Miami Vice

Sonny and Rico, could there be anyone cooler? Honestly I have no idea. I had never seen an episode of the mid '90's hit Miami Vice, until this afternoon. Netflix recently added all 5 seasons of the show to their instant play today, March 28th.

The Pilot Episode is entitled "Brother's Keeper" and begins with a strange "Last Time on Miami Vice" considering that as the pilot episode there never was a last time. The effect though, was that I felt like I was getting thrown into a series that was already moving on all cylinders. It certainly kept me interested, however, one of the things I appreciate about watching TV on Netflix is that I can start at the beginning and learn about all of the characters, so that I get every little inside joke. So in that regard it felt like a miss for me, but as an experience of sitting back and watching some episodic television it wasn't bad.

I was surprised that the episode managed in many respects to feel like a modern period piece. The action stayed ramped up, but the costumes, dialogues, and even the dated chauvinism, reminded me of watching Mad Men, except you know with one dimensional characters.

The story line fell into familiar cop show procedural tropes, drug dealing, undercover officers, a leak in the department, and car chases galore.

The excellent cinematography and location shooting, definitely manage to stand up after 25 years, though no one would mistake the quality for HD.

In the end, if you wish Netflix would finally get NCIS, and yet you are still young enough to have not seen Miami Vice the first time around, this might be the show for you.