Or maybe it was the music. "Bushido" was Edward James Olmos' episode. He directed it, and it was the annual spotlight on his Lt. Castillo character. It's deliberately paced and surprisingly lugubrious for a show famously envisioned by Tartikoff as "MTV Cops"--but on the other hand, what other TV series in 1986 book-ended an episode with music from Bryan Ferry and Kate Bush? ("Boys And Girls" and "Hello Earth" respectively.) For many viewers (umm, like me), this was their first exposure to such artists.

In some cases, Vice's videos were better than those that actually ran on MTV: checkout the dramatic sequence edited around Godley & Crème's "Cry" in the episode "Definitely Miami".

That episode demonstrates another Vice element: often the whole was far greater than the sum of its parts. The episode's script was weak (a common problem during Vice's second season), but between the music and cinematography, it's salvaged by an example of high style. Between the extensive sunbaked location photography and the soft-porn cheesecake shots of bikini-clad Arielle Dombasle, you could make a pretty good case that this was the best-photographed episode in the best-photographed show on television.

A Few Minor Flaws Don't Diminish Overall Impact

Sadly, unlike the first season DVD of Vice, there are no bonus features on these discs; it's strictly the episodes themselves. However, happily, all of the outside music appears to have been retained, which must have cost Universal a pretty penny in licensing fees.

But that wall-to-wall original music, and the sound overall is fantastic, as Jan Hammer's score and the show's MTV-era rock soundtrack is gloriously remixed in 5.1 sound. The explosions, car chases and gunfire all have added oomph, as the soundtrack routes a surprising amount of power to a home theater's subwoofer.

And like that first season DVD of Vice, Universal never lets you forget who's show it is: every disc begins with 30 seconds or so of the current Universal logo, and every episode begins with that same Universal logo. We get it guys, we get it!

There are few scratches on the frames of the disc, and some dust, but all in all, this is pretty good looking footage.

But then, it was even more so 20 years ago, when its dramatic cinematography left the typical flat, washed-out low-res visuals of TV in the dust. If you want to see how history will record the look of the '80s, or simply want to see cool cops, hot visuals, and fun--if often vacuous plots--put on your Wayfarers and pop-in Miami Vice's second season.