Our Geumga Plaza folks realize that they might not know one another as well as they thought they had. There’s more to everyone than they knew and there’s been some secret skills and talent that some members have been hiding for a while. Little by little, small details and identities are revealed in ways that no one expected and as unexpected as they might be, there’s also a sense of relief knowing that these hidden talents and skillsets are being put to good use.
Vincenzo: Episode 11 Recap
Cha-young is relieved to see Vincenzo safe and alive and she hugs him the moment they reunite. After embracing each other for a few seconds, Vincenzo shares some important updates with her: he knows who Babo is. Cha-young pulls away from Vincenzo and learns that Babo is indeed Jang Han-seok — Han-seo’s brother who they had originally ruled out because they thought he had been living in the U.S. for more than a decade. Thanks to one of the opponents that Vincenzo just fought and defeated, he was able to squeeze out an answer from the man. He uses the man’s phone to call the contact under “Chairman” to seek confirmation on whether Babo really is Jang Han-seok. While making the important phone call, Vincenzo and Cha-young inch closer to where Joon-woo, Cheol-wook, and Mr. Nam are standing. Vincenzo pauses near Joon-woo when he overhears a vibration coming from Joon-woo’s jacket. Joon-woo panics internally as his cellphone buzzes, but he attempts to maintain his cool. Using his regular phone, he proves that he wasn’t receiving a phone call like Vincenzo assumed and he’s let off without any suspicion. Vincenzo warns that Joon-woo shouldn’t tag along next time.
So while Joon-woo drives back home by himself, Mr. Nam and Cheol-wook are all ready and prepared to clean up after Vincenzo’s mess. They’ll make sure to clean up the scene as if nothing ever happened. While the two are occupied with cleaning, Vincenzo and Cha-young are busy interrogating the three killers hired by Joon-woo to kill Vincenzo. However, it’s not just our two leads who are involved with the terrifying interrogation. Mr. Pyo and his boss — the two men involved in the killing of Lawyer Hong — have now been hired by Vincenzo to be his shadows. They help gather the three killers into a van where they’re held hostage inside. Cha-young works her inner mafia persona and she confirms a few recent deaths with the three killers: the Babel Pharmaceutical researchers who were killed in the villa, Director Gil, and the four family members of the victims who were found dead inside of their van. With each death comes consequences and every time the three killers deny any affiliation or connection to the deaths, they are punished and tortured with carbon monoxide poisoning in the car.
Eventually, Cha-young’s patience runs out and she controls the level of carbon monoxide poisoning herself. Vincenzo and his helpers are taken aback by Cha-young’s aggressiveness, but they don’t stop her. She finally halts the torture so that the killers will realize just how helpless it was for the 4 family members as they were dying in their van. Even though the killers claim their innocence and share that they don’t know who this Jang Han-seok guy is themselves, Cha-young and Vincenzo don’t buy their fake tears or pleading. All they learn from the killers is that Jang Han-seok is in Korea as the Chairman never interacted personally with them himself. With that, Cha-young and Vincenzo decide to kill off the trio instead of sparing their lives. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
On the drive back home, Vincenzo chats with Mr. Cho on the phone and asks that he track down the phone number under “Chairman” that Vincenzo shared with him. Vincenzo can’t help but notice Cha-young’s grim face expression and how dejected she looks. As helpful as Mr. Pyo and his boss might seem, she’s reminded of her father’s death every time she sees them. Vincenzo reassures his partner in crime that he’ll eventually let her help him get rid of them once the two guys are no longer of use and assistance to them. They also chat a bit about Vincenzo’s martial art skills before concluding their conversation with the three killers. Vincenzo shows the trio some mercy by having Mr. Pyo and his boss finish them off with the poisoning before throwing their car into a river to drown.
Our Geumga tenants and Mr. Nam all rejoice over some food and drinks at Ms. Kwak’s snack bar shop. They rave over Mr. Tak’s secret fighting skills and are still amazed and fascinated how great he was at fighting. Mr. Park, Soo-nam, and their accountant Ms. Yang aren’t as impressed though. Having dealt with that gang in prior experiences, they’re aware of just how dangerous that group is and how careful our tenants should be. Chef Toto is so impressed with Mr. Tak he ranks the dry cleaning shop owner first place in Geumga Plaza with Vincenzo second. However, Mr. An, Mr. Nam and Cheol-wook are still convinced Vincenzo is number one. No one’s seen him fight like they do.
Cha-young and Vincenzo drink some more makgeolli together — this time at Cha-young’s house (EEEEK, THEY’RE SO CUTE). They chat about things like how Cha-young belongs in the Mafia or how they’ll only drink until 2am and then call it quits afterwards. However, they enjoy each other’s company way too much and the time passes by a lot faster than they expected and before they know it, it’s already 3am. But hey, Vincenzo isn’t quite ready to call it quits just yet and he suggests that they drink until 4am (I AM SCREAMING AND SQUEALING!!). So with that, the duo goes back to drinking some good old makgeolli which allows Cha-young to bring up the hug that she and Vincenzo had back at the underpass. She apologizes for the abrupt gesture; before she knew it, she found herself hugging him. Vincenzo is understanding of the situation, but Cha-young is a bit more puzzled about it. She plans to test her feelings for Vincenzo and whether she hugged him out of concern that he was in danger or because he really did make her heart go dugeun dugeun.
So with that, Vincenzo and Cha-young stand up to reenact the scene from the underpass. She runs a few small steps towards the Mafia lawyer and wraps her arms around him. Although she claimed it’ll only be for ten seconds, the hug lasts much longer and Cha-young moves her head from side to side and up and down to confirm her suspicion. Vincenzo acts aloof, but it’s obvious he enjoys Cha-young’s hug and her attention. When Cha-young finally makes her conclusion, she updates that nope, she doesn’t have any feelings for Vincenzo. Her hug back at the underpass was only because she was concerned that he was in danger. Lol.
Vincenzo stops by the hospital to pay his mother a visit. They check in with each other before Vincenzo brings up Ms. Oh’s cancer history. She confirms that she did have lung cancer 28 years ago and sent her son away because of that. She hoped that he would be able to go somewhere where he would be happy, but Vincenzo comments that no child would be happy without their mother. Ms. Oh cries upon hearing Vincenzo’s words. Vincenzo reassures her that her son is doing fine so she should just focus on her health and on getting healthy.
Lawyer Choi, Joon-woo, and Mr. Han all have a meeting at his office. Although Joon-woo was able to run away scot-free and still hide his identity as Babo for now, Lawyer Choi suggests that they have another plan to get back at Vincenzo. While Mr. Han worries that they might be targeted next by Vincenzo and team, Lawyer Choi recommends that they go after Vincenzo’s background as a Mafia member and use that to their advantage. Vincenzo isn’t so impressed with Mr. Tak despite hearing about his awesome fighting skills or isn’t so entertained by Cheol-wook’s idea for a bodyguard. Yeon-jin isn’t a big fan of Cheol-wook’s request to be Vincenzo’s bodyguard either and worries for her husband’s safety. The conversation ends with Yeon-jin dragging Cheol-wook out of the room and rejecting his proposal to be Vincenzo’s bodyguard. Haha. If anything, it’s the other way around, you guys! Vincenzo is your bodyguard!
Mr. Cho updates Vincenzo on his research into the phone number saved as “Chairman” in one of the killer’s cellphone. As our Jipuragi team will discuss, cellphone records of Jang Han-seok and the three killers have been erased from the cell tower except for the very last call that Vincenzo made at the underpass. With that, they realize that Jang Han-seok was just right under their nose the entire time. However, they’re at a dead end since there’s no way of tracking Jang Han-seok’s location. Man, wouldn’t this be something that someone working at the intelligence agency could do? Speaking of the intelligence agency, our secret agent Mr. An shows up to the meeting with two plates of food for Cha-young and Mr. Nam. He drops off the food, but is very curious on the work that our Jipuragi team is putting together to capture Babo. He peeks around at some documents and takes a longer amount of time than usual to exit the office. Haha. Let Mr. An in on your plans!
Monk Jaeshin and Jeokha prepare to leave their temple when they’re approached and greeted by representatives from the Administrative Headquarter. Due to a complaint that was submitted about their temple in regards to forcing people to make hefty donations and rarely holding services, an official investigation must be conducted so the representatives intrude into the temple. Mr. Cho watches as the scene and conversation unfolds in the hallway. He’s quite content with how his plan is going. Our Jipuragi team brainstorm on how they should go about finding who this Jang Han-seok guy is. They need to go after someone who knows how Jang Han-seok looks like. The conversation is cut short once again with another visitor, but this time, it’s not Mr. An. It’s Mi-ri. She invites our three team to their monthly game day gathering where the tenants play some games, bond, and have fun. Mr. Nam and Cha-young are in on the plan, but Vincenzo backs out. He’s not interested in playing such games. It doesn’t help that the game they plan to play on that day’s game day is Mafia (HAHAHAHA, of all games!!). Eventually, it takes some persuasion from the three for Vincenzo to give in and join.
And so the entertaining game of Mafia is held inside of Chef Toto’s restaurant (HAHAHA OMG I’M DYING AT THIS!! THIS IS TOO FUNNY!). When the accusation starts, everyone immediately assumes Vincenzo is the Mafia member. He seems a bit suspicious, but Yeon-jin too is also thrown into the mix. The ByeBye Balloon team – Mr. Park, Soo-nam, and Ms. Yang – are also at the game day party and Cheol-wook and Soo-nam doesn’t hesitate in taking jabs at each other. Soo-nam reminds Cheol-wook of Park Saeroyi (HAHAHA from “Itaewon Class”.. it’s the bowl haircut!) while Cheol-wook looks like he’s a North Korean soldier (because the actor was in “Crash Landing on You” LOL). Eventually, everyone resumes to closing their eyes and drumming on the tables so that the two Mafia members can kill off innocent citizens. As expected, Vincenzo and Yeon-jin are the two Mafia members and they make their selections. However, the fun game is cut short when a group of Namdongbu prosecutors enter the restaurant to arrest Vincenzo based off of the crimes he’s committed as a consigliere in the Mafia. Cha-young joins them as Vincenzo’s lawyer while everyone else remains shocked at the revelation. Vincenzo was just supposed to be the Mafia member in the game, but turns out, he actually is one in reality too, LOL.
Han-seo and Joon-woo enjoy some lunch together when Han-seo throws out a suggestion to his brother. He proposes that he can help run Babel Pharmaceuticals for Joon-woo. Joon-woo isn’t too happy with Han-seo’s idea and he lashes out at his brother in fury and anger. He isn’t going to hand over any part of the company over to his brother so Han-seo should stop dreaming and thinking. He even threatens them both with a knife, but Han-seo apologizes frantically in fear for saying such a thing. He vows never to say or do anything controversial again and Joon-woo walks off with a small scar to his neck from the knife. Mr. Tak, Ms. Kwak, Yeon-jin, and Cheol-wook are still shocked over the news of Vincenzo’s involvement with the Mafia. They’re even regretful with how they interacted and treated the Mafia lawyer. Lol. Like Chef Toto stated, Vincenzo was a corn salad (aka a consigliere but the two words sound similar LOL) so that means he must have been at the top of the Mafia in Italy. They devise a new plan to loop Vincenzo in on the search party for the gold. Now that they’re aware of his real identity, maybe he can help them find the gold and they can give him a cut of the share in return. Lol.
Mr. An updates his boss, Director Tae, about Vincenzo’s arrest. He should have some pride as the head of the International Crimes Division in Korea and do something about the Vincenzo arrest. He shouldn’t let small, unknown prosecutors from Namdongbu take his place and overpower him. With that, Director Tae is convinced by Mr. An and demands that they handle the case with Vincenzo. With that, Mr. An rejoices and gets things going. During his interrogation, the lead prosecutor glosses over the photos of the murders and killings that Vincenzo committed back when he was in Italy. Although Cha-young attempts to defend her client, the prosecutor isn’t so afraid. He’s confident Vincenzo will be punished and deported once all of this is over and done with.
Just when it seems like all hope is lost, Mr. An comes to the rescue. He makes his grand appearance in the hallway near the interrogation room and he too reveals his true identity. He’s from the International Security Intelligence Service and he’s received a warrant to take Vincenzo into his custody. He presents the prosecutor with the warrant before unlocking the handcuffs wrapped around Vincenzo’s wrists. Cha-young and Vincenzo are confused but amazed at the same time with Mr. An and they commend him for his gracious work. Vincenzo is released just as quickly as he was arrested — all thanks to Mr. An (not all heroes wear capes, eh?). The Babel and Wusang team panic upon learning about Vincenzo’s release with the help of Mr. An. They’re unsure now of Vincenzo’s identity (“could he possibly be a spy?!”) and warn Joon-woo to be more careful in hiding his identity. They are dealing with the intelligence agency after all.
In a private meeting with Mr. An, Cha-young and Vincenzo learn about the personal mission that Mr. An has been conducting on Vincenzo the entire time. Mr. An would have taken Vincenzo in a lot earlier, but he didn’t have anything on Vincenzo that made him think Vincenzo was a threat. With that, he shares that he’s all caught up on what the both of them have been up to and proposes that he help the Jipuragi team on capturing Babo. He respects Vincenzo and he wants to help out. Although Vincenzo isn’t so accepting and opened to the idea, Cha-young feels otherwise. She accepts Mr. An’s plea in helping them with their work. Mr. An is delighted at the decision, but he also has three conditions that Cha-young and Vincenzo must abide by: he must be accepted as an official member of the team, his identity must remain a secret from the other tenants, and he must receive a hug from Vincenzo himself. Vincenzo is forced to hug Mr. An quite passionately and although he remains a bit uncomfortable with Mr. An’s determination, he gets the work done. A deal is a deal after all.
It is also through this hug that Vincenzo hones in on the photos that the prosecutors managed to access. There’s no way the prosecutors in Korea were able to get a hold of these photos. It must have been the person that Babo hired to go to Italy to investigate on Vincenzo who got the photos and shared them with Babo. That must only mean one thing: the informant personally knows who Babo is and how he looks like. Our dynamic duo welcome their new member, Mr. An, to the team by asking for his help in finding the informant. Mr. An is excited for his first assignment and he’s happy to help. So with that, Vincenzo calls up his colleague in Italy, Luca, for any footages or photos of the informant that was hired by Babo. Luca is up for the job and Vincenzo assumes it’ll only take a few hours until Luca finds something.
When Vincenzo and Cha-young make their way back to Geumga Plaza, they’re met with a whole formal ceremony coordinated by the tenants. They celebrate Vincenzo’s return back to the plaza and they shower him with compliments, praise, and their undivided attention. They’re happy he’s a part of the Mafia, they’re relieved that he’s the Corn Salad of the Mafia, and they’re just glad to have him back. They enjoy having Vincenzo as part of the family. Of course, Vincenzo is quite embarrassed from the huge ceremony he feels is unnecessary and also clarifies with the tenants that he was a consigliere for the Mafia, not a corn salad. LOL. Vincenzo is so done with everyone and he quickly retreats to the Jipuragi office to escape. Just like Vincenzo predicted, it doesn’t take long for CCTV footage of the Korean informant in Italy to surface and our Jipuragi team watches as CCTV footage records the informant meeting up with another man in Italy.
It’s the perfect task for Mr. An and our dynamic duo presents the footage to their newest team member. Mr. An accepts the challenge and he assumes it won’t take too long to search for information on the Korean informant. Of course, their conversation doesn’t last for long when Chef Toto enters his own restaurant. He’s at first hesitant to make some kimchi fried rice for Cha-young and Vincenzo at his Italian restaurant, but he’s reminded of Vincenzo’s involvement as a corn salad for the Mafia and he gets right to cooking that Korean cuisine. Haha. I love it. It’s never-ending for our two lawyers and they’re approached with yet another update: the current predicament with the temple. Vincenzo and Cha-young are brought in to learn about the complaint that’s been filed against the temple. The two monks are concerned about the false accusations and the idea of having to potentially move out. Just by learning details about the situation, Vincenzo is aware of who the person behind all of this is.
Han-seo and Mr. Han are in a predicament of their own. They play around with Han-seo’s new gun for a bit at his house and Mr. Han takes the opportunity to show off his accurate shooting skills with the weapon. When they enter the house for a chat, Han-seo is still upset with his brother’s reaction to his earlier suggestion about Babel Pharmaceuticals. Joon-woo almost got discovered at the underpass, what makes Joon-woo think he’s any better? Mr. Han takes advantage of Han-seo’s anger and vulnerability and proposes that they work together to come up with a plan to overthrow Joon-woo. Mr. Han will help Han-seo take care of Babel after everything is done and Han-seo can have Babel all to himself like he’s always wanted. Han-seo is tempted with the idea, and after a few seconds of contemplation, accepts Mr. Han’s proposal. They’ll go through with it. No one shall know what the both of them are up to, not even Lawyer Choi who refuses to take risks like they do.
Vincenzo has a talk with Mr. Cho at Geumga Plaza about the situation with the temple. It doesn’t take long for Mr. Cho to admit his wrongdoing and to come clean to the Mafia corn salad about his participation with the complaint. Vincenzo is forgiving of Mr. Cho, but it’s clear Mr. Cho shall never do such a thing again. With that, the two clarify things between them and they return to being on the same page again. Little do they know that Mi-ri is listening in on their conversation the entire time. While walking back to Jipuragi, Vincenzo is pulled into Mr. Tak’s dry cleaning shop for a talk. He’s greeted by Ms. Kwak, Yeon-jin, Cheol-wook, and Mr. Tak and they all update him on the search party for the gold bars that is hidden somewhere in the building. Of course, Vincenzo is not thrilled that the tenants know about the gold, but he has to pretend like he doesn’t know anything. If Vincenzo is willing to help them find the gold, they can give him a cut of the share as well. Vincenzo almost lets his anger get the best of him, but he feigns ignorance and pretends to be entertained at the thought of there being gold in Geumga Plaza. Who would have thought?!
Mr. An’s investigation on Babo’s informant is successful and he finds a match in his database on the man’s identity. He secretly delivers the findings and documents over to the Jipuragi office without being discovered by Mr. Nam so our Jipuragi trio go over the information. The informant’s name is Kim Sang-yun and he was the former VP of a multi-national arms company. He’s working as an informant in Europe which could explain as to why he was able to dig up information on Vincenzo in Italy. And so the search for Jang Han-seok resumes. Just then, Cha-young receives a phone call from Joon-woo asking to meet up once again. He vows that he actually does have important information on Babel and Wusang this time so Cha-young agrees to meet with him. With that, Vincenzo and his two shadows are left to go after Mr. Kim. They hold the informant hostage at his own house and interrogate him for more information on who Jang Han-seok is. Mr. Kim isn’t fazed at first as he’s been tortured many times before.
But as Vincenzo will prove, there is a limit to pain but there is never a limit to one’s fear. With that, Vincenzo grabs a gun and stuffs a bullet inside the revolver. He plays tricks with Mr. Kim’s mind by playing a game of russian roulette which causes Mr. Kim to panic the more rounds Vincenzo plays. Just when it’s Mr. Kim’s turn and there’s a higher chance the revolver will actually go off, Mr. Kim gives in. He reveals the real identity behind Jang Han-seok and discloses that he’s a lawyer at Wusang. He goes by the name of Jang Joon-woo. Speaking of Joon-woo, he meets up with Cha-young and shares with her updates regarding the compensation package that Babel Pharmaceuticals and Babel Chemicals was putting together. It seems like they’re no longer planning to compensate the victims which only angers Cha-young. But like the two agreed, it’s a give and take situation and it’s now Cha-young’s turn to give Joon-woo some information on what she’s been up to (NOOOO CHA-YOUNG, DON’T DO IT!).
Just then, Cha-young receives a phone call from Vincenzo who updates her right away about the identity of Jang Han-seok. Jang Han-seok is none other than her hoobae and intern, Jang Joon-woo. It’s the man who’s sitting right across from her. Vincenzo is determined to continue with their plan and he shows up inside of Joon-woo’s house later on that night. The cheerful, upbeat, and peppy Joon-woo is surprised to find Vincenzo inside his place with a gun pointed at him, but his demeanor and attitude quickly changes when Vincenzo refers to him as Jang Han-seok. Joon-woo’s been caught and there’s nothing he can do about it now. But he makes the most out of the situation and proves why he was able to remain hidden and invisible for so long. He threatens Vincenzo to kill him with the gun and even moves the gun right to his forehead.
So Vincenzo aims the gun at Joon-woo’s head and Joon-woo begs on his knees for Vincenzo to kill him. The intense confrontation ends with the sound of the gun going off. Did Vincenzo manage to finally kill Joon-woo? Has the battle finally come to an end or has it only started?
My Thoughts:
Okay, look. I really don’t want to be that person right off the bat, but I have to admit — this probably has to be my least favorite episode so far. I get that this episode was by far the most important one, but yet, it’s also for this reason that I wasn’t a big fan of it. Although there were many great moments that made me laugh my head off and I enjoyed the comedic highlights in this episode, it was pretty much everything else outside of this realm that failed to hit the mark for me.
Was I the only one who was completely bummed at the beginning of this episode when Vincenzo and Cha-young actually didn’t know yet that Joon-woo was Jang Han-seok? The end of episode 10 misled us to believe that they finally figured out it was Joon-woo who was behind everything so I really looked forward to watching what would happen next and how they would confront Joon-woo then and there at that underpass. I mean, it was the perfect situation, the perfect set-up, the perfect ending to a long search, and the perfect beginning to an intriguing battle. The drama had everything going for it and then it all fell flat when the situation really wasn’t what you thought it was. I get that narratively it didn’t really make any sense which was why the drama didn’t go that route, but I also think the drama could have just ended everything right then and there if it wanted to. I felt like Vincenzo had enough suspicion and intuition on Joon-woo to conclude that yes, indeed, Joon-woo was the Babo person that they had been searching for all along. We’re lead to believe that Vincenzo is smart and creative and unique and while he is all of these things and so much more, I wished we could have gotten to see these sides of him when it came to digging into Joon-woo and Joon-woo’s dual personality. I wished we could have gotten to see our Jipuragi team put the pieces together themselves to figure out that yes, indeed, Joon-woo = Babo.
Instead, it was through Mr. Kim that Vincenzo figured out the equation and I guess that was what made me a bit disappointed in it all. You spend the entire first half of the drama on our leads chasing after Babel and Babo and putting them through all these trials and danger only for them to find out through someone else that Joon-woo was the mastermind behind everything. Again, narratively, it makes sense since Mr. Kim went to Italy, met with Joon-woo himself, and interacted with Joon-woo personally, but still, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth at the end of it all. And I get what the drama is trying to go for and what direction it’s trying to take. I get that the drama dedicated the first half of the drama with the mystery and then will focus the second half on Cha-young and Vincenzo’s preparations for their battle against Joon-woo now that they’re fully aware of his identity. However, the huge revelation felt anti-climatic for me considering the amount of time and effort that the drama spent in the first half on this sub-plot. I give “Vincenzo” credit for making the mystery fun, enticing, and intriguing thus far; the first 10 episodes was definitely a wild roller coaster ride and I enjoyed watching everything unfold. However, when the time came and all the layers was finally peeled off, the actual moment itself that was supposed to be big didn’t feel so big and rather felt small in the grand scheme of things. I guess I just wanted more; I wanted to go out with a bang and I felt like we didn’t necessarily get that impact.
I also felt as if the drama rushed its ending in this episode. Again, it goes back to how I wished the drama gave us more with Joon-woo’s big revelation as Babo and how underwhelming it all felt. I wanted to see more of Cha-young’s reaction to the information, especially considering that she used to work at Wusang, that Joon-woo was her intern, and that she still maintained a friendly connection with him despite working opposite of him. I assume we’ll probably see more of her reaction in the next episode, but I wanted to see something from her for the ending. I also wanted to see more of a reaction from Vincenzo when he learned from Mr. Kim that Jang Han-seok was Joon-woo all along. Although the drama hasn’t hinted it yet, I assume Vincenzo had an inkling all along and must have known that Joon-woo played a much bigger role than he was leading people to believe.
I would have been completely okay with this episode ending with just the reactions from Cha-young and Vincenzo. I know the drama was trying to say something with how Vincenzo showed up to Joon-woo’s house and threatened him with a gun to the forehead, but I don’t think it was completely necessary. We know that Vincenzo and Joon-woo are at war with each other. We know that they have been going at war with each other. We know it’s their end goal to eventually kill each other and that it’s just a matter of who gets to it first. So why did the drama have to end this episode with the two threatening each other? To me, the more crucial aspect of it all was Vincenzo and Cha-young learning about Joon-woo and his secret identity. Joon-woo is the person behind all the deaths and lawsuits and yet, we didn’t get much to their reactions. Vincenzo and Cha-young didn’t even find out themselves about Joon-woo; they had to learn through someone else to find out about Joon-woo’s identity. When the time came down to it, the drama failed to do much for me and I hate that I didn’t like how the drama went about with things in this episode.
With that being said and putting all of that aside, I enjoyed the bond that our Geumga tenants established with Vincenzo. I like that secrets are now not so secret anymore and that they’re learning more about one another that they didn’t know about before. First with Mr. Tak and then Mr. An and his work with the intelligence agency and Vincenzo as part of the Mafia and then Vincenzo learning that the tenants know about the gold. The case with the tenants is entirely its own thing and it’s so much fun watching them all interact with one another. I loved the Mafia game that they played in this episode, I loved watching the tenants praise Mr. Tak, I loved watching Mr. An finally be accepted into the Jipuragi team. Mr. An was, no doubt, the hidden gem and highlight in this episode for so many different reasons (which was why he rightfully earned his spot as the main image for the recap, hehe). “Vincenzo” has been pretty much a hit with its comedy and humor (with the exception of episode 8 which I didn’t really enjoy or find funny much) so this episode was another example of how entertaining the drama is. The drama never takes itself too seriously despite all the serious and darker stuff that it has going on on the outside.
Speaking of darker and more serious content, Han-seo and Mr. Han continue to prove to be such an interesting and intriguing pair. Babel and Wusang are so evil that I can’t help but become suspicious of them both. We know that Han-seo isn’t the happiest with his brother and despises his brother, but is he joining hands with Mr. Han because he’s genuinely determined to overthrow Joon-woo and needs Mr. Han’s assistance to do so? Or is it because Han-seo’s planning on baiting Mr. Han to prove his loyalty to Joon-woo to try to yet again gain the support and approval of his brother? I mean, the same question can be applied to Mr. Han. Is Mr. Han genuine about his goals and plans to support Han-seo be the true leader of Babel or is he too trying to prove his loyalty to Joon-woo? Are either guys going to betray each other in the end or will they go to the very end of things together? I’m very curious to see where the drama takes Han-seo and Mr. Han’s dynamic and how the pair plans on attacking Joon-woo. They’re already so afraid of the chairman, how will they be able to launch an attack on Joon-woo and pretend to play it off at the same time?
Cha-young and Vincenzo is another pair in this drama that is so interesting and enticing mixed with the humor and love and special connection. I loved what the drama gave to us in this episode and I love watching the two spend time together both on and off work. Although I wholeheartedly enjoy their antics and their dynamic, I sometimes wish that we got more out of our couple. Sometimes I feel as if the drama throws scenes of the two together for fan service and not so much because it fits within the grand scheme of things. I felt like the makgeolli scene in this episode was another important and beautiful and funny aspect to their relationship, but it also felt a bit out of place and random, it didn’t necessarily fit in with was what happening before and after the scene and that’s why I felt like it was a bit more fan service-y.
On the contrary, episodes 9 and 10 are great examples of the drama feeding us more Cha-young and Vincenzo moments without it feeling so forced. Cha-young spent the night over at Vincenzo’s placed because she was attacked by hitmen hired by Han-seo who was trying to test and gauge what his brother’s weaknesses were. It’s a snowball effect and it made sense as to why Cha-young and Vincenzo spent time at Vincenzo’s place. The hug at the end of episode 10 is also another great example of the drama naturally implementing more romantic interactions between the main couple. In the process of trying to figure out who Babo was, Vincenzo fought off the three killers and Cha-young worried for him because she was aware of Vincenzo’s willingness to kill which increased his chances of being killed and so she immediately hugged him when they reunited. It’s scenes like these where we’re fed with more romantic Cha-young and Vincenzo moments without the drama necessarily shoving it at our faces. While enjoyable and loved, the makgeolli scene in this episode felt as if the drama was trying to fulfill its quota of at least one cute Cha-young and Vincenzo scene and then call it a day after. We still got plenty of more interactions between the two throughout the episode, but they weren’t really as romantic or intimate. While enjoyable and loved, I felt as if the makgeolli scene seemed more like a random interjection than a natural integration and transition.
Am I also the only one who wanted to see Cha-young help get Vincenzo out of jail? I get that narratively, Vincenzo’s arrest was what enabled Mr. An to swoop in, reveal his identity, and help out the team. It had to be done this way in order to allow Mr. An to join the team, but I also really wanted to see Cha-young do something. As much as I didn’t want Vincenzo to be arrested, I was a bit excited at the thought of Cha-young representing him as his lawyer. I thought it would prove to be the perfect opportunity for Cha-young to return the favor for when Vincenzo managed to get her out of prison. She too would have worked her magic, cut some deals, and greet him with some coffee for when he was released. It would have been cute to watch Cha-young do the same that Vincenzo did to her and it would strike a balance in their relationship. They’re both lawyers, they’re both smart, they’re both talented, they both know the in’s and out’s of the work that they do. Of course, although Vincenzo and Cha-young’s areas of interest and backgrounds are completely different, watching Cha-young rescue Vincenzo from jail would have spoke volumes about their relationship both personally and professionally. Essentially, it would have proved that above all things, they’re equal to each other.
I don’t want to make it seem as if I’m all of a sudden now this bad person who hates “Vincenzo” because I don’t and I hope I won’t go that route. It’s just that I was disappointed with the route and decision that the drama went in regards to one of its biggest mysteries and sub-plots. While I enjoyed the first half of this show, I wished the drama did more with the Joon-woo revelation. The rushed ending and the anti-climatic reveal was a huge miss for me and I’m sad that it didn’t really do much for me. With that being said, the cat is really out of the bag and our protagonists really know who Joon-woo is. The revenge has just gotten ten times sweeter, but that also means the risks and pain has also increased by a tenfold. Cha-young and Vincenzo have already been at war with Joon-woo but that was before they knew who he really was. Now that they know about him and his secret involvement in all of this, what sort of tactics and strategies will they devise against him now? How much longer will they be able to keep this up? Along with Mr. An, who else will they recruit to help them take down the big bad evil guy? Could it potentially include some kind of compromise and negotiation with Han-seo and Mr. Han? What type of sacrifices will have to be made?
Extra photos from the episode~
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