Episode #32 "Back In The World"

[Robbie C.]

Grave took his line from the script for the MV pilot, actually. It's floating around online somewhere. We're talking about Crockett's military time in other thread now, actually. I've spent likely far too much time trying to line what the series tells us with the historical timeline. Some of it you can actually square up.

[Detective_Crockett]

This episode alone is a 10/10 for The Doors! 

[RedDragon86]

Great episode - 10/10.

Much better than Stones War, I mean why would Maynard return back to Miami?

Edited March 26, 2020 by RedDragon86

[Robbie C.]

1 hour ago, RedDragon86 said:

Great episode - 9/10.

Much better than Stones War, I mean why would Maynard return back to Miami?

Easy access to his hot spots in Central America. Also a hotbed of anti-Communist stuff in the ‘80. Or at least it was seen that way. 

[Matt5]

I give this 9.5/10

[Robbie C.]

And actually, if you want to get right down to it, Stone's War is much more plausible than Back in the World...at least as it's written and framed. Prior to 1972? Sure. It would have been a good angle. I like parts of Back in the World, and at least it ties us into Sonny's background to a degree, but it would have had more weight if they would have set it sooner.

[Dadrian]

Hey anybody ever notice Angel from “One-Eyed Jack” at the pool table? I certainly never have until tonight. 

[Matt5]

6 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Hey anybody ever notice Angel from “One-Eyed Jack” at the pool table? I certainly never have until tonight. 

Ha ha never noticed that at all.

[Tom]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb Dadrian:

Hey anybody ever notice Angel from “One-Eyed Jack” at the pool table? I certainly never have until tonight. 

Most of the guys in the background appereared in other episodes. The guy with long hair and the dark beard on the right was one of Borrasca’s goons in season 5 for example.

[Dadrian]

Maybe Tubbs’ benevolence in OEJ inspired Angel to console the oppressed.  

[RedDragon86]

Maynard really does come across as a covert agent working for the government in this, in Stones War he comes across as a comic book villain.

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by RedDragon86

[Dadrian]

So I just spotted someone else at the VA for the first time: 

Has anyone else here never noticed Mr. Mong walk past the doorway as the camera pans to Stone conducting his first interview?? 
 

(low image quality—snapped/zoomed with my phone in bed  )

 

[ViceFanMan]

Watched this one again last night. I don’t know...it’s an ‘ok’ episode...but I’m not overly impressed. I think it's a good delve into a little bit of Crockett's Vietnam past, and there’s some good dramatic & action moments...but for some reason I’m not jumping up & down over it.

It's not a bad episode by any means, and I watch it when going through the DVD sets...but it's not necessarily one of my favorites. Stone irritated the heck out of me, and so did the illustrious "Capt. Real Estate"!  I think the biggest issue I have is that they never did end up catching Real Estate...even when these characters returned in 3rd season's "Stone's War"...he still got away and Crockett and Tubbs never got him! Loved 'ol Pointy-Teeth (Mr. Mong) though! He looked like Jaws' (from the James Bond 007 movies with Roger Moore) cousin.  

One cool aspect is that Iman guest-starred in this first--before "Love at First Sight"...which is one of my favorite episodes! But, I don't know...this is just a ‘decent’ so-so episode for me. I gave it a 6.

Edited April 25, 2021 by ViceFanMan

[fakespyder]

This episode's final showdown in the swamps with pastel Crockett roaming around like a neon sign through the foliage always makes me smile. At least in the Glades episode they were dressed appropriately.

I know he probably didn't have time to dress suitably but it is an uncomfortable scene. Sonny gets the drop on Mong who is far harder to see but, for some bizarre reason, left the safety on his weapon? Give me a break.

I still like the episode but that final scene, acting as some kind of flashback to Nam, didn't work for me.

[ViceFanMan]

7 minutes ago, fakespyder said:

This episode's final showdown in the swamps with pastel Crockett roaming around like a neon sign through the foliage always makes me smile. At least in the Glades episode they were dressed appropriately.

I know he probably didn't have time to dress suitably but it is an uncomfortable scene. Sonny gets the drop on Mong who is far harder to see but, for some bizarre reason, left the safety on his weapon? Give me a break.

I still like the episode but that final scene, acting as some kind of flashback to Nam, didn't work for me.

Yeah, the scene with Mong was a little silly. 

[wolfie1996]

Am I the only one who liked Ira? Personally I can understand why he and Crockett were friends  because I didn't find him irritating or conniving (particularly). I was glad he survived at the end of this first episode (and he obviously did because of the manuscript saving him from what would have been a fatal injury- I never noticed the holes till today  ) Sonny still liked him- look at that cuddle  at the end  It's a shame he was killed in a later episode. I didn't care for his wife's character- she had a voice like a buzz saw! Imagine being married to that. As has been commented, no doubt Patti D. got the part because  she was DJ's girlfriend. He seems very accommodating like that! Another  episode he directed was By Hooker By Crook and another girlfriend (MG) was in that too. As for Maynard, I found him a repulsive character, with no redeeming qualities at all (unlike say, Lombard, who was supposed to have). Maynard never did get arrested, did he? As has already been said, it was an interesting insight into Crockett's earlier life and demonstrated incidentally that he was just as brave as a soldier as he is in the current job. (All the medals etc.) I think a 9/10 for this one- a point lost because of the pastel clothing and the safety being on , as already mentioned! I actually liked Sonny in his black "extremist" outfit in "Evan"- he really suited it! "United we stand!"...   "Amen!" Great stuff

[vicegirl85]

I thought Ira was pretty annoying! 

But obviously he must have had some personality traits that allowed Crockett to bond with him during his Vietnam service.  It seemed to me that Crockett respected Ira as a truth-telling journalist, although he later was disillusioned over Ira's opportunistic flip-flops.  But Crockett also seemed to recognize that Ira was one of the "walking wounded" who had been damaged psychologically by the things he experienced in Vietnam.

Also per my impression, Crockett had admired Maynard back in the day because Maynard seemed to be very effective in whatever he did.  Upon meeting Maynard again during this episode (apparently he had been unaware that Maynard was in Miami), the scales fell from his eyes and he saw Maynard's true character.

It may not be realistic or consistent with the fact that Crockett has done 2 tours in Vietnam that he would be as idealistic toward these old acquaintances as he seems to be during the episode, but I do think it's how the script seems to portray him.

Speaking of Patti D, I suppose most here know she was a girlfriend of Cat Stevens before she was with DJ, and Cat wrote the song, My Lady d'Arbanville for her.  She is a native New Yorker (I believe) but she probably used an exaggerated accent to portray Stone's shrewish wife.     

[wolfie1996]

6 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

Speaking of Patti D, I suppose most here know she was a girlfriend of Cat Stevens before she was with DJ, and Cat wrote the song, My Lady d'Arbanville for her.  She is a native New Yorker (I believe) but she probably used an exaggerated accent to portray Stone's shrewish wife. 

Yes I knew that  about the song:) And hopefully that WAS an exaggerated accent- it certainly worked anyway:) I wasn't sorry to see she was bumped off!

[fakespyder]

I liked Ira too. The man was driven but flawed.

[Dadrian]

The Doors’ songs in this episode are absolutely stellar. If for nothing else, I genuinely look forward to this episode every time it rolls around. 

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, Dadrian said:

The Doors’ songs in this episode are absolutely stellar. If for nothing else, I genuinely look forward to this episode every time it rolls around. 

I agree...The Doors’ songs are a definite plus! I’ll be honest and say I don’t really care for the Ira Stone/Capt. Real Estate episodes. But, The Doors’ tunes help make this one somewhat bearable.  

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

I'm cool with Ira Stone: it's like what Maynard said about him, the war covered him (Stone's War, like so many unfortunate participants of Vietnam, the war continues in their mind). Like Ira said to Crockett, he's been strung out for a long time (he did discover the bad tar, so things probably went downhill fast for Ira after that).

Mrs. Stone, I don't know, she didn't come off as particularly endearing, but she was probably fed up with being strung along by ira, where he continued making promises he wasn't in the right mind to keep.

I attribute what vicegirl85 said about Crockett still being somewhat idealistic despite the two tours in-country being due to his youth in that era and being something of an unconquerable character (what did he say to Robbie in 'Buddies', something about how doing the right thing hurt, but that's how they got out of the jungle with their minds?) whose beliefs and value system remained intact. I mean, in real-life, special effects master Tom Savini was a combat photographer in Vietnam, and that led him to create a lot of gory things & effects for film, but he seems rather adjusted to being back in the world.

For me, that why I love episodes such as 'Back in the World', 'Buddies', 'Stone's War', and 'Cuba Libre' (face it, I just love all the things that this awesome series incorporated), the Vietnam perspective and what happened to these characters afterward (I always felt for the guys in the VA hospital in the episode, not just the guy in the wheelchair who was given a short pin fitting in his hip and left unable to walk on his own, along with the man Ira was interviewing who was the roommate of the veteran who overdosed; he was trying very hard just to normally function, while expressing his point of view). "Misrepresented, exploited, and forgotten to the max", yeah, I agree with Crockett there (my mother came of age in that era and had friends in various states of torment; that's why the first two Rambo films touched something in her).

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 7/9/2021 at 12:55 PM, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I'm cool with Ira Stone: it's like what Maynard said about him, the war covered him (Stone's War, like so many unfortunate participants of Vietnam, the war continues in their mind). Like Ira said to Crockett, he's been strung out for a long time (he did discover the bad tar, so things probably went downhill fast for Ira after that).

Mrs. Stone, I don't know, she didn't come off as particularly endearing, but she was probably fed up with being strung along by ira, where he continued making promises he wasn't in the right mind to keep.

I attribute what vicegirl85 said about Crockett still being somewhat idealistic despite the two tours in-country being due to his youth in that era and being something of an unconquerable character (what did he say to Robbie in 'Buddies', something about how doing the right thing hurt, but that's how they got out of the jungle with their minds?) whose beliefs and value system remained intact. I mean, in real-life, special effects master Tom Savini was a combat photographer in Vietnam, and that led him to create a lot of gory things & effects for film, but he seems rather adjusted to being back in the world.

For me, that why I love episodes such as 'Back in the World', 'Buddies', 'Stone's War', and 'Cuba Libre' (face it, I just love all the things that this awesome series incorporated), the Vietnam perspective and what happened to these characters afterward (I always felt for the guys in the VA hospital in the episode, not just the guy in the wheelchair who was given a short pin fitting in his hip and left unable to walk on his own, along with the man Ira was interviewing who was the roommate of the veteran who overdosed; he was trying very hard just to normally function, while expressing his point of view). "Misrepresented, exploited, and forgotten to the max", yeah, I agree with Crockett there (my mother came of age in that era and had friends in various states of torment; that's why the first two Rambo films touched something in her).

Oh, I'd like to add 'The Savage' (I find the alternative title to the episode, 'Duty and Honor', to be okay but rather generic) as another good Vice episode with a Vietnam plotline (felt bad for the Veterans in that episode as well).

Edited July 10, 2021 by Eillio Martin Imbasciati
missed a capitalization

[Robbie C.]

Sonny was also in Vietnam toward the end of the conflict (at least in terms of large US unit actions). I think that factored in as well.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

Oh, I'd like to add 'The Savage' (I find the alternative title to the episode, 'Duty and Honor', to be okay but rather generic) as another good Vice episode with a Vietnam plotline (felt bad for the Veterans in that episode as well).

Yeah, “Duty and Honor” is the title they ultimately went with for some reason, but I think “The Savage” was the original ‘working’/script title. Savage would have been better in my opinion, too...but regardless of the title, it’s still a very dark & amazing episode—for Castillo and the others involved!