Review: Miami Vice Season 2
Filed Under: Reviews, TV | Article Tags : box set , dvd review , tv on dvd
By: Erik Swift
March 2006
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Universal’s triple-DVD set of the second season of Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice” has no extras, and that’s fine. It doesn’t need it. The series’ first year was a visual experiment that worked, becoming a major smash in reruns during the summer of 1985. Its second kept everyone home Friday nights to watch James “Sonny” Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) cruise Miami’s crime-riddled streets in a confiscated Ferrari. One of the hippest shows to ever run on network television, “Miami Vice” was defined by rapid-fire editing, edgy visuals and the combo of Jan Hammer’s atmospheric original score alongside the hottest music pulsing in the background.The first series broadcast in stereo became virtually irrelevant over the last decade. Much of the non-original music used during its network and initial syndication runs vanished with an embarrassing home video appearance through Columbia House. Worse, later syndicated airings shredded “Miami Vice” for more commercial time and tunes were trimmed or substituted. Watching anything but old VHS tapes was frankly painful. Fans rejoiced when the first season arrived on DVD with the episodes restored to their initial length, along with its music. Universal keeps it up in this round.
The second season was the series’ highest-rated, pushing envelopes with dark subjects (rape, teen prostitution) and the integral presence of drugs. However, “Miami Vice” looks more dated than ever on DVD with frequent dirt and grain. Sets look like sets (the ridiculous courtroom in ‘The Fix,’ fake clubs run over by art deco savants). Occasional mullets and zebra striped guinea tees are fashion nadirs. Some episodes are directionless (‘Whatever Works,’ ‘Junk Love’) with music often killing time but setting the mood (‘The Dutch Oven’). Time is more kind when the writing is top-notch, and gems exist among the average and sub par.
Nobody bought how cops could look this good on “Miami Vice;” new or casual viewers can see the line between player and cop blur during ‘Payback.’ Bagged by Crockett in an earlier bust, Jesus Moroto (boxer Roberto Duran) sprays his brains on his arresting officer during a prison visit. The suicide is part of a setup to frame Sonny’s involvement with Moroto’s missing $3 million stash, which belongs to the isolated Mario Fuente (a surreal Frank Zappa). He and Tubbs, unable to close a deal with Fuente for months, get embarrassed when a South Beach vice detective (Graham Beckel of “Brokeback Mountain” and “L.A. Confidential”) slips inside and sets up a meet. He’s actually investigating Crockett for Internal Affairs, and soon the bad guys and the good guys want Sonny and his alleged millions. A nasty fistfight on a driverless boat ends a great episode, and Hammer’s work clicks in each scene it appears (Christ, can a box set of his killer instrumentals ever get released?).
The ghost of the Vietnam War is a major part of two of this season’s best hours, “Bushido” and “Back In The World.” Cast members Edward James Olmos (Lieutenant Martin Castillo) and Johnson respectively direct, their characters the focus of each episode. In the first, a beachfront sting goes wrong, and while reviewing surveillance tapes with the vice squad Castillo spots former covert cohort Jack Gretsky (Dean Stockwell). Shaken, the lieutenant tells them to use extreme caution around a man on the run from both the CIA and KGB. Gretsky has come to Miami to be killed by Castillo’s hand while entrusting a wife and son to his protection. Olmos uses lengthy takes (some over two minutes) and exceptional depth-of-field mastery. The scenes where Castillo relates the centuries-old samurai tale of the Bushido to the boy places dialogue center stage. As Castillo subtly reveals part of his past and soul to the audience, Olmos creates a riveting anomaly in a series focused on speed and flash; it’s a knockout. Seeing what makes the rigid lieutenant tick is rare in “Miami Vice,” and any story that sheds light on his life is never boring.
In “Back In The World,” Crockett encounters journalist buddy Ira Stone (Bob Balaban), whom he hasn’t seen since the fall of Saigon. What happened there is seen before the credits: Stone, writing for “Stars And Stripes,” shows Sonny body bags carrying soldiers’ corpses home…stuffed with heroin. Ten years later, junkies are getting sick from morphine-laced dope. Stone has the pieces but can’t put them together because he’s fresh out of rehab and strung out, too. Crockett wants to help his friend, so he and Tubbs seek out a retired colonel who filed the long-closed report on the incident (G. Gordon Liddy, masterfully cast). It’s not as brooding as “Bushido,” but to choose The Doors to provide the episode’s entire soundtrack is pure genius (the only performers to do this on “Miami Vice”). One of the most identifiable voices and personalities of the Vietnam era was Jim Morrison; his formidable Southern moan over Robbie Krieger’s trembling guitar during “My Eyes Have Seen You” heightens tension while the detectives search through a jungle of Keys vegetation for the culprit.
Other songs are just as visible. Sonny’s feet perfectly move to the synthetic drumbeats of Glenn Frey’s chart-topping “You Belong To The City” in the overlong ‘Prodigal Son.’ Despite an over-the-top performance by Bruce McGill, the magnificent use of the title track of one of 1985’s biggest albums - Dire Straits’ “Brothers In Arms” - makes the chilling finish of ‘Out Where The Buses Don’t Run’ one of the series’ best, the must-see episode of the first DVD. ‘Definitely Miami’ is 49 minutes of style and sweat, memorably ending with the Godley And Crème curio “Cry.” Deeper cuts resonate as well as the hits: Mike + The Mechanics’ “Par Avion” bolsters the shattering opening of ‘Yankee Dollar.’ Par avion - French for airmail - becomes more noteworthy given its appearance in a story about drug mules. The season finale ‘Sons And Lovers’ has nothing but “Long Long Way To Go” during its last four minutes; hearing the elegiac voices of Phil Collins and Sting blend merits kudos to Universal. The “Miami Vice” Season Two box set would be forgettable without this music back in the mix…in 5.1 surround sound, too.
New trends arise across the sophomore season of “Miami Vice.” Stunning events lend depth to crappy episodes like ‘Junk Love,’ which is a tedious bore until its final moments. ‘Yankee Dollar’ never recovers after the initial shock wears off, but ‘Payback’ does. Miami looks gorgeous under the sun or stars, but moving off campus is refreshing, most notably in ‘Prodigal Son.’ Climaxing in the jagged shadows of the World Trade Center, it uprooted Crockett and Tubbs in an unconventional move for a season opener. Fortunately, the duo isn’t out of place; their undercover alter egos fit every surrounding from the Avenue of the Americas to Ocean Avenue…even when getting roughed up by the NYPD on the Moondance Diner’s doorstep.
The cast carried over from the previous season. Saundra Santiago, Olivia Brown, Michael Talbott and John Diehl (alternating between the clean-shaven and shaggy Zito) continue to assist Johnson, Thomas and Olmos, and musicians appear in droves: Miles Davis, David Johansen, Little Richard, The Power Station, Ted Nugent, El Debarge, The Fat Boys, Leonard Cohen, Frankie Valli, Suicidal Tendencies, Phil Collins and Kiss’ Gene Simmons stop in. Guest roles featured rising stars (Joaquim de Almeida, Mykelti Williamson, Iman, Nathan Lane, David Strathairn, a kickass John Leguizamo) resume-builders (Gary Cole, Michael Richards, Charles S. Dutton, Kyra Sedgwick, Pepe Serna, Dan Hedaya, Harvey Fierstein) the established (Tommy Chong, Eartha Kitt, Richard Belzer), the faded (Bianca Jagger, Pam Grier, Clarence Williams III), and the “Why?” (Emo Phillips, Lee Iacocca, NBA great Bill Russell, racer Danny Sullivan). Through it all, the weary gravel of Johnson’s voice and Thomas’ NY-tinged bouncy island drawl envelop Miami’s unknowing underlings.
“Miami Vice” seemed to lose its way after this. The third season welcomed earth tones; its jump from 10pm to 9pm began a downward spiral as it faltered against “Dallas” in the ratings despite some great stories. A return to pastels and the 10pm timeslot couldn’t save its last two seasons from being ignored. Bundling together these years of the ‘fat Elvis’ period of “Miami Vice” may be wise for the show where lighting up cigarettes never looked cooler. In a valid move, Mann is helming a remake (with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in the shoes of Johnson and Thomas) that hits theaters this summer, so people will be checking out this show even more. Similar to the must-get Season One, its Season Two DVD box set has complete episodes and its original soundtrack. What more do “Vice” fans need?
Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!
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