Episode #88 "A Bullet For Crockett"

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, Kladdagh said:

Lots of interresting stuffs here about this episode guys.

"A Bullet For Crocket(t)" is not a bad episode. It was one of lots same kind of story when the hero get shot and we have lots of memories of the series.

So, it is not very original in a kind of way.

True, it’s not a “bad” episode per-say...but it’s not a good one either, and pretty much for the reasons you stated. It’s another “unoriginal”, way overdone filler. 

[Jack Gretsky]

One of the best teasers of Season 4 - tense standoff, bullets flying, chases through the night, the location used for Sonny's shooting is cool, and his shooter, played by Lisa Vidal, is hot!  (Not that Sonny is really caring about such things at the moment...)

Unfortunately, this is a dreaded clip show, so it's actually a mini-story surrounded by tons of excerpts from earlier episodes.  Someone earlier in this thread mentioned this would have been welcome when first aired in 1988 before DVDs, Netflix, etc., but don't forget that many fans were videotaping all the episodes anyway and thus had easy access to past shows.  It's nice to have Izzy back, at least!  

Not essential viewing, in my opinion.  Not that I'm going to skip it during re-watches, but I do flip through the clips.

[Glades]

3 hours ago, Jack Gretsky said:

One of the best teasers of Season 4

I totally agree!

[ViceFanMan]

7 hours ago, Jack Gretsky said:

One of the best teasers of Season 4 - tense standoff, bullets flying, chases through the night, the location used for Sonny's shooting is cool, and his shooter, played by Lisa Vidal, is hot!  (Not that Sonny is really caring about such things at the moment...)

Unfortunately, this is a dreaded clip show, so it's actually a mini-story surrounded by tons of excerpts from earlier episodes.  Someone earlier in this thread mentioned this would have been welcome when first aired in 1988 before DVDs, Netflix, etc., but don't forget that many fans were videotaping all the episodes anyway and thus had easy access to past shows.  It's nice to have Izzy back, at least!  

Not essential viewing, in my opinion.  Not that I'm going to skip it during re-watches, but I do flip through the clips.

This was a disappointing & boring “filler”, and as you said basically just excerpts or clips of past episodes. Plus, even though there weren’t DVDs, Blu-rays, or streaming things yet...reruns were aired during the summer & hiatus times—besides fans taping every episode. Syndicated reruns were also starting to air even before the show technically went off the air on USA...and have aired somewhere since. 

[Jack Gretsky]

45 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

This was a disappointing & boring “filler”, and as you said basically just excerpts or clips of past episodes. Plus, even though there weren’t DVDs, Blu-rays, or streaming things yet...reruns were aired during the summer & hiatus times—besides fans taping every episode. Syndicated reruns were also starting to air even before the show technically went off the air on USA...and have aired somewhere since. 

Yes, I was wondering if the syndicated reruns of MV had started by then.  

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, Jack Gretsky said:

Yes, I was wondering if the syndicated reruns of MV had started by then.  

If I remember right, the USA Network started airing syndicated reruns towards the end of the last season, or right as the show went off the air. Sadly, the syndicated versions are what the home media & streaming companies have used for the episodes. 

[vicegirl85]

4 hours ago, Jack Gretsky said:

Yes, I was wondering if the syndicated reruns of MV had started by then.  

No, they didn't start airing the syndicated versions until some time during S5.

I understand the dislike for the clip-show format of this episode.  It's not the strongest.  However, and I've said it before, but this was during the writers' strike.  MV could have stuck with reruns only, but they at least took some effort with this one to create the skeleton of a story to hang the clips on.  IMO there were also some moments that fleshed out some of the relationships and some of the directions the characters would be taking in the future.

I also enjoyed the way the ICU nurses took charge and jumped into action when Sonny coded, although of course there were some unrealistic aspects to this.  It was better/ more realistic than most TV shows that have the physician (even multiple physicians) hanging out at the patient's bedside and doing everything themselves. 

[fakespyder]

Yeah Sonny getting critically shot shouldn't have been a navel gazing clip show. It should have had Tubbs and the unit out on the street...Castillo too. Another wasted opportunity in my opinion.

Having said that there were a few additions to clips I liked:

Watching the Evan scene with Jan's music instead of Peter Gabriel's Biko was one of the only worthwhile clips. I mean at least they mixed things up a bit by replacing the soundtrack. Jan's track fit perfectly too.

Given the song Biko's origins and meaning, I kind of feel like Jan's track works better. To be fair though, when I first saw Evan as a kid I had no idea who Bantu Stephen Biko was and just thought the song fit the scene well enough.

[Augusta]

As a kid I watched a LOT of tv shows (sad... I used to know the channel lineup for the WEEK, 4pm through primetime, all memorized,... so rot-brain sad), and only as a grownup was I fully aware that scriptwriting tv episodes involves CHOOSING whether to insert "formula episodes".  
Formulaic episodes are ones that aren't really imaginative--they use the same character situation tool over again, and can be inserted into nearly every kind of tv show you're writing for.  
I don't know enough to understand WHY or WHEN the producers decide to put in a formula episode, but it gets disappointing when they start showing up in your favorite tv show.  Like, 
"Main character number-2 gets hit with a "blank" and is blind or paralyzed for the whole episode"

"Main character number-1 is critically assaulted (bullet, knife, poison) and the cast flashbacks over past episodes while the character is breathing oxygen in the hospital bed"

"Someone from the cast has amnesia, and the rest of the cast must find her/him"

"Main female member of the cast gets raped, and has to resolve the trauma on screen" (Always hated these---just obvious tv actress exploitation)

"Main female lead crashes her transport (car on secluded forest road, stage-coach in dry desert arroyo, favorite helicopter on medical mission), and must survive trapped in flames or wandering unfound for the whole episode"

"Cast finds deserted baby, and does ooochy-coochy separation pains when they have to return it"

"Lone Investigator/Hunter blows into town trying to apprehend an ex-atrocities criminal (ex-Nazi, or ex-Quantrill Raider, or ex-Indian Massacre colonel, etc)"

These formula-episodes have been re-vomited RELIGIOUSLY in nearly every tv series you have ever watched (Gunsmoke to Battlestar Galactica to Starsky and Hutch to...).  It was a good sign that MV didn't have such episodes in the first half of its life.  It was hurtful to me that we started seeing SOME of these examples in Season 4 (maybe season 3 too?).
A Bullet for Crockett, Victim of Circumstance.... we fans could have taken these formulas  and written a way better episode than they did

Edited November 16, 2021 by Augusta

[vicegirl85]

On 11/14/2021 at 8:58 PM, fakespyder said:

Yeah Sonny getting critically shot shouldn't have been a navel gazing clip show. It should have had Tubbs and the unit out on the street...Castillo too. Another wasted opportunity in my opinion. (snipped)

Yes, it seems like it would have made more sense if SOMEONE had been out there trying to find and arrest the shooter...

[RedDragon86]

This is up there as one of the worst episodes, all is just a collection of previous clips put together from numerous episodes.

This is not even a filler it's just laziness and all together pointless, its not even an episode. 

fakespyder & vicegirl are absolutely right, it should have been a straight forward episode of catching the shooter who fled the scene, then with Tubbs, Stan, Gina and Trudy out there on the streets investigating.

At they end Sonny lives and the shooter is put behind bars. 

The flashbacks felt lazy, they couldn't be arsed to be honest. 

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by RedDragon86

[ViceFanMan]

52 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

This is up there as one of the worst episodes, all is just a collection of previous clips put together from numerous episodes.

This is not even a filler it's just laziness and all together pointless, its not even an episode. 

fakespyder & vicegirl are absolutely right, it should have been a straight forward episode of catching the shooter who fled the scene, then with Tubbs, Stan, Gina and Trudy out there on the streets investigating.

At they end Sonny lives and the shooter is put behind bars. 

The flashbacks felt lazy, they couldn't be arsed to be honest. 

 

 

 

True, this does seem to be what I call a “lazy filler”, and kind of a pointless episode...but, I believe this was during a writer’s strike. So, in order to still and try to have a “new” episode, I think they created a situation where it’s a flashback one. However, at this point in the show in my opinion the writers for MV should have been fired, let alone allowed to have gone on strike. 

[Augusta]

2 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

....at this point in the show in my opinion the writers for MV should have been fired, let alone allowed to have gone on strike. 

LOL!!!

To me, it's almost another case of "this one could have been .....".  Just like Miracle Ma----- err. sorry ViceFanMan---just like one of the "other" episodes from the later seasons, it would have taken only a LITTLE smidgen of imagination and resourcefulness to keep this story idea from being yet-another-cliche'-buddy-comatose-in-hospital-while-friends-flashback-to-all-episodes-the-actor-was-in.  
Why does the character always need to be unconscious?  Why can't he anxiously participate from his bed while his pals scour the city for the gunman?  Why not shoot one of his buddies halfway through the episode too, so gradually two of three of the cast are injured hunting this one clever enemy, and they start filling up rooms in the same ward?
Hey, why not injure the shooter/perp, in the chase, and plop him in the same hospital as Crockett without any knowledge that he's the perp, and the perp not knowing that Crockett's still alive and in the hospital he's in, until.... whatever cool confrontation?  

I would have loved to see Gina, Switek and Crockett and Rico stuck throughout the same ward with injuries (Trudy's the only one still undamaged who pieces the final street-hunt clues together phones in to warn them the killer was brought into their hospital two hours ago)----the injured cops tackle the perp (who's also patched up from bad injuries he got somewhere on the street-hunt) in some rough prolonged corridor struggle after the perp's seen fleeing from Crockett's room.  Rico and Switek get re-banged up, Gina finally brings the perp down but splits her stitches open in the fight and is bleeding again.  
Of course they'll all recover, but when it's all over, Crockett's the one who's in good enough condition to go home,... but they have a kleenex moment together realizing how they are a team of friends ready to bleed for each other if need be.  What a crew!  And maybe we even see Castillo split a slight smile for himself around the corridor where his crew can't see.  Instead of "...for Crockett",  call the episode "A Bullet for Miami-Dade".

And that would have been VICE quality storytelling, something no one else is doing in their series.  How much imagination does that really take?  Not much, cuz I thought of it, and I don't write.  Collectively we on this forum think of ideas this fast all the time.  When they needed writer help back then, they should have called US!

[ViceFanMan]

30 minutes ago, Augusta said:

LOL!!!

To me, it's almost another case of "this one could have been .....".  Just like Miracle Ma----- err. sorry ViceFanMan---just like one of the "other" episodes from the later seasons, it would have taken only a LITTLE smidgen of imagination and resourcefulness to keep this story idea from being yet-another-cliche'-buddy-comatose-in-hospital-while-friends-flashback-to-all-episodes-the-actor-was-in.  
Why does the character always need to be unconscious?  Why can't he anxiously participate from his bed while his pals scour the city for the gunman?  Why not shoot one of his buddies halfway through the episode too, so gradually two of three of the cast are injured hunting this one clever enemy, and they start filling up rooms in the same ward?
Hey, why not injure the shooter/perp, in the chase, and plop him in the same hospital as Crockett without any knowledge that he's the perp, and the perp not knowing that Crockett's still alive and in the hospital he's in, until.... whatever cool confrontation?  

I would have loved to see Gina, Switek and Crockett and Rico stuck throughout the same ward with injuries (Trudy's the only one still undamaged who pieces the final street-hunt clues together phones in to warn them the killer was brought into their hospital two hours ago)----the injured cops tackle the perp (who's also patched up from bad injuries he got somewhere on the street-hunt) in some rough prolonged corridor struggle after the perp's seen fleeing from Crockett's room.  Rico and Switek get re-banged up, Gina finally brings the perp down but splits her stitches open in the fight and is bleeding again.  
Of course they'll all recover, but when it's all over, Crockett's the one who's in good enough condition to go home,... but they have a kleenex moment together realizing how they are a team of friends ready to bleed for each other if need be.  What a crew!  And maybe we even see Castillo split a slight smile for himself around the corridor where his crew can't see.  Instead of "...for Crockett",  call the episode "A Bullet for Miami-Dade".

And that would have been VICE quality storytelling, something no one else is doing in their series.  How much imagination does that really take?  Not much, cuz I thought of it, and I don't write.  Collectively we on this forum think of ideas this fast all the time.  When they needed writer help back then, they should have called US!

I think by this point the writers had basically started giving up, and for the most part stopped focusing on in-depth plots...just going with bizarre/weird ones for shock value, or goofball ones. 

But, “Bullet” was basically created during a writer’s strike...and it was a way to still try and have a “new” episode (that focused on past episodes), and not have to show a rerun.

[RedDragon86]

1 hour ago, ViceFanMan said:

I think by this point the writers had basically started giving up, and for the most part stopped focusing on in-depth plots...just going with bizarre/weird ones for shock value, or goofball ones. 

But, “Bullet” was basically created during a writer’s strike...and it was a way to still try and have a “new” episode (that focused on past episodes), and not have to show a rerun.

I didn't know that there was a strike at this point, makes sense to why it's so pointless. 

Season 4 does a few good ones but overall it's a mess of a season and Wolf becoming executive producer was a mistake. 

[Dadrian]

If you like Jan Hammer’s MV score, this episode is a buffet!  
 

Also, now that we can watch any episode anytime we want, an hour-long recap really does seem pointless, but if you think of watching the series once a week with the original broadcasts it would be a little more entertaining, right? The montage near the end with all the smiles is always enjoyable for me. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Dadrian

[Robbie C.]

24 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

If you like Jan Hammer’s MV score, this episode is a buffet!  
 

Also, now that we can watch any episode anytime we want, an hour-long recap really does seem pointless, but if you think of watching the series once a week with the original broadcasts it would be a little more entertaining, right? The montage near the end with all the smiles is always enjoyable for me. 

It's also one of those things that was far more common then than it is now. You see variations of it in many, many shows.

And I'll jump on my favorite hobby horse one more time...blame the producers and show runners for bad stories. They're the ones who hire the writers and in the end approve the product you actually see on screen. Writers don't kick things back to themselves for revisions...producers and others higher up the food chain do. Sometimes it works in the viewers' favor (there are some real stinkers in some of the draft scripts), but other times it certainly does not. If a crap script makes it on screen, it's because a crap producer or show runner liked it and approved it. That's how TV works, especially back then.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, RedDragon86 said:

I didn't know that there was a strike at this point, makes sense to why it's so pointless. 

Season 4 does a few good ones but overall it's a mess of a season and Wolf becoming executive producer was a mistake. 

Agreed! Mann releasing the reins was a bad idea, and Wolf just didn’t seem to get-it. Seasons 4 & 5 have a few good episodes “sprinkled” in...but not enough to have saved the show, and overall the writing was pretty bizarre & bad. 

[vicegirl85]

3 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I didn't know that there was a strike at this point, makes sense to why it's so pointless. 

Yes, it was a general, industry-wide screenwriter's strike.  Most if not all network series were affected by the strike, and many did broadcast reruns during the strike.  Bullet was a weak episode, but at least it did have a bit of a storyline, rather than being a pure clip show.

[Robbie C.]

2 minutes ago, vicegirl85 said:

Yes, it was a general, industry-wide screenwriter's strike.  Most if not all network series were affected by the strike, and many did broadcast reruns during the strike.  Bullet was a weak episode, but at least it did have a bit of a storyline, rather than being a pure clip show.

They did what they could with what they had. And at least they kept some people working instead of shutting down and running reruns.

[RedDragon86]

13 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Agreed! Mann releasing the reins was a bad idea, and Wolf just didn’t seem to get-it. Seasons 4 & 5 have a few good episodes “sprinkled” in...but not enough to have saved the show, and overall the writing was pretty bizarre & bad. 

It would have been awesome if Brian De Palma had been executive producer for season 4 and then hand it over to Richard Bram's who whoever had control in 5. No doubt it would have had that Miami atmospheric vibe with intense crime wave storylines. 

Edited May 11, 2022 by RedDragon86

[Augusta]

16 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

They did what they could with what they had. And at least they kept some people working instead of shutting down and running reruns.

RobbieC, you've got a good, fair, heart inside. 

I always honor folks on a strike.  It's painful, but if that's what a body of personnel has to do to get fairer job treatment, they must proceed.  BUT,  I expect the business owner and his admin to have the teeth to keep their customers whole and undamaged during the (short?) period of time it takes to settle the strike.  
We see bakeries tuck-in and still give quality pastries to their customers during a strike...just fewer pastries.  We see diners or boutique owners or whole factories hustle to carry the quality of their product even through the strike.  ...But not Hollywood.  Hollywood is the typical over-wealthy persona:  When something goes wrong, and a certain service is no longer there for them, they don't even know how to boil water.
Half the administrative production team could have taken whatever bare-bones script a lackluster writer gives them, and fleshed it better than what we received during those strike months.
Remember Clint Eastwood quoting the Marine Recon mantra in his movie a hundred times?  Improvise, Adapt, Overcome, grrr!     Haha!  Not here in Hollywood, Clint.
 

[Robbie C.]

3 hours ago, Augusta said:

RobbieC, you've got a good, fair, heart inside. 

I always honor folks on a strike.  It's painful, but if that's what a body of personnel has to do to get fairer job treatment, they must proceed.  BUT,  I expect the business owner and his admin to have the teeth to keep their customers whole and undamaged during the (short?) period of time it takes to settle the strike.  
We see bakeries tuck-in and still give quality pastries to their customers during a strike...just fewer pastries.  We see diners or boutique owners or whole factories hustle to carry the quality of their product even through the strike.  ...But not Hollywood.  Hollywood is the typical over-wealthy persona:  When something goes wrong, and a certain service is no longer there for them, they don't even know how to boil water.
Half the administrative production team could have taken whatever bare-bones script a lackluster writer gives them, and fleshed it better than what we received during those strike months.
Remember Clint Eastwood quoting the Marine Recon mantra in his movie a hundred times?  Improvise, Adapt, Overcome, grrr!     Haha!  Not here in Hollywood, Clint.
 

It actually isn't always that easy. There are some interesting interviews with Shawn Ryan, the show runner AND main writer of The Shield that were done during a writers' strike. He wore both hats, and elected to side with the writers. It wasn't easy.

A production staff MIGHT be able to cobble something together, but I don't know if they could do it on the timeline faced by most weekly shows...something that usually takes a number of writers working on the same script. And with the number of revisions that even some of those lackluster scripts get, the process would be daunting indeed.

[OCBman]

12 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

It would have been awesome if Brian De Palma had been executive producer for season 4 and then hand it over to Richard Bram's who whoever had control in 5. No doubt it would have had that Miami atmospheric vibe with intense crime wave storylines. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by OCBman

[Augusta]

Oh no, you're right, RobbieC, and I should have explained myself better.  I wouldn't want the admin to try to "write" an episode on their own.  

I meant to express that once one of these "less quality" writers who were operating during the strike came up with a story, THEN the admin staff could sit down and spend one afternoon per episode tackling how best to improve his script and make it a more Vice-worthy product.  Go back to him afterwards and tell him "hey, revise your script to do THIS, and make Tubbs say THIS.  And you've got 24 hours to get me back the revised script---hurry, hurry, hurry".

I want to think the administrators have been working with the show for X-seasons now, and know a little of what good Vice "feels" like, so are in a position to spruce up the writer's mediocre script better than he himself can.