Vincenzo — Episode 10 Recap
“Justice is right only when it’s impeccable.”
By the numbers
Body count (to date): 24
Lighter appearances: only 2??
Scissor stabs: 10
Previous: Vincenzo — Episode 9 Recap
Next: Vincenzo — Episode 11/12 Recap
Recap
Chayenzo look at their clients’ lifeless bodies in disbelief. Mr. Nam and Prosecutor Jung watch Dr. Gil’s death being investigated at the safe house.
Flashback. Han-seo had gone through the phone records of all 3700 plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit and identified the four accomplices to the Babel Pharmaceutical warehouse fire. Jun-woo had snickered at this amateur (read: non-violent) tactic, and this is the end result.
Back at the accident site, Vincenzo is haunted by a memory of one of his victims, a child clutching a stuffed animal next to him.
At the police station, Cha-young insists on a proper investigation of the accident, but the police think suicide is more than plausible and tell her to scram. She files for an autopsy warrant to find the exact cause of death.
The victims’ bodies are secured in the morgue in the interim. She promises this is the last time she’ll cry (spoiler: it’s not), and Vincenzo says they need to put their guilt aside. The plaintiffs were comforted by being included in the arson; it’s not something to regret.
Cha-young is sure she won’t get the warrant, but it doesn’t matter. Vincenzo is doing the ruling now, and Babo violated his core principles by killing innocent people. Revenge will go more smoothly with a cold heart, he tells Cha-young. Meanwhile, as predicted, the police officers have made a deal with Wusang to get rid of the forensics report. They will be receiving a “delivery” later.
Mr. Nam delivers news of the plaintiffs’ deaths, and subsequent non-investigation, to the Geumga Gang. They are distraught, and Cheol-wook points out they could be next. Hong-sik concurs, and Hee-soo nearly slips up about the gold in front of Mr. Nam. They agree they need Vincenzo’s help to stay safe.
Cha-young’s autopsy warrant is issued, but Attorney Choi writes it off as a stalling tactic. Attorney Han wonders if she doesn’t think Jun-woo has crossed the line — he’s been having panic attacks since Prosecutor Seo’s murder — but Choi counters they’ve been on the chopping block since he revealed his true identity to them. Might as well go along with it.
Cha-young hangs photos of the plaintiffs in the Jipuragi office and promises to make Babo pay. But Vincenzo wants to break his promise; he is going to straight up kill that mother-effer. She seems surprisingly comfortable with this.
Having thrown any superstitions out the window, Chayenzo plot their next steps over roasted sweet potatoes. Cha-young knows the junior Wusang lawyer who handles all of their side dealings, and Vincenzo plans to have both him and the police tailed. Cha-young wants to strike the last blow on whoever he catches.
Vincenzo follows the police as they retrieve a bag from a locker, then duck into an alley where they split their bounty. He sneaks up from behind and steals a photo of them handling the cash before easily knocking both out.
The men wake up tied together on rolling office chairs in an abandoned parking structure. Hadn’t they told Vincenzo to do as he likes? He slowly shoves them toward the edge of the building as they refuse to turn over the case files for the plaintiffs’ deaths. Then Cha-young delivers one final kick, putting them dangerously close to the edge, and… fine. They’ll give them the case files by morning and resign, but what about their money? Tough luck. Vincenzo has already donated it to charity.
Attorney Han, shaken by the rising body count, has a tete-a-tete with Han-seo. The world already thinks he’s the chairman of Babel — won’t he just take it all for himself? Jun-woo may pull the strings, but Attorney Han knows what a real CEO looks like.
Cha-young goes home now that her window is fixed, but is plagued by Vincenzo’s threats to kill Babo. Elsewhere, Vincenzo tells Mr. Cho he’s been busy finding the real head of Babel, but Mr. Cho urges Vincenzo to prioritize retrieving the gold. Vincenzo asks for more time to get the tenants in line. A frustrated Mr. Cho heads back to his car and reports corruption at Nanyak Temple.
An old colleague named Luca warns Vincenzo that a Korean man has been snooping around in Italy for information on him. At his apartment, Cha-young has let herself in with his spare key. She lies that her window isn’t fixed yet. He offers her the bedroom for real this time, but oops — she left the window open while cleaning, and Inzaghi is back. On the bright side, she’s brought lots of makgeolli?
They reminisce about her father and Vincenzo tells her he had the best sleep in a long time after drinking with him. He relays the message he wanted to give her: that she’s the perfect lawyer to take down corrupt forces. When she replies that she’s not a righteous lawyer, he says he doesn’t expect her to be. He expects anger and action.
She asks him again if he’s going to leave South Korea, and he still doesn’t answer. They take turns stealing glances at each other as they fall asleep at the table.
With the Babel Chemicals settlement and their financial situation resolved, Jun-woo brings his focus back to Babel Tower. Since Ant Company did such a lousy job, he is retaining his father’s preferred “service provider” to deal with Geumga Plaza. Twelve people died on the last project they handled, but, fret not! They have the prosecution on their side now.
Vincenzo is surprised to see CEO Park has moved in to Geumga Plaza and checks in to make sure they’re not causing trouble. It turns out his “legit” travel agency is actually aiding and abetting fugitives who want to flee the country via hot air balloon.
He brings the data he received from the crooked cops to Jipuragi and, what do you know? Not only was a full investigation actually conducted, but there is confirmation of foul play. Through CCTV footage and the real forensics report, they deduce that the four were attacked in an overpass, knocked unconscious, and left in the field with the charcoal briquettes to finish them off. But they have zero confidence the prosecution will proceed with the case.
Mr. Nam notices an aroma wafting from the front door — Agent Ahn is eavesdropping. And delivering spaghetti and meatballs. They continue their conversation as he sets the food down. The car that had been tailing the victims is likely registered under a fake name. Ahn interjects that those types of cars are impossible to track. He just… really loves crime shows!
At Wusang, Choi gives Jun-woo a status update: she is working on demolishing Geumga Plaza and getting the prosecution to nullify the decision on the Babel Chemicals case. Jun-woo asks why such a competent lawyer is working with him, and she replies that owning her own practice would be too boring for someone who likes to live on the edge.
In turn, she asks why he runs the company from the shadows. He wants to play the game, avoid legal responsibility, and manipulate people like a god. The last reason resonates strongly with her: “I wish to live that life too.”
Due to the meticulous planning behind the Babel-related “accidents,” Vincenzo suspects that the people doing the dirty work are probably in close contact with Babo himself. The best way to lure them out? Make them come to Jipuragi. How? Mock publicly, threaten privately.
The tenants are eager to help avenge the plaintiffs. Since the law isn’t on their side, they have special skills to offer instead: Larry is good at anything physical. Miri is really good with computers and machines. The Buddhists can fight. Yeon-jin is a bigmouth, lol. Mr. Nam and Cha-young are enthusiastic about teaming up, and Vincenzo is too overwhelmed to protest. He eyes Chef Baek suspiciously when he accidentally mentions the word “gold.”
Begin phase one: public mockery.
Larry’s dance studio is transformed into a makeshift newsroom. Disguised as a pigeon named Inzaghi and a whistleblower named Opener, Vincenzo and Cha-young offer scathing criticisms of Choi’s dancing, Han’s pandering (lolol), and Han-seo’s dimwittedness. The tenants, also donning cartoonish masks, make up the peanut gallery.
Wusang and Han-seo watch the video with mixed emotions, but Jun-woo — the mention of whom is notably absent from the broadcast — takes it in stride. He knows the goal is to provoke them and expose him. They just need to stay calm and hang back.
An irate Attorney Choi calls Cha-young, but she denies everything as Vincenzo playfully coos in the background. A Wusang associate is able to get rid of all articles and trending searches related to the livestream, but the video itself can’t be deleted yet. Meanwhile, Mr. Nam is disappointed that their whistleblowing hasn’t made news, but Cha-young points out that the media decides what is “real” news. Vincenzo reminds them the end game is to mobilize Babo or the killers, not the media.
It’s time to move on to step two: threats.
Hong-sik and Hee-soo, dressed as cleaning crew, exit Attorney Han’s office as he walks in. In his darkened office, he sees a bloody knife standing upright on his desk. Behind him, a large bloody C has been painted on the wall. He clutches his chest, horrified.
Attorney Choi is attacked at the laundromat once again — this time, by a zombie Larry. She pretends to pass out from terror and he paints a C on the glass door in blood. She gets up as soon as he leaves, about 50% threatened and 50% annoyed.
In the Babel parking lot, Han-seo cowers as he is chased by a remote control car piloted by Agent Ahn and Chef Baek. It has a timer attached, and when it reaches zero, the “C-4” on its roof releases an explosion of golden confetti. And a flag with another bloody C.
Jun-woo sees photos and ponders the meaning of all the C’s, then learns his informant is back from Italy. Jipuragi wonder when they’ll be attacked, but Vincenzo knows Babo doesn’t know his true identity yet. He intentionally left the C’s as his calling card.
Prosecutor Jung reports to Jipuragi that Dr. Gil’s death was also ruled a suicide and the investigation closed. He is there to ask to handle the plaintiffs’ case, but the trio decline. Vincenzo notes that a half-edible apple is still rotten; even if there are righteous judges and prosecutors, the entire organization is still broken. They’ll do things their way.
Through his contact, Jun-woo learns that Vincenzo is no ordinary lawyer; he’s the most feared and revered consigliere in Italy. He giggles like a schoolgirl at photos of Vincenzo’s past mafia misdeeds. Apparently, bloody-syringes-in-pillow is old hat! But Jun-woo realizes the C is a death threat, and it dawns on him that he needs to kill or be killed.
Mr. Nam stands guard outside Vincenzo’s apartment while, inside, Vincenzo wonders why Cha-young is still hanging around. He knows her window has been fixed, but it appears she’s not as okay with him killing someone as she said. Jun-woo calls to lure Cha-young away from Geumga Plaza by pretending to have some Wusang intel. She takes the bait, and Vincenzo invites Mr. Nam inside after she leaves.
Cheol-wook is trying to give Larry and the gals a lesson in self-defense using Hong-sik as a partner, but neither are moving particularly well. Chef Baek and Agent Ahn run into Jun-woo’s new service providers in the hallway and are immediately attacked. Hee-soo and Yeong-ho spot them from across the building.
In Vincenzo’s apartment, Mr. Nam records a new video: Inzaghi is headed to the overpass where the four Babel plaintiffs died and will livestream a bombshell there in an hour. On his way out, Vincenzo tells Mr. Nam to call the police if he doesn’t call in an hour and makes him promise not to tell Cha-young.
The rest of the tenants attend to the commotion in the hallway, but these new guys look even scarier than Ant Company. Yeon-jin reminds Cheol-wook of a promise he made and he can’t attack. Park and Su-nam come to assist, but when they see the goons’ wrist tattoos — they belong to a Twin Swords Gang — they quickly retreat.
The situation looks dire, but it’s Hong-sik to the rescue… and he comes bearing scissors? He singlehandedly defeats them and they hobble away with multiple stab wounds. With the (real) gang out of the picture for now, Cheol-wook sneaks away.
Jun-woo sees Mr. Nam’s latest upload and dispatches his team to the overpass, disappointed he won’t get to watch Vincenzo in action. Cha-young arrives asking about business, but syke… he just really wanted to see her. Suddenly, Mr. Nam calls but ooooops — he wasn’t supposed to tell her about Vincenzo’s plan. She runs out in a panic and Jun-woo offers them a ride. Cheol-wook has been invited to tag along.
At the overpass, Vincenzo is outnumbered three-to-one by Jun-woo’s men (and woman — nice one, JW), as he expected. This trio has some pro moves but he successfully fights them off, sustaining only minor injuries. At the same time, Cha-young repeatedly calls Vincenzo but only gets voicemail. A tear rolls down her cheek.
Vincenzo grabs a downed henchman’s phone and uses his finger to unlock it. It shows multiple calls to a “Chairman,” but the man claims not to know who it is. Vincenzo presses against his gunshot wound; he won’t ask a third time.
Cha-young arrives and throws her arms around a bloodied Vincenzo. She wants to reprimand him for putting his life at risk, but he has just learned Babo’s true identity. He directs his eyes toward Jun-woo, and she turns. In the background, Cheol-wook is holding up his phone.
Comments
All the fun and games from the Mincenzo date last week was just the calm before the storm, wasn’t it?
Finally, halfway through the series, two consecutive episodes in which I root for the tenants. There are some compelling backstories here: a dry cleaner with a violent past. A (probably)-hacker-turned-piano-teacher. Martial-artists-turned-monks. These aren’t just a bunch of helpless losers; they are secret badasses, and potential weapons for Vincenzo’s arsenal. Or the instruments of his downfall.
The gold is shaping up to be a major part of the plot going forward. Now that (almost) everyone at Geumga Plaza knows about it, it will be a mad dash to see who can get to it first. And Mr. Cho has been a pretty reliable collaborator up to this point, but with Vincenzo’s attention divided, we may be getting some fresh competition from that end, too.
Interestingly, Vincenzo has a habit of taking dirty money and donating it. My partner speculated four episodes ago that Vincenzo seems to have enough money to retire on his own, and might just donate the gold he retrieves after giving Mr. Cho a cut. If this is true, it could potentially open the door to mutual cooperation among all parties. I’m skeptical as to the entertainment value of such an arc, but these writers never cease to amaze me.
Aside from the gold, these last two episodes have been darker than the rest, and I am not sure what is more shocking: that Jun-woo’s cruelty is limitless, or that Han-seo rises to the occasion every time. In my last recap I said it would be too cruel for Jun-woo to have killed the plaintiffs, so the fact that Han-seo was the catalyst for that and Dr. Gil… like, damn. The edible part of the apple is inevitably rotting away, just as Cha-young had said. Even if Jun-woo is killed, as Vincenzo promises he’ll do, it seems we’ll be left with Jun-woo, Jr.
Vincenzo has the capacity to be similarly cruel, and now we have the photographic evidence to prove it. So if he and Jun-woo are two sides of the same coin, why am I not as horrified by Vincenzo? Because he’s fighting for justice? Because inside, he’s still an abandoned boy longing for his mother? Because he’s a repentant former mobster and/or double-agent of sorts (still my favorite theory, by the way)? Are the Jang brothers truly irredeemable by contrast?
At least when it comes to Cha-young, there’s a clear difference between the two. Both are likely to put her life at risk, but Jun-woo constantly tries to save her from his own evil doings. He misinterprets her actions for justice, which is underestimating her while putting himself in a more vulnerable position. He still hasn’t realized she is his true Achilles’ heel.
Vincenzo, on the other hand, takes her tenacity and ruthlessness at face value; she’s not inherently good or righteous, she’s just really effing pissed. This allows him to leverage her strengths as both a partner, as with the livestream, and a tool, as with luring Jun-woo to the overpass (yes, I think that was intentional). They complement each other surprisingly well, but his mafia past is still a mystery to her. Can a romantic relationship between the two be anything other than bittersweet?
We’re way past 11 on the villainy scale now, and our key players and their motivations are beginning to set themselves apart from each other. On one side, Attorney Choi and Jun-woo seek god-like power; on the other, Chayenzo seek vengeance. In between, there is an array of characters who have the ability to change allegiances and instigate some major power shifts in the back half of the series — including a new, supposedly clean prosecutor that could serve as a Jipuragi ally.
Let the power grab begin.
