Vincenzo — Episode 18 Recap
In an uncertain world, everyone just wants to be someone’s brother.
By the numbers
“Shots” fired: 7
Actual shots fired: 3
Golden lighters: 5
Previous: Vincenzo — Episode 17 Recap
Next: Vincenzo — Episode 19 Recap
Recap
Replay end of last episode: Interpol arrives at the ice rink, Vincenzo is shot, and Han-seo is holding a smoking gun. Vincenzo lies in a pool of blood on the ice.
Or at least, he does, until a member of Interpol steps in to check his pulse. Vincenzo instantly rolls up and takes possession of his gun. All are taken to an undisclosed location, where Vincenzo shoots the three Interpol agents and instructs the Korean police to cover it up. He lets Han-seo free — but not before grazing his arm with a bullet, to match his brother’s ear lobe.
At the hospital, Han-seo explains to Team Babel that he’d lured Vincenzo to the ice rink to be captured by Interpol, but brought the gun to kill Vincenzo. His argument? Not even Interpol can stop him from eventually returning to Korea and continuing his revenge plot. But that “sly bastard” was tipped off and got the upper hand, again. Attorney Choi taunts Han in the hallway; his little Interpol stunt probably just landed him on Vincenzo’s hit list.
Flashback: Han-seo had tipped off Vincenzo to Interpol’s arrival. Vincenzo had really faked being shot courtesy of Mr. Nam’s SFX skills. But rather than killing the Interpol agents, he’d handed them and the Korean police USB drives with evidence against both Paolo and Han-seok. The bullet wound was Han-seo’s idea to avert suspicion.
Team Jipuragi gather the VVIPs at a listening cafe with a text message purporting to be from Han-seok. When they take their seats, the audio from Agent Tae’s video starts playing. An outraged Chief Prosecutor Hwang contacts Han-seok, threatening to sever their alliance. Han-seok’s been framed.
At a press conference outside the courthouse, SenCha vow to root out all corruption related to Babel Tower, while Han-seok is preoccupied with hunting for the source of the VVIP party leak. Choi thinks it might be one of the attendees, but he’s fixated on Vincenzo as the culprit. Suddenly, Choi gets a notification; while they’ve been distracted, Jipuragi has filed a claim against Babel regarding the tower. Checkmate?
After leaving court, SenCha divide and conquer. Cha-young tries to rattle Attorney Choi with audio evidence of all the deaths she ordered, but Choi’s poker face is strong. Chief Prosecutor Han’s is less so, and his six bodyguards are no match for Vincenzo’s one gun. He is on his knees — and in the palm of Vincenzo’s hand — in no time.
Cho is abducted by The Kingmaker, who is still on a quest to obtain the Guillotine file. Meanwhile, Han-seok sustains repeated attacks in his own home. Finally admitting fear for his life, he begrudgingly takes up Choi and Han’s suggestion that the safest place for him to be right now is, ironically, in jail. Vincenzo can’t break into a jail cell, right?
The next morning, Han-seok is arrested for tax evasion. Han-seo is at his side, and when his brother is handcuffed, he finally drops the naive little brother act. He won’t launch Babel Bio as his brother has instructed:
Han-seo: You told me to become a businessman like Elizabeth Holmes. But she’s a fraud, and she’s in prison. So what you were saying was for me to become a fraud. But I can’t do that. I don’t want to cause any trouble for you.
Han-seok: Do you really have a death wish?
Han-seo: This is exhausting. Why would I die? This is all for your sake.
Han-seok is still looking smug as he’s brought to the prosecution office, where his prosecution allies Han and Jung await. Over a meal, Han-seo finally hears reassurance that Vincenzo won’t kill him; his actions suggest he’s repentant. Han-seo explains that, although he’s secured the Babel chairman position already, his affinity for Vin-hyung keeps him on Team Jipuragi’s side.
Surrounded by The Kingmaker’s enforcers, Cho gets to work identifying the security expert for the Geumga Plaza safe. At the prison, Vincenzo finally wipes that smug look off Han-seok’s face by recounting all the steps he took to put Han-seok behind bars, from manipulating Han to purposely allowing Han-seok to escape his attacks. He also shares the story of why he joined the mafia:
Vincenzo: Guess what the mafia used to call me? Gatto sazio… A cat that’s full toys with a mouse all day before eating it. When I was little, a robber murdered my foster parents. I joined the Mafia and tormented him for two years... The real reason I’ve let you live so far is because you’re my mouse… This is my last time toying with you before gobbling you up.
With the evidence of Jason Fund in the prosecution’s hands once again, Prosecutors Han and Jung have no choice but to keep Han-seok behind bars. Jung asks Han to delay his promotion so he can handle the cases for Babel Tower and Chairman Jang personally. Choi will be assisting, as well.
Luca arrives in Korea and visits Geumga Plaza bearing bad news. The Cassano family is being targeted by a rival family, and Paolo is abandoning ship. Luca begs Vincenzo to return to Italy to save the family.
Cho is still under Kingmaker’s custody and has narrowed down the list of security experts to four, including Miri. Vincenzo packs a bag and unsuccessfully tries to get a hold of him. Cha-young receives the photo of her and Vincenzo from their fake proposal party. Vincenzo opens the window to feed Inzaghi, but he is nowhere to be found.
Vincenzo promises he’ll only be away for two weeks, but the tearful tenants pack him treats and charms to last months. At the airport, Cha-young recites an Italian proverb she has learned: “L’amicizia è un’anima che abita in due corpi.” Friendship is one soul in two bodies.
Vincenzo boards the plane as The Kingmaker’s men coerce Miri into opening the secret basement, but the room has been cleared of all the gold bars. Miri wallops one of the guards with her laptop and flees toward Jipuragi, screaming for help. Before the men can attack Cha-young and Miri, a hand appears.
Vincenzo is back and, in a throwback to episode 1, he throws the guy out the window and beckons the rest toward him with a smirk.
Comments
Vincenzo is a show with a lot of social commentary, and this episode in particular questions the role of age and status in interpersonal relationships. Our characters fall into three camps:
- Traditional. These characters include Kingmaker, Han, and Han-seok. Kingmaker and Han demand respect from Cha-young and Vincenzo, respectively — not because it’s deserved, but simply because they’ve lived longer and have power on paper. They’re not keen on returning that respect to someone younger, even when at a disadvantage. For them, age equates to power, and this is evident in the way Han cowers in the older Attorney Choi’s presence even after being made chief prosecutor. As for Han-seok, he insists on being referred to with the honorific hyung-nim — as opposed to hyung, which would be more appropriate for blood brothers with a good relationship — as a way to assert power and create distance between him and Han-seo. With these three characters, the writer seems to be making a connection between longstanding norms and systemic corruption.
- Flexible. In the same way his character toes the ethical line and grapples with his place in the world, Han-seo is similarly fluid when it comes to his communication style. He uses honorifics with Prosecutor Han who is older and of a similar social status, but he also obliges Vincenzo’s demand for honorifics — an acknowledgment that Vincenzo is someone he looks up to despite Han-seo’s higher status**. When he tries to ask both men if he can casually refer to them as hyung, it’s because the word transcends age and status for him. He’s never been allowed to call anyone that before, including his own brother, and the word implies someone who will look after him and has an interest in his personal growth. Unsurprisingly, it’s Vincenzo, the outsider unburdened by tradition, that finally permits him to do so.
- New school. Many of the show’s characters represent a new generation for whom tradition is a burden. As an Italy-raised Korean man, Vincenzo is not attached to rules of formality. When Prosecutor Han asserts his role and chides him for disrespecting his elders, Vincenzo replies, “All age does is give you a lot of responsibilities.” Cha-young also won’t respect someone who doesn’t deserve it, and she has no problem talking down to Kingmaker Kim while continuing to call Vincenzo lawyer-nim**. Meanwhile, CEO Park is an elder that is not afraid to show admiration for someone younger. When he asks Vincenzo to call him hyung, it’s because Vincenzo is someone CEO Park wants to live vicariously through. And when Vincenzo finally does so, he acknowledges and reciprocates CEO Park’s respect. For all of these characters, respect and power are earned not through money or age, but lived experiences and mutual cooperation.
** The assumption here is that Vincenzo would traditionally be of a lower social status despite his wealth due to his family background and foreign upbringing. Please comment if you have more insight!
Age and status aside, as much as Vincenzo is someone to be admired and revered, his true nature is also intensely horrifying. He has already attained the kind of god-like villainy Attorney Choi and Han-seok aspired to much earlier in the series. And although he is sparing Han-seo now for being sufficiently repentant, one can’t help but wonder what would happen once the balance of power is fully tipped in his favor. Is he an enforcer of justice, or perpetuating the cycle of corruption?
On a lighter note, here are some hints about where the gold bars could have gone:
