Which episode captures the show’s mood and aesthetic best?
Not necessarily the best episode but the one that, to you, best represents the look, sound and tone of the series.
shareGreat question here! And a hard one to answer. I think different episodes really did well to capture certain things. For example:
Shadow In The Dark- Spooky and Creepy feeling. (Halloween ep)
Out Where The Buses Run- Shocking and a theatre of the absurd for sure.
The Home Invaders- A sense of frantic and desperation.
Lombard- Honor Among Thieves.
The Hit List- Fear and doom.
Glades- A sense of down home and backwoods Florida life.
The Milk Run- Irony and how badly things can end.
Viking Bikers From Hell- Brute power and a nearly unstoppable force.
El Viejo- Appreciation for the past and vendetta.
Trust Fund Pirates- Runaway privilege.
Definitely Miami- People are seldom who you think they are. Or I guess sometimes they are.
Evan- Guilt.
I guess so many of them conveyed a certain theme or style. The show was brilliantly done. Sorry, I can't pick one or at least not without some very serious thought. Did you have one ep in mind that did this?
Thanks, those are good choices! I like the atmospherics and characterization in ‘Shadow in the Dark’ but I feel it is a somewhat atypical episode in that it is a suburban homicide case rather than a vice case and Tubbs and the city of Miami are not prominent.
shareYes, absolutely. Shadow in the Dark was actually a Halloween episode that aired on October 31, 1986. It was very much non-mainstream Miami Vice to be honest. It was a fun diversion though. Actually I don't believe the crazy nut actually had gotten around to killing anyone when he got his spree ended. But he was certainly going to do it very soon as he escalated things each time out. I think it may have been the only ep of MV where someone didn't get killed IIRC.
Maybe if I did have to pick one ep to showcase what you were looking for----The Hit List from season one. It had a tension and drama that was tough to beat and it did offer up a lot in terms of showing the glitz and brutality of the show. The hit man was chilling in the way he looked so normal and so casually fit in wherever he went without arousing suspicions of anyone. He just looked like your friend's unassuming dad from down the street.
I always marveled at the opening scene of Lombard with the two mobsters sitting smiling in the ice cream parlor while the song lollipop played. They looked and seemed like such nice guys until you realize that they are plotting a murder while there. It was the kind of thing that just seemed to set MV apart from all other shows past or present. It had something that would be hard if not impossible to duplicate. No doubt a part of Mann's genius.
Yes, The Hit List is quintessential Vice. Thank!
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