31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 8: Least Favorite Minor/One-Time Character

Like I wrote back on Day 5, Season Four came pretty close to tying Five for the title of my least favorite season, and today's character is a big reason as to why. As a one-shot character, Caitlin Davies would have been awesome. She was gutsy, stylish, talented, passionate, and played by Sheena Easton, who actually did a really good job in the role. Hell, even if she had been a recurring character, trying out a long-distance relationship or something would have been okay. But instead the writers chose to have a whirlwind romance, where she and Sonny get hitched in, like, a day and begin a rather stupid venture called marriage between an undercover cop and a high-profile pop singer.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 7: Favorite Minor/One-Time Character

Miami Vice had, if anything, a colorful cast of minor characters, ranging from the goofy - Izzy Moreno - to the truly terrifying - the assassin hired by Calderone in the first season. For today's challenge, though, I'm going to stick with non-villains, because that gets its own challenge next!

Who I chose for my favorite minor character was phased out pretty early in the series because of negative fan reaction ... probably. While I found him charming and amusing, I can definitely see why people would wish for his untimely, and undoubtedly painful death. He was comedic relief, much like Switek and Zito were, and when the show took a more serious tone, the writers excised him, and his last appearance was in Season Four's "Missing Hours," quite possibly one of the worst episodes of the entire series.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 6: TV Show vs. Movie

Via Wonders in the Dark

I would like to preface this entry with the following statement: I actually really enjoy the Miami Vice movie, flaws and all, just as I enjoy the hell out of the television show, even as it revels in 80s campiness and a general lack of reality.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 5 Supplemental: Sonny's Unfortunate Hair

I was not kidding about this. Sonny's hair went through a lot of changes in the five seasons of Miami Vice, and a lot of them were not so pretty. His mullet was probably the most egregious example of why the 80s never needed to happen, fashion-wise, but Season Five just descends into absolute madness. 

MADNESS, I TELL YOU.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 5: Least Favorite Season

I nearly turned this into a tie because, let's face it, Vice really declined after the third season. Obviously, there are a myriad of reasons as to why this is the case, from its change in slots during its third season, in which the show was competing with Dallas, to the original writers departing from the show after a very successful second season. It could also be blamed on Dick Wolf, who completely changed the tone - by changing the color scheme to more subdued hues and by using what has made his Law & Order franchise so successful: the "ripped from the headlines" technique - and turned it into a much more serious, much darker show. What really offset the incredibly harsh quasi-reality of Miami Vice was that it was portrayed with such a light atmosphere, both with its pastels and its sillier qualities, like Izzy and Noogie, so it was more palatable with audiences that weren't quite ready to see that seedy underbelly of which they'd rather be unaware. And honestly, I preferred it that way. I don't expect a cop show about vice cops to be the equivalent of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, but I also was never a big fan of the super gritty character study that was Breaking Bad.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 4: Favorite Season

It is a very rare thing, indeed, when I pick the first season of any television show as my favorite. With Buffy, it was Season Three; with Battlestar Galactica, it was Season Two. Arrested Development really began impressing me during Season Two, and Xena (my next challenge!) definitely was incredibly rough during the first season (like I am going to give that away before I even begin my challenge). Usually, growing pains plague the first set of episodes, where the writers are working out the kinks of character development, plot points, etc., and while the second season was probably the best season of the bunch, I find myself going back to rewatch the first.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 3: Least Favorite Main Character

It really does feel a bit like Sophie's Choice whenever I have to pick a main character from such a small main cast of characters. At some point throughout the five season of Miami Vice, I've loathed and loved every single one of them, so actually narrowing it down has been a tad bit difficult for me.

Well, mostly.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 2: Favorite Main Character

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm behind - like, seriously behind - on this challenge, but the past two weeks have been simply taxing. I'll be posting an update on the insanity that was the process of moving our shit from the storage unit down to South Carolina, but for now? Onto a much belated Day 2 of the Miami Vice challenge.

Now, I'm going to talk more about diversity later on this month - Day 29, I believe - but I think it bears noting here, considering my favorite main character happens to be one of color. Like I said yesterday, Vice did an excellent job really showcasing its main locale, up to and including people who, you know, actually live there, much unlike Cameron Crowe's recent movie, Aloha, which didn't have a single native islander in its main cast, despite one character being 1/4 Hawaiian. I don't know if diversity was something that any of the creators had in mind when brainstorming for Miami Vice, but it definitely added something extra to the show, even if a lot of the people involved in illegal activity were people of color, a topic I'll actually get to later on this month.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge, Day 1: How Did I Discover Miami Vice?

Via Miami Vice Online

I was the girl who, at the ripe age of seven or eight, sat down with my dad and watched the unedited version of Top Gun* with my dad, so hearing swear words and seeing people die in explosions wasn't really anything that shocked me, but for some reason, Miami Vice was never something I was allowed to view. Maybe it's because neither of my parents were really into it - although my mother did admit later to enjoying the show during its original run - or maybe they felt the overt sexual themes and "realistic" depictions of drug use was something I was not ready to see. So it wasn't until over a decade later, after catching the odd rerun every now and then, that I finally decided, you know what, I want to watch this show. It was my first Netflix binge-fest, and I walked away from it feeling inspired, somewhat let down, and amused.

31 Day Miami Vice Challenge

It really does not feel like a year since I did my Battlestar Galactica challenge, but shit, it has totally been. But seeing as it's summer, at least near the end of it, I wanted to do something a little more ... summery. Cheery. You know. So of course I pick Miami Vice.

I make no apologies for my adoration of this series. I could binge-watch all five seasons and not get sick of the theme song, although I'm sure Three would disagree.

Alright, so here's what you can expect to see next month!

Day 1: How Did I Discover Miami Vice?
Day 2: Favorite Main Character
Day 3: Least Favorite Main Character
Day 4: Favorite Season
Day 5: Least Favorite Season
Day 6: TV Show vs. Movie?
Day 7: Favorite Minor/One-Time Character (Non-Villain)
Day 8: Least Favorite Minor/One-Time Character (Non-Villain)
Day 9: Favorite Villain
Day 10: Least Favorite Villain
Day 11: Favorite Episode of the Series
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode of the Series
Day 13: Favorite Season One Episode
Day 14: Favorite Season Two Episode
Day 15: Favorite Season Three Episode
Day 16: Favorite Season Four Episode
Day 17: Favorite Season Five Episode
Day 18: Favorite Storyline
Day 19: Least Favorite Storyline
Day 20: Something That Happened I Wish Didn't
Day 21: Something That Didn't Happen I Wish Did
Day 22: Best Episode
Day 23: Worst Episode
Day 24: Favorite Use of Pop Music in a Scene
Day 25: Reflection of Real Life in the 80s?
Day 26: Fashion Fashion Fashion
Day 27: Most Dated Event/Concept
Day 28: Favorite Jan Hammer Music
Day 29: Diversity on Miami Vice
Day 30: Portrayal of Drug Use and Users on Miami Vice
Day 31: What I Would Like to See Next