Vincenzo — Episode 16 Recap
Vincenzo finds a much better — and probably equally soothing — use for his fidget lighter.
Trivia
Literal blood baths — or showers, as it were: 2 to date
Creative uses of pig blood: 4 to date (one for each member of Team Babel: bloody syringes in pillow for Han-seo, zombie threat at laundromat for Attorney Choi, calling card in Attorney Han’s office, Jun-woo’s university shower)
Previous: Vincenzo — Episode 15 Recap
Next: Vincenzo — Episode 17 Recap
Recap
On the brink of being framed for CEO Oh’s murder, there’s only one tool Vincenzo can do to avoid arrest: brute force. He incapacitates the police officers and flees with Hong-sik, who is just pulling up to the plaza. CEO Park manages to capture the masked man who lured Vincenzo to the roof.
While waiting for CEO Park, Hong-sik and Vincenzo have a heart-to-heart. Hong-sik says he mended his ways because he was just a useless troublemaker, but Vincenzo should do no such thing; he can do more for the world just the way he is. Vincenzo smiles.
Cha-young and CEO Park arrive, masked man in tow. After a brief interrogation in Park’s car, Vincenzo learns his accomplices’ whereabouts. The whole gang — pun intended? —take a field trip, and Nutria Park and Lightning Scissors team up to lay some smack down.
The real perpetrators are delivered to the police, and Cha-young runs down the gory details of their crime. At Wusang, Attorney Choi finally gets her long awaited update on her latest scheme: another womp womp. Attorney Kim is arrested for aiding and abetting CEO Oh’s murder.
CEO Park asks Vincenzo to lend his trustworthy face to Bye Bye Balloon’s flyers in return for his role in clearing Vincenzo’s name. Vincenzo is grateful enough to oblige, but makes his best efforts to act resistant.
Jun-woo vents his frustrations about his losing streak, and Han-seo trolls his brother by being all starry-eyed over Vincenzo. This angers Jun-woo even more, and he lobs a blunt object at him, which baby brother impressively dodges. In the hallway, Attorney Han expresses concerns that his firm is turning into a killing factory, but Choi reminds him he’s the one that brought her there in the first place.
It’s Gyeong-ja’s day out, and her first request is for a portrait to use at her funeral. Cha-young arranges for mother and son to take a portrait together, as well, then excuses herself during their walk in the park to give them privacy. Vincenzo is overwhelmed with emotion as he and his mother finally open up to each other. Gyeong-ja is also brimming with tears, knowing her Ju-hyeong-a is right behind her.
Vincenzo: “I’m sure your son has been waiting for you his entire life. And I’m sure your son tried to grow up strong so he wouldn’t be ashamed when he met his mother someday.”
Gyeong-ja: “That doesn’t matter. No matter how he’s grown up, he’s still my son… There’s something I want to tell him if I meet him again. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise that I’d come for you soon. There hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t thought about you.”
Jun-woo and Attorney Choi finally put two and two together: Vincenzo is using the guillotine file. Jun-woo ominously declares that, if he can’t have the guillotine file, no one can. At the hospital, Gyeong-ja’s outing ends with hugs for everyone, and a guard is posted outside of her room to ward off any retrial-related trouble. Cha-young gently suggests Vincenzo call Gyeong-ja “Mom,” when he’s ready.
Back at Geumga Plaza, the pawn shop couple confirm the new addition to their family. The tenants are thrilled for them, and much merrymaking ensues. Across the street, a gas inspector who had visited the snack bar earlier stands guard.
The gas line at the snack bar has been cut, but an anonymous tip sends firefighters to the plaza just in the nick of time. The commotion attracts the tenants’ attention and they quickly evacuate. Vincenzo throws a rigged watch out of the window before it combusts and ignites the entire building.
Han-seo earns himself a few stitches on his forehead for sabotaging the arson, but is enjoying his newfound rebelliousness. Jun-woo tells him to scram when Attorney Choi arrives bearing information on Gyeong-ja, so he heads to Jipuragi instead. Beaming with pride, he tells the trio to thank him for saving their lives. Vincenzo finally agrees to let him work with them and gives him his first assignment: alphabetizing files.
Later that afternoon, Vincenzo gazes longingly at his mother’s portraits, remembers her embrace, and gets the urge to see her. Unfortunately, she already has a visitor — Jun-woo. They have a (disconcertingly) heartwarming conversation that seems to make Jun-woo envy how much Vincenzo is loved. Back home, he tells Choi she better come through, this time.
Cha-young calls Vincenzo and catches him in the middle of a bungeoppang run. He’s picking some up to bring to the hospital, and she repeats her suggestion that he call Gyeong-ja “mother.” After they hang up, she mournfully looks at a photo with her own father.
Choi has enlisted a newly released convict — last seen eliminating Yu-chan’s killer in episode 4’s prison scuffle — to kill Gyeong-ja. He enters her room as Vincenzo arrives at the hospital, but Vincenzo is a few minutes too late. He kneels at her side, as if seeking forgiveness, and clasps her hand in his. Meanwhile, our psychopathic duo receive the good news and dance with glee.
Vincenzo immediately gets to work locating her attacker. Agent Ahn retrieves his personal information using his image from the CCTV footage. Vincenzo puts him on standby — he may have someone else he’d like to track. In the meantime, Gyeong-ja’s murderer gets a mafia manicure. He eventually succumbs, confessing that Attorney Choi gave the order and leading Vincenzo to Team Babel.
Blind with rage, Vincenzo overpowers all of the security at Team Babel’s hideout and locates their private room. Inside, Han-Han posit that provoking Vincenzo will only make things worse, but their concerns are overwhelmingly ignored. As the bloodied man suddenly appears pleading for help, Vincenzo steps in and immediately fires two rounds into his back. Attorney Choi’s face is showered with his blood, leaving her trembling.
Comments
Two of Vincenzo’s unlikeliest friendships come into full bloom this episode. Hong-sik has gone from intentionally shrinking his suits to shuttling him away from police, no questions asked. His approval, and even encouragement, of Vincenzo’s activities is endearingly paternal. And CEO Park, a low-level rival in the beginning of the series, becomes something like the Jun-woo to Cha-young in his early Wusang days — adorably clingy and eager to help.
But, of course, all of this warm and fuzzy screen time meant that tragedy would inevitably befall our hero. On that note, the award for worst bodyguard ever goes to this guy:
I’m holding out the tiniest hope that the sheet over Gyeong-ja’s body means that’s not really her under there. She should probably stay dead for the sake of the plot, but I just really really want Vincenzo to have a chance to call her “mom.” Plus, he’s so circumspect — he goes out of his way to prove Babel is behind every scheme even though he shouldn’t have to, by now — I find it hard to believe he could hire an incompetent bodyguard.
The puzzled look on Jun-woo’s face at the end means he must have been expecting a different kind of reaction from Vincenzo. A psychopath is too obtuse to understand that taking someone’s parent and destroying a company are not the same thing. Rather than feeling defeated, Vincenzo only becomes sharper, more vicious, and more calculated after losing his mother. He brutalizes her murderer, subdues their security with robotic precision, and exhibits willpower by waiting to kill Choi’s lackey in front of them. He’s been having fun toying with them with his silly theatrics until now, but the Consigliere Vincenzo Cassano has returned, slicked-back hair and all.
By contrast, Attorney Choi is no consigliere, no matter how much Jun-woo wants her to be one. This is the same woman who cowered at a Truck of Doom and a zombie attack at the laundromat. And she’s always described Vincenzo with words like “lucky” or “competent,” but never “dangerous.” These two can’t win against an enemy they don’t understand, and Choi is long overdue for a wake up call. Power and money won’t make her invincible, especially when grief and mourning have made Vincenzo such an unstoppable force. Even dull Han-Han figured that out long ago that it’s more dangerous not to be on his side.
For Vincenzo, Gyeong-ja’s death will be a stark reminder that his way of life does not afford him the luxury of being close to anyone. How will this affect his budding relationships with the Geumga Gang and partnership with Cha-young? Only four episodes left… and I need a hug.
