asking me about Sony Walkmans!!! 

[Robbie C.]

57 minutes ago, pahonu said:

Sorry, no luck on the pic.  An error message pops up for me.  I can picture it though. 

I didn’t have a computer in my classroom until late middle school, and  just a single one.  In high school they had a computer lab… with Oregon Trail!  That was right when MV was originally airing.  

One thing I remember was that long after desks started having computers on them, offices still had typewriters around.  My principal’s secretary had one on a side desk until maybe eight or ten years ago.  They still needed them to fill out official forms and things like that.  I remember seeing her feed in some triplicate form or the like, and lining it up multiple times to type into the correct spaces.  That’s an office skill that’s probably gone now!   There might still be one around somewhere.  

It seems that police officers would have had to do something similar for official government forms like court requests for warrants, etc…. I also remember hearing a story on NPR a few years ago about a guy who still fixes and stocks parts for typewriters. He was one of just a handful around the country who still did so!  He mentioned that a big part of his clientele was for offices that still had to fill out official forms.  

He also spoke about some writers who simply prefer to use the old typewriters as a small but growing group.  Maybe it’s like vinyl records that way.  I’ve even had a couple of students recently that are listening to cassettes and asking me about Sony Walkmans!!! 

The military still has a few IBM Selectrics around for forms as well. Frankly, in some cases they're easier to use than badly-configured "fillable" forms (either PDF or some bizarre knockoff product).

Some writers like typewriters because you get immediate reviewable product and since you can't revise as readily while you're working they encourage progress. I'm not part of that group, but I do understand why they think that way. There's also a subset that does all their drafting in longhand (often on legal pads with pencils or some use all varieties of pens).

[ViceFanMan]

2 hours ago, pahonu said:

Sorry, no luck on the pic.  An error message pops up for me.  I can picture it though. 

I didn’t have a computer in my classroom until late middle school, and  just a single one.  In high school they had a computer lab… with Oregon Trail!  That was right when MV was originally airing.  

One thing I remember was that long after desks started having computers on them, offices still had typewriters around.  My principal’s secretary had one on a side desk until maybe eight or ten years ago.  They still needed them to fill out official forms and things like that.  I remember seeing her feed in some triplicate form or the like, and lining it up multiple times to type into the correct spaces.  That’s an office skill that’s probably gone now!   There might still be one around somewhere.  

It seems that police officers would have had to do something similar for official government forms like court requests for warrants, etc…. I also remember hearing a story on NPR a few years ago about a guy who still fixes and stocks parts for typewriters. He was one of just a handful around the country who still did so!  He mentioned that a big part of his clientele was for offices that still had to fill out official forms.  

He also spoke about some writers who simply prefer to use the old typewriters as a small but growing group.  Maybe it’s like vinyl records that way.  I’ve even had a couple of students recently that are listening to cassettes and asking me about Sony Walkmans!!! 

When I tried to click on the image-link on my phone, you're right...it just popped up as "error". But, on my work laptop I clicked on it, and the image/picture popped up. But, I figured out a way to bring the picture itself & actually import it in. So, hopefully now you can see it.

Records/vinyl have made a huge popularity comeback! I know lots of kids and people of all ages that are buying records again, and stores have them--along with new turntables/record players for sale. It's kind of cool, in my opinion! There are lots, of all ages, that still say the sound on vinyl/records is the best. I had the Sony Walkmans, and tons of cassette tapes, lol...then I went to CDs and a portable CD player. I still ran with that until I got my first iPhone, and started downloading songs to it...and that's what I still run to now. 

There are still some typewriters around, but they are definitely more rare...perhaps some government and/or military places still use them for various reasons, but most of the time I see computers being used in offices. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by ViceFanMan

[ViceFanMan]

Update: I figured out a way to drag the picture of Crockett's desk into my original post, and imported it in. So, hopefully you can actually see it now. I deleted the original link. 

[Dadrian]

17 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Watching this episode again tonight. It's one of my Season 1 favorites...as it introduces us to Castillo and Al Lombard all-in-one.  The picture below is a scene-clip of Crockett's desk. Although I am definitely old enough to remember office desks looking somewhat like this, I still have to laugh & somewhat shake my head at the "technologically advanced" typewriter Crockett has to use, LOL!  How time passes...as most have desk top computers, and/or laptops that they take with them if needed. But, even in cities like Miami, in the early to mid 80s computers weren't everywhere yet. We didn't have computers in my grade school until I was in 4th grade...and only certain classes got them. Mine was one...we got 2 Apples (your old, typical tan with green-screen ones) at the back of the room, that we as a class got to name 'Gus' & 'George'.  We kicked some serious butt (or I should say our butts lived) on Oregon Trail! 

My office desk at work is like this. You might think I searched to find one, but believe it or not, it actually came with the office!  

[ViceFanMan]

31 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

My office desk at work is like this. You might think I searched to find one, but believe it or not, it actually came with the office!  

The desk or the typewriter? 

[pahonu]

Until the pandemic, my desk in my classroom had a lot in common with that image.  While I had no typewriter, everything regarding student work was paper based.  I had the equivalent of in an out boxes.  I still had daily paper calendar for meetings and lesson pacing.  I had Manila file folders full of various worksheets with maps, timelines, political cartoons, and other social studies related texts.  I had a separate desk to the side with my computer for grading and responding to emails from coworkers and parents.  

It still has my phone in it, but now it has a laptop, front and center where all my assignments and lessons are digitized and displayed on a large screen in the front of the class.  We had to go that route during quarantine and then hybrid teaching.  I still offer my students a hard copy of the text and assignments if they want one, but only a couple have ever asked in the last two years.  The only assignments we do on paper still are the writing prompts.  Even the tests and quizzes are all online.  It’s a long way from the chalkboard, books, and paper attendance sheets I started teaching with 28 years ago. 

[ViceFanMan]

13 hours ago, pahonu said:

Until the pandemic, my desk in my classroom had a lot in common with that image.  While I had no typewriter, everything regarding student work was paper based.  I had the equivalent of in an out boxes.  I still had daily paper calendar for meetings and lesson pacing.  I had Manila file folders full of various worksheets with maps, timelines, political cartoons, and other social studies related texts.  I had a separate desk to the side with my computer for grading and responding to emails from coworkers and parents.  

It still has my phone in it, but now it has a laptop, front and center where all my assignments and lessons are digitized and displayed on a large screen in the front of the class.  We had to go that route during quarantine and then hybrid teaching.  I still offer my students a hard copy of the text and assignments if they want one, but only a couple have ever asked in the last two years.  The only assignments we do on paper still are the writing prompts.  Even the tests and quizzes are all online.  It’s a long way from the chalkboard, books, and paper attendance sheets I started teaching with 28 years ago. 

My parents got married and started teaching in 1970. My dad said he was handed the text book and basically told to go figure his class out. He taught & coached for 10 years then got his masters in administration & became a principal. He did that until he & my mom both retired together in 2014. He told me once that by the time he retired it was so different...instead of being allowed to incorporate your own knowledge and info in with the curriculum, they were being told and dictated to by state & federal government about what they would or would not teach, and many times by people that had actually never taught in a classroom. 

But, I remember before he got computers in his office...it was not as "ancient" as Crockett's, lol, but he had a big old typewriter. I also remember some kind of old copy machines the teachers used before they got printers...that you had to manually fill with purple ink, and hand-crank the papers through. 

Edited March 13, 2023 by ViceFanMan

[Robbie C.]

1 hour ago, ViceFanMan said:

My parents got married and started teaching in 1970. My dad said he was handed the text book and basically told to go figure his class out. He taught & coached for 10 years then got his masters in administration & became a principal. He did that until he & my mom both retired together in 2014. He told me once that by the time he retired it was so different...instead of being allowed to incorporate your own knowledge and info in with the curriculum, they were being told and dictated to by state & federal government about what they would or would not teach, and many times by people that had actually never taught in a classroom. 

But, I remember before he got computers in his office...it was not as "ancient" as Crockett's, lol, but he had a big old typewriter. I also remember some kind of old copy machines the teachers used before they got printers...that you had to manually fill with purple ink, and hand-crank the papers through. 

That would be the infamous "ditto" machine. Nasty things. Regular copiers normally appeared between them and printers, though. Dot matrix wasn't exactly ideal for course materials, especially when they were still using the oversized paper with the removable perforated edges on the sides to feed them through the printers....

[pahonu]

5 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

My parents got married and started teaching in 1970. My dad said he was handed the text book and basically told to go figure his class out. He taught & coached for 10 years then got his masters in administration & became a principal. He did that until he & my mom both retired together in 2014. He told me once that by the time he retired it was so different...instead of being allowed to incorporate your own knowledge and info in with the curriculum, they were being told and dictated to by state & federal government about what they would or would not teach, and many times by people that had actually never taught in a classroom. 

But, I remember before he got computers in his office...it was not as "ancient" as Crockett's, lol, but he had a big old typewriter. I also remember some kind of old copy machines the teachers used before they got printers...that you had to manually fill with purple ink, and hand-crank the papers through. 

I remember getting (and smelling LOL!) dittos until I was in high school, but most of my career teaching in high school has been with copiers.  I barely go near the copy room any more.  I print my syllabus at the beginning of the year and the writing prompt packets once a quarter.

When I started teaching it was still being handed the textbook and building your curriculum.  The level of control varies from state to state widely, but the real federal involvement in curriculum started with the George W Bush administration and the money made available to states and districts through No Child Left Behind.  The money was significant and so most signed on to the standardized testing and other requirements.  It’s never really gone back though the federal programs have changed.  Common Core had similar results in terms of federal money influencing the state and district decisions.  
 

 

[ViceFanMan]

5 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

That would be the infamous "ditto" machine. Nasty things. Regular copiers normally appeared between them and printers, though. Dot matrix wasn't exactly ideal for course materials, especially when they were still using the oversized paper with the removable perforated edges on the sides to feed them through the printers....

 

1 hour ago, pahonu said:

I remember getting (and smelling LOL!) dittos until I was in high school, but most of my career teaching in high school has been with copiers.  I barely go near the copy room any more.  I print my syllabus at the beginning of the year and the writing prompt packets once a quarter.

When I started teaching it was still being handed the textbook and building your curriculum.  The level of control varies from state to state widely, but the real federal involvement in curriculum started with the George W Bush administration and the money made available to states and districts through No Child Left Behind.  The money was significant and so most signed on to the standardized testing and other requirements.  It’s never really gone back though the federal programs have changed.  Common Core had similar results in terms of federal money influencing the state and district decisions.  
 

 

Ditto machines...I'm sure that was it. I remember somehow one of the teachers got that purple ink all over her, and it ruined her clothes, LOL! 

Yeah, both NCLB and CC did not work, and were either unrealistic...or just plain weird & ridiculous.  I come from families of primarily education & teaching...going back to the days of one room schools in the country. I literally grew up around public education and in most all its realms. But, I chose to work with kids in a different way. In today's world, education is a tough business & I'm too old-school with expectations and views on how things should go.  Hollywood could also take lessons from public education on "business politics". 

But, at least I'm not trying to lead a double life with drug dealers constantly trying to kill me, and then I have to get all the paperwork done on an old typewriter! 

[pahonu]

2 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

 

Ditto machines...I'm sure that was it. I remember somehow one of the teachers got that purple ink all over her, and it ruined her clothes, LOL! 

Yeah, both NCLB and CC did not work, and were either unrealistic...or just plain weird & ridiculous.  I come from families of primarily education & teaching...going back to the days of one room schools in the country. I literally grew up around public education and in most all its realms. But, I chose to work with kids in a different way. In today's world, education is a tough business & I'm too old-school with expectations and views on how things should go.  Hollywood could also take lessons from public education on "business politics". 

But, at least I'm not trying to lead a double life with drug dealers constantly trying to kill me, and then I have to get all the paperwork done on an old typewriter! 

I’m in the same boat.  My family has an unusually large number of educators, including my mom, and most of her friends, my wife, several aunts and cousins, even my brother in law, who teaches exactly what I do, US History to high school juniors.  I also have a cousin full time at the community college level which I have also done part time for years.

I think NCLB worked in a very specific way.  It did raise the lowest performing schools by providing them badly needed resources, but it’s one size, fits all approach, led to many schools who were performing well to alter curriculum to have access to that federal money.  It seemed to have limited more in-depth and creative instruction at those better performing schools to ensure funding.   It also didn’t provide enough overall funding given its demands on the individual sites.

Common Core never seemed to really get off the ground.  Its math and language requirements seemed to gel pretty quickly, but then deep regional divisions regarding science and history curriculum seemed to stall the process.  Those are precisely the subjects my wife and I teach and we have talked endlessly about it over the last decade.  We are now both within a decade of retirement and often wonder where things are headed.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, pahonu said:

I’m in the same boat.  My family has an unusually large number of educators, including my mom, and most of her friends, my wife, several aunts and cousins, even my brother in law, who teaches exactly what I do, US History to high school juniors.  I also have a cousin full time at the community college level which I have also done part time for years.

I think NCLB worked in a very specific way.  It did raise the lowest performing schools by providing them badly needed resources, but it’s one size, fits all approach, led to many schools who were performing well to alter curriculum to have access to that federal money.  It seemed to have limited more in-depth and creative instruction at those better performing schools to ensure funding.   It also didn’t provide enough overall funding given its demands on the individual sites.

Common Core never seemed to really get off the ground.  Its math and language requirements seemed to gel pretty quickly, but then deep regional divisions regarding science and history curriculum seemed to stall the process.  Those are precisely the subjects my wife and I teach and we have talked endlessly about it over the last decade.  We are now both within a decade of retirement and often wonder where things are headed.

Yeah...NCLB was the "unrealistic" one I referred to before. It did approach education with the "one size fits all" mentality, and that's not realistic or accurate/true. No one is exactly the same, nor will every single person learn the same and/or at the same rate. We're not computers that can be programmed to put out the exact same data at the exact same time, rate, or even quality. Although it might have helped some with certain schools, it ultimately screwed over many that were already doing very well beforehand. 

The Common Core crap is what I referred to before as the "weird & ridiculous".  The math especially was pointless and strange. This is a total, purposely stated over-exaggeration...but it was sometimes like asking: "Why is the number 2, 2?"  It never really went too far, but some of its practices are still around, and most (in my opinion...but many others think the same) are wasting way too much time on aspects that don't matter & cause more confusion and unneeded "extra" work, than anything else.