Episode 66 - "Viking Bikers From Hell"

[Matt5]

On 5/19/2020 at 8:18 PM, Tom said:

Unknown location: home of one of the whacked dealers where Tubbs is shot at. This should be findable. Calm broad street and unique arched wall and Art Deco style. Miami Beach?

 

 

 

Quite a few clues here.

[Matt5]

On 5/23/2020 at 1:40 AM, miamijimf said:

A friend familiar with the Beach thinks it is at the corner of W 23d Street and Alton Rd.  There is so much vegetation you can't get a look at the front of the house with a streetside view.  Here is the current Google Earth Pro aerial view:

Here is the Historical Aerials view from 1986.

A possibility to consider?.

 

Interesting you pinpoint this area Jim - I was walking one day to the Down for the Count house (Junk Love, Gods Work) on Sunset Islands 1 down North Bay Road which is one block behind your suggestion of Alton. I looked at Alton but the road is too big and not as quietly residential as North Bay. I thought North Bay Rd looked like a match for this house and area but couldn’t find the wall and there has been a lot of new properties built on that street since 1987.

 

[miamijimf]

Looks like Daniel from MDPL found the house for us - 3650 Flamingo Dr.  Miami Beach.  Lots of similarities, wall etc. Daniel is pretty sure this is the place and wrote the restoration is terrible.  I agree they ruined a beautiful estate.  Zillow and other realtors say it is under construction, close to being finished, and it may well be, although Google Maps doesn't show ongoing construction but some incomplete work.  Designed by renowned architect Henry Hohauser.  Sold on 06/03/2014 for $3,245,000.  Not for sale now.  It's crazy but I scanned all down Flamingo Drive yesterday and didn't see it.  What do you think?

 

 

[Tom]

That‘s it! Even the wall which is not straight near the entrance fits.

I don’t know why we had not found it earlier. I looked around Flamingo Drive and did not see it. 
 

on current Google Earth it’s hard to recognize. In your pic it is clear.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Tom

[miamijimf]

Ya I like Google Maps, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Google Earth but seems easier to use, go to birds eye view etc.

[C Glide]

Sweet

[Tom]

Unknown location: crime scene 1 (CC2-VBFH)

Bad news is: This very short little scene was NOT conveniently shot on the same property as the other (3650 Flamingo Drive, Miami Beach). That would have been nice and convenient but did not happen. I checked. Here is why:

The pool in that property was rebuilt at an 90 degree angle as seen on Historic aerials and was a potential fit in 1986, but the rear of the house we see in the unknown location does not. It looks much smaller, run down, has a confined veranda and a different wall pattern/color than the building on Flamingo Drive.

Biggest clue for that unknown location:

the (most likely rectangular) pool is located in a 90 degree angle to the house with a rounded edge and the turquoise/pink color and pattern we see. The reflection in the pool reveals how the unseen part of the house looks like: it is quite slim, looks like 2-story, 2 fronts of cublicles with typical Art Deco appearance. In total, hard to find if they have changed the rear since then, especially as we have only this close up for a search. Very likely it is somewhere near the other locations (Coconut Grove near Brickell yielded nothing, as did the area between the church used in that episode and Flamingo Drive). The Art Deco look says rather Miami Beach, the small size and the small veranda rather says northern Coconut Grove. The search for this second scrime scene is on...

 

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Tom

[Matt5]

11 hours ago, miamijimf said:

Looks like Daniel from MDPL found the house for us - 3650 Flamingo Dr.  Miami Beach.  Lots of similarities, wall etc. Daniel is pretty sure this is the place and wrote the restoration is terrible.  I agree they ruined a beautiful estate.  Zillow and other realtors say it is under construction, close to being finished, and it may well be, although Google Maps doesn't show ongoing construction but some incomplete work.  Designed by renowned architect Henry Hohauser.  Sold on 06/03/2014 for $3,245,000.  Not for sale now.  It's crazy but I scanned all down Flamingo Drive yesterday and didn't see it.  What do you think?

 

 

Such a nice find Thankyou Jim. 
 

[C Glide]

From today.

[C Glide]

[C Glide]

[C Glide]

[C Glide]

Lots of trees blocking the view.

[C Glide]

[C Glide]

Nice neighborhood.

[miamijimf]

Jeremy these nice shots are from your drone today right?  It looks like the work on the house is finished and looks much better.

Edited June 1, 2020 by miamijimf

[C Glide]

Yes, I took them today

[Tom]

NEW LOCATION FOUND: THE BAR 

UPDATE: I posted this unknown location half an hour ago, but since then I´ve already found it. @miamijimfsorry you already clicked on it before it jumped on me. My location sleuthing mind worked fast when thinking about the fact that it is in a basement.

We have seen this bar already in two other episodes!

• God´s work. Bar where Gina talked to Felipe. They spent thousands of dollars on expensive aquarium fish flown in too late due to the Pope´s visit in Miami.
• Baby Blues. The dinner between Vasquez and Famiglia. 

It is the bar in the basement of the Waldorf Towers Hotel at 860 Ocean Drive. Proof is below when matching both episodes. 

ENJOY!

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Tom

[Dadrian]

If Kragen were still down there, it would have been an easy find! (You could smell him from outside...)

Great work @Tom! 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Dadrian

[C Glide]

Sweet, great job.

[Tom]

UNKNOWN LOCATION FOUND: THE LAST CRIME SCENE

Lesson learned: the easiest explanations for locations are usually the best and the right ones.

I heave searched for weeks for the pool behind the house with the veranda in Miami Beach (art deco pattern on the building) and even near the Atlantis, as this scene is so small. As I did not find anything, I looked again at 3650 Flamingo Drive, the first crime scene. Originally I had dismissed it for location re-use due to the pool distance and size, although I considered that they often re-used locations for small other locations in the same episode. But I was sloppy and when I went back to Flamingo Drive in despair and took a second look, everything fits. This second, lost crime scene was filmed at the back of 3650 Flamingo Drive building (the front was used for the hit on Zefirelli and Tubbs in his car). I could not have found & solved it without historic aerials as the pool was replaced and the small veranda removed.

100% matches:

• the pool reflection shows a corner of a flat roof second story. The corner comes forward near the corner of the swimming pool
• the pool has a broad edge and is approx. 5m from the house
• the roofed glass veranda is right of this rectangular building part sticking out towards the pool
• the walking path starts at the left end of the veranda, not in the middle
• there is a space to the neighbor´s house (built in 1929, has a corner, two stories and a window on the second floor)
• where the bikers start their engines there is another building corner of a neighbors house visible
• most crucial proof: the art deco pattern of the building facade matches exactly (rectangular pattern with diagonal lines meeting in a round middle dot) and we know that Art Deco patterns are unique. This house was built in 1939. I used a current realtor picture from the front as comparison: https://www.redfin.com/FL/Miami-Beach/3650-Flamingo-Dr-33140/home/42787327

Remarks:

the coconut palm tree that we see next to the pool was planted shortly before filming. It is NOT on the 1986 historic aerials as VBFH was filmed 18-26 February 1987.

the bikers drive off into the blue. Where they are heading is another neighbor house. 

Here is my photo story proving all summarized above

ENJOY!

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Tom

[Dadrian]

Incredible @Tom! 

Great work! Congrats! 

[Tom]

LAST UNKNOWN LOCATION: VICTORIA´S ATELIER 

This was a studio set. I am 100% sure. I examined the atelier scenes carefully. Every indication of a studio set (they also built a set for the hospital at the end, which was rare at the end of season 3 already), such as

• The Breakwater that was always used as exterior for Victoria´s place has no such 2 story possibility with big window. We would be able to see that from above. Other Art deco buildings nearby neither.
• The light and the lightning behind that big window is artificial. No way that an artist chooses such an atelier without natural light and what we see here is no natural light. There is no sky, so sun visible like we would expect with natural light and a huge glass window, but one focused but blurry light like from one studio light, coming once form the middle and once from the corner of the window. The main light source for that studio comes from above, not from the big window.
• The wall outside the apartment door looks the same like inside, the floor is concrete. A classic dead give away for studio sets.
• The floor of the atelier is wood. Outside the door is concrete. Dead giveaway of studio sets.
• The small window in the atelier is also "dead" like the big one. It has a wall behind, no real light. Classic studio set. An artificial window with wall behind. No artist would choose such a place!
• The interior is too "vicey" for a real location, every detail is pink and colorwise coordinated. Clear job of a set designer.
• They filmed carefully to not show the ceiling or anything up too high. Clear studio job.
• the camera position for filming from high up would not be possible in a real location as there is no elevated place to do that opposite the big Loft window (behind Tubbs there is the opposite plain/high wall visible).  a ladder to an elevated area above the entrance is there but that is not from where the elevated filming was done. I doubt that anyone would bring a camera crane into a real loft atelier to film that scene.

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Tom

[C Glide]

I just updated my site regarding this episode!

[Tom]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb C Glide:

I just updated my site regarding this episode!

Thanks! A good start to catch up with lots of recently found locations!