Mann himself has admitted he was a bad exec producer/showrunner, and he was checked out or focused elsewhere after this first 2 seasons….I personally love season 3, and a lot of 4-5, but it definitely did hit some embarrassing notes before it was over. One of my favorite shows, and Mann has always had a great insight into organized crime, politics, and the actual dynamics surrounding crime. The first seasons are brilliant in their theme, direction, it's all a bleak, nihilistic, hopeless exercise in futility, just like the drug war was, and has been for the 20 plus years after the shows run ended. People kill, die, lose their self in this endless maze, and thats why 'Vice' was such a game changing show, in addition to it's direction and use of music. Given HSBC and other recent bank scandals, it's a poignant scene.
