Rewatching S01 for the first time in ages reminded me how good MV actually was, and that -- despite its flaws -- it has aged extremely well.
After producers fixed the glaring miscast of 70s sitcom fixture Gregory Sierra as the Lt, and replaced him with the cancerous seriousness of EJO, the show soared to new heights. No, it wasn't perfect, and it's budgetary holes were the likely cause: scenes shot on soundstage sets, some weak cinematography, and an abundance of PMT's over-acting (which, admittedly, does kind of grow on you). Weaknesses aside, the show deserved to go on.
...and it did. After the huge success of S01, they came back for S02, and likely had a budgetary bump in the right direction. Eps 1/2 kicked things off on the right track. "New Yawk" locations elevated the grittiness and realism, as did the array of quality cameos from some great character actors (hat tip to Luis Guzman).
As strong as the episode is, it's still marred by a handful of scenes shot on a soundstage, cheesy romantic interludes that drag on too long, and one of the worst cop tails in TV history: C&T tailing a river swimming drug runner on dark, empty NYC streets in a flashy, 50s convertible land yacht. Not only is the car a heat score, they were literally 20 feet away from the tail at all times, the baddie doing his best NPC charity of remaining completely oblivious to cops parked in front of it, across the street, staring/watching as he drops big bags of drugs into an abandoned building. Then, drives off, right past the two guys in the loud car watching him on the abandoned street. C'mon.
After producers fixed the glaring miscast of 70s sitcom fixture Gregory Sierra as the Lt, and replaced him with the cancerous seriousness of EJO, the show soared to new heights. No, it wasn't perfect, and it's budgetary holes were the likely cause: scenes shot on soundstage sets, some weak cinematography, and an abundance of PMT's over-acting (which, admittedly, does kind of grow on you). Weaknesses aside, the show deserved to go on.
...and it did. After the huge success of S01, they came back for S02, and likely had a budgetary bump in the right direction. Eps 1/2 kicked things off on the right track. "New Yawk" locations elevated the grittiness and realism, as did the array of quality cameos from some great character actors (hat tip to Luis Guzman).
As strong as the episode is, it's still marred by a handful of scenes shot on a soundstage, cheesy romantic interludes that drag on too long, and one of the worst cop tails in TV history: C&T tailing a river swimming drug runner on dark, empty NYC streets in a flashy, 50s convertible land yacht. Not only is the car a heat score, they were literally 20 feet away from the tail at all times, the baddie doing his best NPC charity of remaining completely oblivious to cops parked in front of it, across the street, staring/watching as he drops big bags of drugs into an abandoned building. Then, drives off, right past the two guys in the loud car watching him on the abandoned street. C'mon.