Vincenzo — Episode 9 Recap
Beware the sweet potatoes.
Trivia
Sweet potatoes eaten/total sweet potato count: 3/10
Taesan: In this episode, a bank. Also a conglomerate in Song Joong-ki’s 2012 drama The Innocent Man/Nice Guy.
Chief Kim: In this series, a corrupt prosecutor who has committed sexual assault. Also the main protagonist of writer Park Jae-bum’s drama Good Manager.
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Next: Vincenzo — Episode 10 Recap
Recap
Cha-young has just declared, in front of dozens of reporters, that she will prove the prosecution has colluded with Babel and Wusang to cover up Babel’s crimes. She and Vincenzo walk off, and Vincenzo looks at her proudly.
Alone in a quieter part of the opera house, Han-seo wants to know why Jun-woo won’t just get rid of Chayenzo. Jun-woo likes having them as sparring partners; they make him stronger. The day he defeats Vincenzo will be more satisfying that way, he says, because it would mean he was truly stronger and smarter than him.
Chayenzo head out for beer and a round of darts. Cha-young is disappointed that the Shinkwang investment in Babel happened after all. On the other hand, Vincenzo is glad they at least got revenge for Gyeong-ja, though he pretends to be busy when she invites him to visit her at the hospital the next day. Cha-young feels like they’ve missed out an opportunity to lure out the real Babel boss. Vincenzo quips that evil rebounds faster than good.
Vincenzo arrives home and recalls a meeting with Gyeong-ja’s doctor. The doctor is eager to find her relatives due to her history of hereditary cancers. In addition to her pancreatic cancer, she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in 1993 — the same year he was adopted — but it cured itself after four years.
Elsewhere in Geumga Plaza, Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin are back at the gold hunt, but once again, the gang’s all here. At least the monks are notably absent… or so they think. At an abandoned tarot shop, Jeokha and Chaeshin are using their dowsing rods to find the gold, but the elder monk insists they will donate the money to children with rare diseases. Unfortunately for them, Agent Ahn is hiding in a back room. Busted.
Vincenzo can’t sleep; his favorite pigeon is hanging out on his windowsill, again. It won’t leave so he names it Inzaghi and tries, unsuccessfully, to negotiate with it.
With his tarnished reputation and an impending divorce leaving him on the brink of bankruptcy, Dr. Gil hedges his bets. He offers Prosecutor Jung In-kuk, formerly in charge of investigating the late elder Chairman Jang, some tasty morsels on Babel in exchange for immunity and security. From Babel, he demands $30M and a way out of the country in exchange for his continued silence. Jun-woo tells him to hang tight; it’s going to take a while to launder that kind of money.
The Jipuragi trio nosh on sweet potatoes for breakfast and start digging into the Jang family tree to find Babo. Fifteen years ago, a second Jang son left to study in the US, but he doesn’t seem to have returned to Korea. Superstitious Cha-young suddenly realizes they shouldn’t be eating sweet potatoes when starting their investigation; it’s bad luck.
She announces she is going to visit Gyeong-ja at the hospital now, and Vincenzo pretends not to notice. After she leaves, Mr. Nam casually mentions that he looked into Gyeong-ja’s background, but did not find any children. Which is a good thing because, otherwise, they sure are being undutiful. Vincenzo rolls his eyes and drops his sweet potato.
At the hospital, Gyeong-ja is grateful for Min-seong’s arrest and Cha-young gives credit for that, and the hospital room, to Vincenzo. When the doctors checking in on her appear to be indifferent to her condition, Vincenzo suddenly barges in playing the overbearing son. He wants them to feed her better and tells her she must follow doctor’s orders before quickly storming back out. A confused Cha-young apologizes for the outburst, but Gyeong-ja is comforted by the attention.
Securing loans after the Shinkwang deal was supposed to be a cakewalk, but Cha-young’s announcement after the Shinkwang signing left a poor impression on other potential investors. Han-seo is frustrated and asks why they won’t just get rid of Chayenzo already? The question angers Jun-woo; he will set up a meeting with the prosecution and find a different way to deal with this. After he leaves, Han-seo makes his own phone call.
Jipuragi catch up with the Babel Pharmaceutical plaintiffs over dinner. They’ve been getting a hard time from Babel shareholders who hold them responsible for the decline in the stock price, but they’re still in good spirits — they’re used to it, by now.
Elsewhere, Wusang, Han-seo, and the Namdongbu prosecutors share a less amicable meal. Each side asserts their power over the other, and the prosecutors seem to have the upper hand. Han-seo smiles obediently while Jun-woo, displeased with their condescension, listens in on speakerphone. When they all part ways at the end of the dinner, Han-seo invites Wusang to an after-party. Meanwhile, the prosecutors’ car is attacked by masked men in an unmarked van.
At Geumga Plaza, two more masked men break into Vincenzo’s apartment. Fortunately, they are spotted by Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin, still searching the building with their metal scanners. It turns out they are a badass fighting duo! With (supposedly) only 10% of his power, Cheol-wook easily subdues the attackers. Yeon-jin even body slams one of them. The attackers mace them and escape.
The plaintiffs thank Vincenzo again and the mother embraces him warmly. Everyone is in a jovial mood as they say their goodbyes and the plaintiffs tell Jipuragi about an upcoming trip. But they are being watched.
Vincenzo drives Cha-young home with the excuse that he wants to go to a wine shop nearby, but it’s already closed. She wonders what is up with him but is startled when she sees footprints in her house. A masked intruder is waiting — but wait, why is he holding a hammer?
He is closing on her when a second attacker appears, yelling that they have a problem: Vincenzo has him by the neck. He’d noticed the two attackers tailing them at the restaurant and driven Cha-young home as a precaution. He immobilizes one attacker, but the other one throws the hammer in Cha-young’s direction. Vincenzo knocks her out of the way and the hammer flies through the window — and the attackers, out the door. Vincenzo wants to know who sent them, but she thinks the answer is obvious.
The two prosecutors have been abducted and brought to an empty shipping container, where they are reunited with Han-seo and Wusang. Attorney Choi seems concerned, but Han-seo reassures her this was done with Jun-woo’s blessing. He intends only to scare them into submission, but the prosecutors are unintimidated. Enter Jason — I mean, Jun-woo:
He takes pleasure in bludgeoning Prosecutor Seo to death and threatens Prosecutor Hwang’s son, leaving the latter pleading for his life. Han-seo is rattled and can barely get himself to play along. Outside, Jun-woo cleans his hockey stick, unconcerned about the consequences. He tells Han-seo to beef up security around himself; he’s Jun-woo’s Achilles’ heel, after all.
Cha-young sits at her dining table in shock, and Vincenzo wraps her in a blanket. She wonders if this was Babel or Wusang’s work, but Vincenzo thinks it was too sloppy and the act of someone working alone. But don’t worry; they only meant to maim her, not kill her. He suggests she stay elsewhere for the evening. She hesitates before calling a friend, and Vincenzo’s phone rings. Nope. He hangs up on her.
The two drive around for half an hour while she makes calls, but no one is willing to take her in. He’s worried about her — though still won’t offer to take her in — but she insists she’ll be fine at a hotel. As Vincenzo drops her off, he unfastens his seat belt, stares deeply at her and leans in…
He tells her to call if there’s an issue, and zooms off. Cha-young heads to her hotel room, but keeps hallucinating that the staff are after her. When she sees a handyman fixing the lock to her hotel room door, the sight of his tools strewn about causes her to take off screaming.
At home, Vincenzo finds a small group of tenants around his apartment door. Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin apologize for entering without permission, but he is grateful; Chef Baek is skeptical and thinks the intruders were amateurs. Everyone leaves, and Agent Ahn and Vincenzo eye each other.
Vincenzo cleans up his apartment and hears a noise in his room. Uh-oh, he left the window open, and now Inzaghi and his friend are having a party. He tries to chase them back out of the window in vain; tonight, the room is theirs.
He’s winding down on the couch in his Booralro silk pajamas when he hears a persistent knocking at the door. It’s Cha-young; she’s scared and cold and demanding to crash on his couch for the night. He’s made himself ramyeon that Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin gave him earlier, but Cha-young eats it all. The trauma has made her extra hungry.
Cha-young questions Vincenzo when he starts setting up his own sheets on the living room floor, so he offers her an upgrade to the skyrat suite. One look at the feathery fiesta inside — there’s three of them, now — and she’s quickly back on the couch. With the lights off, Cha-young promises she’ll go home when her window is fixed and asks two more mafia questions. Are mafia bosses as scary as they say? Some are, but Vincenzo’s was a reasonable businessman and like a father to him. Has he ever killed anyone? No, but…
Vincenzo: Will you cut ties with me if I’ve killed anyone before?
Cha-young: It’s not that. If you did, it’d feel like you’re someone from a very distant world. Like someone trapped in a mural, or in a faded newspaper. And if anyone thought of me that way, I would be a bit sad.
Vincenzo: But… I want to live that kind of life, away from other people.
Cha-young: Why? I know. It’s because you don’t want to be hurt by others, right?
Vincenzo: No. Because a lot of people try to borrow money from me.
His mafia misdeeds haunt him in his sleep again.
Over breakfast, they learn that Prosecutor Seo died while “driving under the influence.” Cha-young thinks it’s connected to the attacks on them, but Vincenzo says that one looks meticulously planned. Over their own breakfast, Jun-woo tells Han-seo he has sent someone to Italy to look into Vincenzo. He wonders if he startled Han-seo last night, but little brother claims to enjoy the teaching moment.
Han-seo confesses to planning attacks on Vincenzo and Cha-young; he botched it, but he was just trying to be helpful! Jun-woo angrily hurls a glass toward him, but Han-seo looks preoccupied. Jun-woo video calls Cha-young to check on her and he’s shocked to see her at Vincenzo’s apartment. Vincenzo, still in his jammies, teases him with a bright buongiorno!
Vincenzo heads out and Agent Ahn pops up out of hiding from underneath his car. He offers his assistance and delivers his calling card before “stumbling” away. At Babel HQ, Vincenzo notes the increased security around Han-seo.
Back at Jipuragi, Mr. Nam delivers news that Dr. Gil is under Prosecutor Jung’s protection. Cha-young contacts him, while Vincenzo takes a call from Mr. Cho: he has returned from China with Wang Shaolin’s irises with which to open the gold safe. Now all they have to do is remove the slabs concealing the door under the temple.
Vincenzo pays the monks a visit, and it appears Miri has converted to Buddhism. She eyes Vincenzo suspiciously on her way out. Vincenzo offers the two monks a place outside Seoul with fresh air to relocate the temple, but is deflated when Jeokha tells him he has inspired them to fight for the building. He avoids the sweet potato Chaeshin tries to feed him, but his luck has already turned. Miri is still outside eavesdropping…
At Wusang, Attorney Han is worried that Jun-woo has crossed the line, but Choi says they have no choice but to follow along. Jun-woo walks in, startling Attorney Han; he has a message to relay to Prosecutor Hwang. The prosecution service arrives at Dongil Bank and Taesan Bank HQs.
CEO Park, his right hand man, and the accountant appear to be moving in to Geumga Plaza. They’ve lost everything trying to take the tenants down, so if you can’t beat them… join them, I suppose? They tell Larry and Hee-soo they are starting over with a legit travel agency, but before the two can probe, Hong-sik summons them to a meeting at Chef Baek’s.
Agent Ahn has ratted the monks out, and Chef Baek has told Agent Ahn about the gold, too — so all the tenants are officially in on the chase. They agree to find the gold together, though have some disagreement about how to divvy it up.
Jipuragi see news that Dongil and Taesan banks are being investigated by the prosecution. Mr. Nam figures this will pressure the banks to invest large amounts of money in Babel to get the charges dropped. Cha-young feels that this is too obvious a move so soon after the death of Prosecutor Seo. She receives a call; Prosecutor Jung wants to meet.
Over lunch, Chayenzo and Jung lament Babel’s speedy recovery, and Jung also wants them down for good. He is protecting Dr. Gil because he has information about Haemun Hospital colluding with Babel, but Dr. Gil won’t give up the info; he’s likely stalling for time while he makes a deal with Babel. When Vincenzo and Cha-young disclose that they don’t think Han-seo is the real chairman, Jung remembers something Dr. Gil mentioned in passing: those scumbags at the elder Chairman Jang’s deathbed were really something. Scumbags. Plural.
Could this second son be the real boss behind Babel? Vincenzo wants to launch a sting operation to find out, but it’s against Prosecutor Jung’s principles. Chayenzo eye their appetizer warily as Jung obliviously digs into his portion. Jun-woo is having the duo tailed, and he watches their meeting through a streaming video on his phone. Effing A, he mutters to himself. But Han-seo interrupts, bearing a packet of information sure to make his brother proud.
Looks like team Babel is doing pretty well, because Jun-woo video calls an American manufacturer to import higher quantities of raw materials for RDU-90. They’re illegal in America anyway, so why not send them to Korea? At the Babel office, Han-seo announces that RDU-90 will resume production. Jipuragi learn that the two banks did indeed invest in Babel.
Likely due to this new windfall, Dr. Gil decides to side with Babel and stops cooperating with the prosecution. Meanwhile, Prosecutor Jung changes his mind and agrees to participate in a sting operation. Jipuragi disguise themselves as hitmen hoping to get Dr. Gil to give up the name of the real chairman, but it’s a little too quiet when they arrive at the safe house. Someone has beaten them there, leaving Dr. Gil and two guards lying in pools of blood. They are still processing the scene when Cha-young receives a text from the Babel Pharmaceuticals plaintiffs. It reads like a suicide note.
Our team of villains appears to have earned a night of relaxation. Attorney Choi is eating — gasp! — cooked food for once. Attorney Han is blowing off steam at an indoor driving range. Han-seo plays with his new revolver, and Jun-woo does a victory dance around a lighted model of Babel Tower.
In the morning, our heroes are downtrodden as they look across the field at the four bodies slumped over in their van, charcoal briquettes burning next to the rear door. Even Vincenzo can barely stay standing as he recalls getting the plaintiffs involved in the Babel Pharmaceuticals arson — innocents caught in the crossfire.
Comments
Jun-woo has been laying low and delegating for half the series, but with Vincenzo in the picture, he’s slowly being forced into the limelight. We now know he’s not afraid to do the dirty work himself — and incredibly effective, at that — but he isn’t the most self-aware. Han-seo is his Achilles heel? I beg to differ; it’s Cha-young, and he won’t be able to keep his true identity hidden with his new mortal enemy making moves not only on his empire, but on his girl.
For how terrifying Jun-woo can be, it would be too unnecessarily cruel for the victim’s family to have died as part of his machinations. The show tells us over and over that Babel is deplorable and has no morals, so it would be fitting and incredibly heartbreaking for its actions to cause a family to commit suicide on their own. A human can toy with another human’s feelings, but a conglomerate is literally heartless and can’t give a shit if you live or die. It would be poignant.
Han-seo is an unpredictable character, and the writers are very unpredictable about the direction in which he’s going. Is he trying to rack up some evil XP to be on par with older bro, or looking to turn the tables? Is he clever, or not? Do I want him to partner with Jipuragi, or own Babel all by himself? I really enjoy that I’m rooting for him, don’t know why, and have complete trust that the writers will give him a satisfying arc. We may not be completely sure who the gun is for, but we know he’ll use it.
My opinion of the tenants fluctuates every week, and they are trending upward again after this episode. Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin look like a couple with a dark past — what happened to Cheol-wook’s ear? And what about Miri, turning on her crush so quickly over the prospect of gold? Get it, girl! You don’t need no man.
I want to give another shout out to an underrated supporting cast member: food. The characters in this show are always eating and, though I realize that this is partly COVID-19 limiting the venues where they can shoot, the writers make great use of the food in their storytelling:
- There is a saying that only impatient people eat raw food and, in earlier episodes, everyone seemed to be eating sushi. But this episode, Attorney Choi’s meals are cooked. Has she become less impulsive? Is she patiently waiting for her next move?
- Vincenzo is offered a lot of overdone sweet potatoes this episode. Like a lot. In contrast with Attorney Choi, does this mean he’s been waiting too long to make his move — to find the gold, catch Babo, or make amends with his mother?
- Inviting someone to your place for ramyeon is usually considered a flirtatious move in Korea, so it’s amusing to watch Cha-young impose herself on Vincenzo, steal his ramyeon, and then call him naughty for sleeping on the floor next to her.
- There are other clever examples in previous episodes, like the jjampong spice-off between Vincenzo and Jun-woo, and the fact that Vincenzo is almost always in a foreign restaurant to signify his outsider status.
Chayenzo get an awful lot of screen time in this episode. While it’s satisfying and very lovely to see their personal relationship make some progress, this can only mean that some biznass is about to go down. We are almost at the halfway point and our villains have already turned it up to 11. So if the sweet potatoes are any indication, Vincenzo is just about to ready to unleash some badassery. Lehgooooooo.
