Vincenzo: Episode 19

by quirkycase

The end is nigh, and our adversaries are done playing games. Our lead sets his final plans into motion, preparing to take out his enemies one by one. On the verge of losing everything, the chairman sheds what little restraint he’s had and takes drastic measures to try to beat his ex-Mafia foe. Whichever side ultimately wins, there’s bound to be a lot of pain and bloodshed before it’s all said and done.

 
EPISODE 19

After making sure Cha-young and Mi-ri are okay, Vincenzo beckons Chief Kim’s men forward. He takes out several of the men, but he’s vastly outnumbered. He gets hit over the head and falls to the ground where Cha-young and Mi-ri rush over to him. They scream as one of the men raises a metal pipe to strike.

It’s the tenants’ turn to come to the rescue this time. Led by “Lightening Scissors” Hong-shik, they jump into the fray. As they fight, we learn that there are several sports’ champions among the tenants. Cheol-wook is a gold medal winning wrestler, Yeon-jin is a gold medal winning weightlifter, and Hee-soo is a boxing champion. Even Chef Baek is a ssireum (Korean wrestling) champion.

The tenants emerge exhausted but victorious, and now Chief Kim isn’t so sure of himself as Vincenzo approaches. Chief Kim starts to ask about the gold, but Cha-young knocks him out with a wooden beam. Afterwards, everyone has celebratory drinks at Arno’s. The tenants credit Vincenzo and Cha-young with bringing the community together and giving them a reason to use their fighting skills.

Later at Jipuragi, Young-woon asks how Vincenzo moved the gold. We flash back to Vincenzo’s talk with the monks. They’d been getting shocked whenever they meditated over a specific spot on the floor, so they looked under the floorboards and discovered the vault. They ask Vincenzo if the gold is hidden there.

Since they’ve already guessed the truth, Vincenzo admits it and asks for their help. The next day, Vincenzo had Mi-ri open the vault. The Jipuragi team, Mi-ri, and the monks then moved the gold out little by little over the coming days.

Now, Joo-sung whispers the location of the gold to Young-woon lest someone overhear them. Vincenzo keeps the location of the Guillotine file secret, though, to Young-woon’s disappointment. But he promises to tell him “when the time is right.”

Once they’re alone, Vincenzo explains to Cha-young that he signed a contract with the rival family who was posing a threat, giving them 80 million Euros in exchange for leaving the Cassano family alone. Cha-young is just glad Vincenzo came back safely. While they flirt and reminisce, Chief Kim wakes up on the street with a chocolate gold bar in his hand.

Back in the office, Joo-sung expresses his happiness at Vincenzo’s return with a very long back hug. He only lets go when Cha-young reminds him they need to teach Candidate Park a lesson. Soon after, an article about Candidate Park’s corrupt land practices is released.

Over a meal, Myung-hee shares her hard-earned wisdom with Chief Kim: don’t underestimate Vincenzo. She and Attorney Han know that Vincenzo could use the Guillotine file to destroy them but is biding his time. Prosecutor Jung has an idea to stop the trial, but he’ll need Candidate Park’s assistance. Before he leaves, Chief Kim insists that Prosecutor Jung should be promoted immediately.

Joon-woo seems to have adjusted to prison life, walking around flanked by his own inmate protection detail. When a fellow inmate scoffs at him for acting like he owns the place, Joon-woo calmly chats with him for a bit before BITING HIM IN THE NECK like a vampire and beating him viciously. Even as two guards pull him off, Joon-woo bites the inmate again, this time taking a chunk of his ear.

At Jipuragi, Joo-sung is livid when they receive a notice that the trial is being postponed until after the election due to worries that it could be used politically to smear Candidate Park. Vincenzo is calm as always and reminds them they have the Guillotine file at their disposal.

Lucky for them, there’s a whole folder on the Namdongbu Prosecution Branch in charge of the trial. Vincenzo suggests they give Prosecutor Jung a congratulatory gift for his promotion while they’re at it.

Vincenzo marvels at the level of corruption in Korea, but Cha-young explains Koreans often forgive corruption in the competent. Cha-young brings up Vincenzo’s impending departure and says even if he leaves for good, he’ll be more than a simple memory to her. Vincenzo promises that he’ll come back to Korea.

While Myung-hee yells at Prosecutor Jung after learning the trial is back on, Attorney Han gets drunk with Judge Heo who is all smiles and accommodation. But once Attorney Han leaves, Judge Heo snipes that Attorney Han is just using him since he’s the judge on the upcoming trial.

Judge Heo doesn’t notice that Vincenzo has replaced his driver until the car stops by the river. Vincenzo orders him out of the car, casually motioning with his gun. He threatens and terrifies Judge Heo before ordering him to ensure Joon-woo gets out of prison as quickly as possible. If he fails, he’ll have to deal with worse consequences than wasps this time.

On the day of the Babel Tower trial, Vincenzo gives the tenants a pep talk before they all head to the courthouse. Han-seo arrives and sits right next to Vincenzo who grumpily stops him from acting too cozy with him.

Judge Heo enters, and everyone stands but Vincenzo and the tenants who cross their arms and glare. Han-seo takes one look at Vincenzo and immediately plops back down and copies his pose, ha. It looks like they’ve decided to make Han-seo’s allegiance public.

Myung-hee stares aghast as Han-seo fixes Vincenzo’s tie before he takes the stand as a witness and Vincenzo pats him on the cheek. Han-seo meets her eye and grins smugly.

On the stand, Vincenzo introduces the video evidence of Babel’s crimes. There are clips of the secret meeting at Joon-woo’s with gold being given as bribes and the auction event. Only three faces are blurred in the video: Han-seo’s, Attorney Han’s, and Myung-hee’s.

Later, Vincenzo approaches Prosecutor Jung in the bathroom and chokes him. He warned him he’d kill him once he’d achieved his goals, but he’s willing to give him a chance. “Show me how humble you can be in the next two days, and I’ll spare you.”

Prosecutor Jung whines that Vincenzo can’t toy with a prosecutor like him, so Vincenzo pulls his tie tight until he almost passes out. He’s giving him a shot at redemption, not toying with him.

That night, Attorney Han and Myung-hee drink to their woes. They know that Vincenzo blurred their faces to keep them out of prison where they’d be harder to kill. Myung-hee tells Attorney Han he’s on his own now and warns him that she’ll kill him herself if he gets in her and Joon-woo’s way anymore.

While the tenants celebrate their legal victory in getting Babel’s ownership of Geumga Plaza revoked, Han-seo orders the production of RDU-90 to be halted. Attorney Han watches him in action and says he’s proud to see Han-seo looking like a real chairman now.

Attorney Han brings up the video with their blurred faces and suggests they join forces for survival. He does a double-take when Han-seo nonchalantly says he’s teaming up with Vincenzo, a pro, instead. Attorney Han sputters that he was the one who introduced them, making Han-seo leap up to give him an enthusiastic hug and thank him. But he’s still on his own. Ha.

Wanting to make sure Joon-woo feels the burn, Vincenzo stops by the prison and shows him a photo of his precious miniature Babel Tower in ruins. Because breaking it would be too common, Vincenzo dramatically shot the miniature into pieces.

Now that Babel Tower has been taken care of, Vincenzo is done playing with his food and is ready to eat it. Joon-woo challenges him to give it his best shot. He won’t fight him as the chairman anymore – he’ll be his old, uninhibited, psychopathic self. Joon-woo grins and says Vincenzo’s watch might be added to his collection.

Out of options, Attorney Han desperately begs Prosecutor Jung to put him in prison for three months or until Vincenzo dies. Meanwhile, Han-seo and Vincenzo go for pizza which Vincenzo unsurprisingly criticizes. Han-seo begs Vincenzo not to leave Korea and offers him a legal position at Babel. When that doesn’t work, he stipulates that Vincenzo at least has to say goodbye before he goes.

Vincenzo encourages Han-seo to go abroad for a few months since Joon-woo is sure to target him first when he’s released. But Han-seo doesn’t want to run away and says he did this knowing he would be risking his life. He has bodyguards and, most importantly, his new hyung Vincenzo to protect him from all the bad guys.

Cha-young and Vincenzo go for coffee and discuss their next step: killing Joon-woo. Vincenzo wants to handle it alone and protect her from becoming a monster. Cha-young admits their actions have been almost too cruel for her to bear, but she’s been supporting Vincenzo’s “lesser evil” because there’s no other way to punish Joon-woo.

Cha-young gets a text from Joo-sung and scoffs to learn that Prosecutor Jung let everyone from the video go. Vincenzo takes that to mean that Prosecutor Jung is rejecting his “generosity.”

Myung-hee convinces Chief Kim to let her handle Vincenzo and the Guillotine file. She’s created evidence that makes it seem like she’s been the one pulling Joon-woo’s strings so that all his crimes will be put on her. She’s willing to take the fall because Joon-woo is the only one who can take on Vincenzo and solve their problems.

Elsewhere, Prosecutor Jung goes out for drinks with his colleagues and seems on top of the world. He steps out for a smoke and comes face to face with Vincenzo who chokes him unconscious. When he wakes, he still refuses to admit he’s done anything wrong saying he’s a law-abiding citizen.

On the street below, Prosecutor Jung’s body drops onto a car from the roof above. One down and three to go.

Myung-hee shares her plan with Joon-woo who promises to make her the vice chairwoman when she gets out. She also reports that Han-seo is for sure on Vincenzo’s team now. Joon-woo tells her to get him out of prison as quickly as possible and ensure no one else knows.

The next day at Wusang, the office watches in shock as Myung-hee is arrested while doing her infamous aerobics. When Jipuragi hears about the arrest, they assume her subordinates turned on her. While Myung-hee sings in prison without a care, Joon-woo is secretly released.

Joon-woo immediately begins making his move. First, he has Cha-young kidnapped on her way to a class reunion. Then, he goes to visit Han-seo personally at the office, paying off his bodyguards to gain access.

Joon-woo calls him a traitor, but Han-seo says he was just trying to run Babel properly. Joon-woo pulls out Han-seo’s own gun and advances on him. He can’t keep Han-seo alive now. “You understand, right?”

Han-seo’s eyes fill with tears as he says he’s willing to accept his fate; he always knew he’d end up like their father. He closes his eyes, but instead of shooting him, Joon-woo knocks him out.

At home, Vincenzo sees the shadow of someone attempting to open his window. He cautiously moves toward the door as someone knocks. He opens the door, gun in hand, but no one is outside. There is an envelope outside of his door, though. Inside is Cha-young’s bloody jewelry.

Han-seo wakes up to see Cha-young sitting nearby with her hands tied. Before he can crawl over to her, Joon-woo comes down the stairs with a gun. Cha-young accuses him of being a low-rent villain who isn’t human.

Joon-woo says he loves Cha-young (blegh), but his “principle” of killing his enemies comes before love. Hence the kidnapping. Cha-young argues someone like him should never have been born.

When she realizes he’s trying to lure Vincenzo, Cha-young yells for Joon-woo to just kill her instead. Joon-woo ignores her and calls Vincenzo, assuring him Cha-young is alive. He gloats that he learned this method of luring your enemy from his fellow inmates.

Vincenzo rushes over and is searched upon arrival. He’s relieved to find Cha-young unharmed. Joon-woo explains that he used pig’s blood for the jewelry as a callback to Vincenzo’s pig blood stunt. Vincenzo warns Joon-woo that he’ll die no matter what he does, but Joon-woo doesn’t care so long as Vincenzo dies first.

Joon-woo tosses his hockey stick to a shaking Han-seo and commands him to beat Vincenzo to death with it if he wants to live. He’ll even give him Babel. Cha-young screams at Joon-woo that he’s crazy, earning her a slap in the face.

Vincenzo is getting angrier by the second, but he can’t make a move without risking Cha-young who’s being held at gunpoint. Vincenzo drops to his knees and says, “Do as he says.” Han-seo asks if Joon-woo will really spare him. “Of course. You’re my brother,” Joon-woo says like family actually matters to him.

Han-seo stands shakily, tears streaming, and apologizes. Vincenzo tells him it’s okay – he doesn’t have a choice. Han-seo says he’s going to make a decision he won’t regret … and swings toward Joon-woo.

Joon-woo manages to shoot Han-seo in the arm, but Han-seo keeps coming at him. In the chaos, Vincenzo rushes over to untie Cha-young and leads her to the door. They turn when they hear a gunshot. And then, Joon-woo shoots a second time.

Cha-young throws herself in front of Vincenzo, taking the bullet in the upper back. Joon-woo stands shocked for a moment as Vincenzo holds the barely conscious Cha-young in his arms. Han-seo watches in horror. Vincenzo turns to Joon-woo with murder in his eyes.

 
COMMENTS

I should’ve seen it coming that Cha-young would be the one to get hurt, but I’d been bracing myself all episode because I had a sinking feeling Han-seo would die. Cha-young wasn’t shot in a vital organ or anything, so she should be able to survive. Of course, the confrontation isn’t over yet. With how livid Vincenzo is, I imagine more blood is going to be spilt. Now that he doesn’t need to protect Cha-young, he can go all out. And if Han-seo isn’t injured, then it’s two against one which certainly helps their chances. Joon-woo really underestimated how over him and his antics Han-seo is. It’s nice to see how brave and sure of himself Han-seo has gotten. Even though he was scared, he refused to let Joon-woo control him and chose to act in accordance with his conscience.

Despite Joon-woo being the main bad guy, I feel like Myung-hee is Vincenzo’s true adversary. She’s been the orchestrator of most of the deaths and destruction, and she’s the only one who’s managed to ever come close to matching Vincenzo on strategy. Joon-woo never would’ve made it this far without her working behind the scenes. She’s a horrible human, but I can at least respect her game. She’s smart and insanely determined, and I’ve always seen her as the strongest in the villain pack. This time, Myung-hee has bet everything, including her own freedom, on Joon-woo winning. If Vincenzo kills Joon-woo, Myung-hee will probably have a hard time getting out of prison. Since she broke ties with Attorney Han, who knows if he’ll be willing to help her. Prosecutor Jung is dead, so that avenue is gone too. Candidate Park could get her out but won’t if it risks his election. Even in prison, though, I’m not sure how safe she is. If he’s determined enough, I bet Vincenzo could find a way to get to her.

I’m not sure where Attorney Han stands in terms of punishment. While he did stand by as Myung-hee and Joon-woo did their thing, he wasn’t the one ordering deaths and usually tried to talk them out of their more murderous plans. He’s slimy but doesn’t have their complete disregard for human life. Vincenzo has shown that he’s willing to give people a chance at redemption, and Attorney Han did help him put Joon-woo in prison, although it was under duress. We’ll have to wait and see what Vincenzo has in store for him.

On a brighter note, they finally managed to save Geumga Plaza! That’s been a long time in the making, but I’m glad to see the tenants’ home is safe. I love that they weren’t just saved by Vincenzo but had an active role in protecting what mattered to them. Also, it was fun seeing them come to Vincenzo’s rescue this episode and take out Chief Kim’s men. How convenient that Geumga Plaza just happens to be full of skilled fighters and athletes.

We came full circle with the court case presided over by Judge Heo. I was kind of hoping we’d get another ridiculous and chaotic trial, but we barely even saw this one. I guess there are more dramatic things to cover at this point. Now that Geumga Plaza has been saved and the gold is safe, the finale can focus on taking down the evil trio. If Vincenzo survives, he’s going to have a hard time leaving his newfound family, but it’d take a miracle for him to stay in Korea without getting convicted for any of the plethora of crimes he’s committed. But if we’ve learned anything in this drama, it’s that reality is no match for Vincenzo.

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