Episode #63 "Red Tape"


Ferrariman

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2 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

Naw, man. You turn  the word an’ lead the herd. If you can dig what the Noog man is sayin’. 

...an haffa tanka gas :rauchen:

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  • 7 months later...
On 5/18/2017 at 7:14 PM, Remington said:

The plot of Tubbs going to the dark side would've been better if it was the season finale.

hmmm, sort of an early Tubbs 'Mirror image" :)

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"Red tape" is in my view one of the best episodes of S3 for sure. I agree with all of the favorable reviews, and don't find the final Alan Parson Project song really appropriate for the scene context.

PMT performance was stellar, and when I watched this episode long time ago for the first time i really thought he snapped.That's the impression one would get over the first watching before the events unfold.

This is a solid 9/10!

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  • 2 months later...

Very good episode. 

The ending with Alan Parson's Project "Closer to Heaven" is memorable.

And speaking of hottest chicks in Miami Vice in another thread, I wonder if anyone has mentioned MacIntyre's girlfriend? She is hot.

 

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2 hours ago, apocalypse said:

And speaking of hottest chicks in Miami Vice in another thread, I wonder if anyone has mentioned MacIntyre's girlfriend? She is hot.

 

She aged well. Have you seen this?

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is not really one of my favorites. It’s sort of an “ehh” type episode...not terrible but definitely not great, either. 

The beginning is pretty good...the younger cops getting ambushed, Rico supposedly going over the "edge", and of course I knew that somehow Crockett and Castillo would have to figure things out & save him. 

But, then the episode just goes flat & loses the proverbial power. Of course we find out that Tubbs going nuts was all part of the plan, and his undercover role. I thought the two young cops trying to make sergeant getting killed, (including Lou Diamond Philips who I think is an awesome actor and always love seeing him in stuff) thinking Tubbs truly was "dirty" was crap, and depressing! :evil: They should have at least had Tubbs get to let Diaz (LDP) know he was really still good and it was all a set-up, before he died!

The music, fashion, and colors on the buildings were cool! :cool: I love the Nemo Hotel, and the multi-aqua and teal colors on the outside brick walls. The "boy's" clothes seemed to match and/or coordinate with the colors of the Nemo's rooms or their surroundings...I love it when they do that! :D 

This was definitely a Tubbs episode...and I do think PMT did a superb job! :clap: That scene of him smashing that ash tray through the glass case was wild! But, other than those few aspects I just don't really care for the plot, and I thought this one was too depressing at the end. I gave it a 6.

Edited by ViceFanMan
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1 hour ago, ViceFanMan said:

This is not really one of my favorites. It’s sort of an “ehh” type episode...not terrible but definitely not great, either. 

The beginning is pretty good...the younger cops getting ambushed, Rico supposedly going over the "edge", and of course I knew that somehow Crockett and Castillo would have to figure things out & save him. 

But, then the episode just goes flat & loses the proverbial power. Of course we find out that Tubbs going nuts was all part of the plan, and his undercover role. I thought the two young cops trying to make sergeant getting killed, (including Lou Diamond Philips who I think is an awesome actor and always love seeing him in stuff) thinking Tubbs truly was "dirty" was crap, and depressing! :evil: They should have at least had Tubbs get to let Diaz (LDP) know he was really still good and it was all a set-up, before he died!

The music, fashion, and colors on the buildings were cool! :cool: I love the Nemo Hotel, and the multi-aqua and teal colors on the outside brick walls. The "boy's" clothes seemed to match and/or coordinate with the colors of the Nemo's rooms or their surroundings...I love it when they do that! :D 

This was definitely a Tubbs episode...and I do think PMT did a superb job! :clap: That scene of him smashing that ash tray through the glass case was wild! But, other than those few aspects I just don't really care for the plot, and I thought this one was too depressing at the end. I gave it a 6.

I’ve also always loved the Nemo Hotel scene with the Thinkman song Best Adventures.  The penultimate scene with The Alan Parsons Project’s Closer to Heaven is well staged also.  In between is a little less compelling but I usually watch it in it’s entirety.

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/30/2020 at 9:18 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

This is my #1 of season 3.  Red Tape has the snap and crackle of the earlier shows - and the plot races along top speed.  As others have said this has a great teaser: The high, cocky spirits of the fresh young cops ends in tragedy.  Thinkman's "Best Adventures" is a terrific single.  I was less enamored with the Alan Parsons songs though.  Scott Plank was cool; it's sad that he died young - he had a charismatic William Peterson vibe.  I need to eventually see L.A. Takedown. 

I think this is my only 10/10 episode for the third season. 

This still holds as my best of S3.  It's cool to see Phillips and Mortensen so young in this; they're like a hip Crockett & Tubbs for the coming '90s, until the shit goes down.  Wow, do not have the name Eddie if you're a young cop in Miami Vice: First Jimmy Smits, now Viggo.  And we get a classic tragic conclusion with bodies strewn about. 

I still need to see L.A. Takedown.  "Red Tape" itself could have been expanded into a awesome Michael Mann film.  

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On 9/18/2021 at 6:17 AM, Jack Gretsky said:

This still holds as my best of S3.  It's cool to see Phillips and Mortensen so young in this; they're like a hip Crockett & Tubbs for the coming '90s, until the shit goes down.  Wow, do not have the name Eddie if you're a young cop in Miami Vice: First Jimmy Smits, now Viggo.  And we get a classic tragic conclusion with bodies strewn about. 

I still need to see L.A. Takedown.  "Red Tape" itself could have been expanded into a awesome Michael Mann film.  

I do love this episode and great to see some focus on Tubbs for a change.

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/31/2020 at 4:16 PM, Bren10 said:

 

 

LA Takedown was nothing more than a prototype. Heat is an acclaimed masterpiece in the crime genre.

I find it quite comical to compare the two. 

 

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11 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

LA Takedown was nothing more than a prototype. Heat is an acclaimed masterpiece in the crime genre.

I find it quite comical to compare the two. 

 

Heat was good...long, but awesome! 

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For a long time I preferred the cop in L.A. Takedown over Al Pacino. I love Al Pacino but thought his portrayal was occasionally too manic. The other guy was more measured and calm.

Many years later I saw an interview with Pacino where he said his character was "on the gear": a cocaine user. No, I'm not kidding.

For whatever reason they left that out of the film, but it explained to me some of his more flamboyant moments. It gave me a new perspective on a couple of scenes where I felt his characters actions seemed over the top. Now they made sense.

I was so glad I saw Heat at the cinemas. That city shootout left you exhilarated and exhausted at the same time.

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11 hours ago, fakespyder said:

For a long time I preferred the cop in L.A. Takedown over Al Pacino. I love Al Pacino but thought his portrayal was occasionally too manic. The other guy was more measured and calm.

Many years later I saw an interview with Pacino where he said his character was "on the gear": a cocaine user. No, I'm not kidding.

For whatever reason they left that out of the film, but it explained to me some of his more flamboyant moments. It gave me a new perspective on a couple of scenes where I felt his characters actions seemed over the top. Now they made sense.

I was so glad I saw Heat at the cinemas. That city shootout left you exhilarated and exhausted at the same time.

Michael Mann said in an interview that Hanna would snort a line at home in his bathroom before leaving for work.

With that you can understand why his character is the way he is. 

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12 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Heat was good...long, but awesome! 

The length was necessary because the characters are so rich and there is too much going on, especially Michael Mann writing in Waingro as a serial killer for it be a 90m or 2 hour film.

Roger Van Zant's character as well, so many angles in this wonderful crime thriller. 

So films are unnecessarily long, I like "Casino" but its is almost 3 hours for what? Ace running a Casino and Nicky being thuggish.

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3 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

The length was necessary because the characters are so rich and there is too much going on, especially Michael Mann writing in Waingro as a serial killer for it be a 90m or 2 hour film.

Roger Van Zant's character as well, so many angles in this wonderful crime thriller. 

So films are unnecessarily long, I like "Casino" but its is almost 3 hours for what? Ace running a Casino and Nicky being thuggish.

Yes, with films like Heat, sometimes the length is necessary...the Godfather movies are the same. Long...but necessary. 

I’ve only seen Casino once back around 1996...around the time it was first released to home video. I think I rented it on VHS from Blockbuster, back in the day, lol. I might have to see it again sometime. Not as good as the Godfathers, or Heat though. 

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33 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

Yes, with films like Heat, sometimes the length is necessary...the Godfather movies are the same. Long...but necessary. 

I’ve only seen Casino once back around 1996...around the time it was first released to home video. I think I rented it on VHS from Blockbuster, back in the day, lol. I might have to see it again sometime. Not as good as the Godfathers, or Heat though. 

There are three of those gangster films (spanning 1983-1991) that I can view repeatedly: "Scarface", "Goodfellas" (read the book "Wise Guy" recently), and "New Jack City" (which I consider a spiritual sequel to "Scarface", although, there's no love lost between Nino Brown & myself, and I'm glad Drew Carey's bus driver shoots him--"hail to the bus driver, the bus driver man!"--).

I do like "Heat" though (I even like the Burt Reynolds "Heat") and "Casino".

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41 minutes ago, Robbie C. said:

I always enjoyed "New Jack City" as well.

I like how Ice-T's Scotty stares at Nino Brown on that rooftop, after Brown tells his initiation story, like he wants to pulverize him (I still wonder: when Scotty later said to Nino that it was his mother he shot, was it really, or was he speaking in general? Either way, the statement works for me:thumbsup:).

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  • 10 months later...

Alan Parsons Project's "Closer To Heaven" is absolutely perfect match for the ending. 

"Is this the real world or fool's paradise?"

Yes indeed. 

Perhaps the best fitting music track in whole Miami Vice along with "Par Avion" in Yankee Dollar and Brothers in Arms in Out Where the Buses... of course, if you forget Jan Hammer's masterpieces.

Scott Plank was a tall, handsome actor and very talented too. Too bad about his early death.

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On 3/2/2019 at 2:58 AM, Vincent Hanna said:

I think it's this^. (Great episode)

I think this same songs plays in the beginning of Yankee Dollar before "Par Avion" starts.

Great tune. I've been looking for this one. Thanks.

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One thing I don't quite get is why Castillo says "take as much time off as you need" to Tubbs at the end. If he was only on an assignment why would he need to take time off? Castillo is usually hardline about getting on with the job.

It would almost suggest Tubbs really did flip out but then put the word back to Castillo that he'd found the leak.

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