Heart of Darkness (Season One)
"Around the World in 80 Ways"
Aired 9/28/84
What instantly stood out to me is that Miami Vice is a series that's shot entirely on location in Miami. I feel a television series always looks better when its done on location and not always inside of a studio. Now I know they couldn't just get away with filming a show centered around Miami in New York and pass it off as a beach-themed series. But what I mean is that during the show's frequent car chases, they're always in a real, moving car. The actors aren't in a car in a studio with the background whizzing by on a green screen (like those 60's James Bond movies), or even now when the background is computerized in later.
I like this particular episode because it relates to Crockett. He's a man who's lost his family because of his job as an undercover police officer, yet he's still the same laid-back guy. However on this case, Crockett and Tubbs encounter an FBI agent who's been undercover so long that he may have lost touch with who he really is. That's what Crockett could easily become. The undercover FBI Agent is played excellently by Ed O'Neil, who is believable as a man on the edge. You aren't really sure if he has crossed over to the dark side but you can tell he's done some questionable deeds.
The dialog is still great here, continuing the banter between Crockett and Tubbs from Pilot episode. The secondary characters like Switek and Zito are featured a little more too, and there's even an electronics guy named Lester that puts a "wire" on Tubbs when they're undercover. It shorts out and starts playing some rock music, which blew their cover, and coincidentally I think Lester was seen cleaning toilets in the squardroom afterwards. Tubbs tells Zito how to better arrange his surveillance equipment so he's not "identifying suspects by their hair-style", though his one-liners could really use some work. I guess they left the one-liners to Crockett.
"Heart of Darkess" is a good follow up to the Pilot episode. The first proper episode of any tv series is a tough spot to be in, especially for Vice, since they had to take the formula from the Pilot and make it work within half the time.
Aired 9/28/84
I like this particular episode because it relates to Crockett. He's a man who's lost his family because of his job as an undercover police officer, yet he's still the same laid-back guy. However on this case, Crockett and Tubbs encounter an FBI agent who's been undercover so long that he may have lost touch with who he really is. That's what Crockett could easily become. The undercover FBI Agent is played excellently by Ed O'Neil, who is believable as a man on the edge. You aren't really sure if he has crossed over to the dark side but you can tell he's done some questionable deeds.
The dialog is still great here, continuing the banter between Crockett and Tubbs from Pilot episode. The secondary characters like Switek and Zito are featured a little more too, and there's even an electronics guy named Lester that puts a "wire" on Tubbs when they're undercover. It shorts out and starts playing some rock music, which blew their cover, and coincidentally I think Lester was seen cleaning toilets in the squardroom afterwards. Tubbs tells Zito how to better arrange his surveillance equipment so he's not "identifying suspects by their hair-style", though his one-liners could really use some work. I guess they left the one-liners to Crockett.
"Heart of Darkess" is a good follow up to the Pilot episode. The first proper episode of any tv series is a tough spot to be in, especially for Vice, since they had to take the formula from the Pilot and make it work within half the time.
Comments
Post a Comment