Vincenzo — Episode 13 Recap
Real Owner takes his rightful seat. Traitors and loyalists go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Trivia
The union leader claims his grandfather is pro-Japan. This is a nod to Jeon Yeo-been’s character in Be Melodramatic, a PD who makes it big with a pro-Japan documentary.
Previous: Vincenzo — Episode 11/12 Recap
Next: Vincenzo — Episode 14 Recap
Recap
Cho holds a gun up to Vincenzo’s head. He’ll spare him as long as Vincenzo lets him make a clean getaway. Never mind the $30M — he just needs one very specific gold bar. They each take one and climb out.
Once back in the temple, Vincenzo wonders whether the guillotine file is really hidden in Cho’s gold bar. Cho is surprised he knows and, after a brief struggle, Vincenzo disarms him and confirms his gold bar contains the file.
The Babel heir formerly known as Jun-woo continues the tower presentation that Han-seo started. He auctions off prime real estate in exchange for favors from a variety of high-level officials and businessmen. Among the participants: Agent Tae of the intelligence service.
Cho reveals his real motive for working with Vincenzo — he is also an NIS agent. His mission? Pose as a corporate spy and work with Wang Shaolin, then take back the guillotine file. Cho had been the one behind Wang’s “accidental” death. Meeting Vincenzo was purely coincidence.
They continue their conversation, unaware that the suspicious tenants have decided to return to check on them. Vincenzo figures Cho has decided it would be more profitable to keep the file for himself. Otherwise, intelligence would have torn the building down already.
Vincenzo finally receives a warning from Cha-young. She and Mr. Nam stall Hong-sik and Miri in the hallway while he and Cho conceal the hatch. When the four finally reach the temple, VincenCho are deep in “ridding their hearts of selfishness and greed” with 108 bows. Miri’s eyes narrow as she notices a floorboard out of place.
Once alone again, VincenCho burst into tears when they realize they’ve thrown Cho’s jacket — and the iris data — down the hatch. Their only option to get back into the room now is to tear down the building.
Vincenzo has a better acting coach than Cha-young, because his tears of disappointment leave the tenants feeling deeply ashamed for being coming back. At Jipuragi, Cha-young and Mr. Nam literally jump for joy at the news that the gold is real, but soon the trio are despairing together on the floor.
Jun-woo is ecstatic over the “proceeds” from the auction; even the intelligence agency had something to offer. But Attorney Han suddenly spills the beans on the missing guillotine file, catching Attorney Choi off guard. The Jang brothers are dismayed to learn that the file could be detrimental not only to Babel, but about half of the participants in the auction. In the hallway, Choi warns Han that playing both brothers could cost him his life.
Prosecutor Jung and Team Jipuragi turn their focus to Babel’s anti-union activities. The news is reporting that the late union leader’s body has been stolen to prevent a union funeral from taking place, decreasing morale among union members. Vincenzo notes that the corpse thieves are members of the Twin Swords gang planted in the union.
Without the deceased leader’s testimony, or proof that Attorney Choi was behind his death, Prosecutor Jung needs to raid Babel’s Vision Team for incriminating documents. Chayenzo volunteer to procure the evidence required for a search and seizure warrant.
Cho recalls his last conversation with Vincenzo as he meets with a mysterious man at a pub. Vincenzo had asked for his continued cooperation, but Cho’s response is unknown.
Elsewhere, Han-seo blames Attorney Han’s ill-conceived advice for his botched murder attempt and expresses fear for his life. Han tries to reassure Han-seo his life is not at risk, but the latter reminds him that Jun-woo even killed his own father. Han offers a new strategy for controlling the company: play the fool until Jun-woo lets his guard down. He seems to take that advice in earnest, as Attorney Choi bails him out of jail later that night for assaulting a bar employee.
It’s Jun-woo’s first day as Babel’s official chairman and the recently bribed media outlets gush over his handsome face and laid back lifestyle. Jun-woo will be questioned on Babel’s anti-union activities the following day, but Attorney Choi doesn’t think Prosecutor Jung will have sufficient evidence for a raid. Before the inauguration, Han-seo reasserts that the attempted murder was an accident and Jun-woo gifts him a watch. He reassures Han-seo that he intends to keep him alive… as a scapegoat.
The Vision Team is impenetrable, so Jipuragi take aim at the Babel company union. They decide to use the new union leader, a traitor to his predecessor, to provoke the Vision Team leader, a staunch Babel loyalist. After all, leaders fear betrayal; loyalists fear loss of trust; and traitors make loyalists reckless.
The union leader is abducted by Cheol-wook, and Team Jipuragi is so much fun that he readily admits to receiving orders directly from the Vision Team — even with the looming threat of being tied to a concrete block and dumped in a lake. Via phone, he warns Team Leader Park he will release email evidence of their collusion unless Park delivers a $2M ransom. Park can’t come up with the cash, and Prosecutor Jung receives the union leader’s emails. The Vision Team raid is on.
Still reeling from the adrenaline, Team Jipuragi declare their intent to join the Italian mafia. Everyone is varying degrees of grossed out when Vincenzo shares a Cassano tradition of dumping pigs’ blood on their rivals’ new leaders — except Cha-young, who is tickled by the grotesque-ness of it.
Jun-woo is brought to the prosecution for interrogation, and Prosecutor Jung’s only job today is to stall. Attorney Choi bets $10 they’ll be out before Jun-woo’s university lecture later that evening, and Jung pays up. He only asks Jun-woo one question: was he ordering anti-union activities at Babel while still at Wusang?
Meanwhile, the Vision Team are busy boxing up evidence of their dirty deeds — no time to shred paperwork! Mr. Nam and Agent Ahn pose as security while Cheol-wook, clad in a Babel handyman uniform, chases an employee sneaking a box of documents to his car. He and Chayenzo corner him in the parking lot.
Prosecutor Jung, Attorney Choi, and Jun-woo enjoy a leisurely meal in the interrogation room. Unbeknownst to Choi, Vincenzo has intentionally asked Jung to tip off Babel and Wusang to the raid, and she is pleased to receive a text that says the situation is being “handled” well.
The union leader is enjoying a dip — aka tied to a ladder in a pool — with the Jipuragi boys when he calls Team Leader Park again. This time, he’ll send the Vision Team’s documents to the prosecution if he doesn’t get that $2M. In the university auditorium, Vincenzo asks a staff member to help him impress a girl as Jun-woo arrives.
As Jun-woo’s lecture begins, the accompanying video is suddenly interrupted by a livestream of a conversation between the union and Vision Team leaders. They implicate Jun-woo in Babel’s anti-union activities and Han-seo, pleasantly surprised by this turn of events, feigns incompetence to keep the stream running. In the balcony, Cha-young complains about the popcorn Vincenzo has brought for the occasion, and he says he’ll make up for it in 5… 4… 3… 2…
Comments
This show continues to do a great job showing growth in its characters and keeping the story moving forward. This episode, we finally get glimpses into the inner workings of Vincenzo and Cho’s relationship and the beginning of Jun-woo’s evolution into the public face of Babel. This change in dynamics is bound to deliver some thrills and spills.
Before I dive into the commentary, I am going to take a moment to pat myself on the back here. I’ve suspected Cho as an intelligence agent since episode 8, when Ahn recognized him in front of Geumga Plaza. And my suspicions grew when he reported the temple for corruption, around the same time the NIS memo leaked. Early in the series, I threw a lot of convoluted theories out there like a messy bowl of spaghetti on a wall, and I’m so excited to see one noodle stick.
To the commentary!
It was heartwarming to see VincenCho so giddy opening the secret room together. This is clearly not just a transactional relationship for either; the gun show and ensuing fight were more of a song-and-dance than a real threat. They also try to hash things out after Cho reveals his true identity, and are even comfortable showing emotions and cursing at each other when they realize they are locked out of the gold room. A consigliere’s relationship with anyone is prone to betrayal if goals diverge, but I think their friendship will pass this test. The writers make me trust that these two will find a mutually beneficial way to continue working together.
Speaking of the writing, it is too predictable for the guy with the 30% share of the gold to betray the other. So the fact that the center of their conflict is not that, but the guillotine file, is delightfully original. Cho doesn’t come off greedy, and Vincenzo already clearly has a lot of money, so this writing remains loyal to both characters. Sure, both are dazzled by the sight of the gold bars — who wouldn’t be? — but neither are particularly motivated by it in the moment. The file holds higher stakes than even an entire nation’s GDP in gold, anyway.
Jun-woo has only been chairman two days as of the end of this episode and he’s already on a losing streak. Even with prosecution, media, and intelligence all paid for and seamlessly working together — the way the evening news was practically livestreaming his interrogation meal was chilling — he is still easily outdone by Vincenzo and Cha-young, culminating in that university lecture scene. The unlikely partnership between Vincenzo and Bye Bye Balloon fka Ant Company aka Babel’s former lackeys can’t be far behind, and not getting rid of them seems like a critical oversight.
With Jun-woo front and center as the chairman, his recklessness is glaringly obvious. Attorney Choi stands out as being the true showrunner; Jun-woo’s greed for power and money and tactical approach to preserving both made him easy to coax into the limelight. He would rather expose himself than deal with his brother’s repeated takeover attempts and potentially lose a scapegoat, but now he’s in a very vulnerable position. With his three best shadows out of play, the Vision Team under investigation, and the union leader compromised, Wusang is his only remaining defense. Choi clearly has the upper hand, though we don’t know yet to what end.
I hope Agent Tae was in that Babel tower meeting to collect info for a guillotine file version 2.0, and not because the intelligence service is as corrupt as the rest of them.
And I hope that Inzaghi does something really awesome to pay Vincenzo back for the food, though I’d be just as satisfied if he just flew over Jun-woo and shat on his head at the right opportunity.
P.S. Although I was not on board the S.S. Chayenzo at all — I cringed when Vincenzo said he wanted to impress a woman — I seriously got the feels when that pigs’ blood fell on Jun-woo. That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen in a k-drama. Don’t @ me.
