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This is it. This is what it has all come down to. Vincenzo had no expectations when he first set out on his journey to Korea and assumed it’d be a simple and quick trip. Fast forward to a few months later and he’s encountered many surprises – some not so pleasant and some so wonderful it was more than he could have asked for. At the end of it all, Vincenzo was able to find a second home for himself. He was able to finally find a place where he belonged and was able to surround himself with people who accepted and appreciated him for who he is. This is not the end for Vincenzo; this is merely just the beginning.

Note: I just want to thank everyone who joined me in my recaps for ‘Vincenzo.’ It was a fun, interesting, and entertaining journey and I definitely felt a wide range of emotions while watching the drama. I’m not so sure what I’m going to do with my weekends now that the drama is over, but I am thankful that it kept me occupied and entertained the past ten weeks. With that being said, please enjoy this recap for the final episode and I hope to engage with y’all through another drama sometime in the near future. In the meantime, please stay safe out there everyone!

Vincenzo: Episode 20 and Final Recap

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After throwing Han-seo onto the ground, Joon-woo shifts his focus to Cha-young and Vincenzo. He aims his gun at Vincenzo and shoots the weapon only to hit Cha-young with the bullet. She jumped out in front of Vincenzo at the last second to protect him and ended up getting shot in the back instead. Vincenzo is shocked and stunned with the incident and he catches Cha-young as she falls to the ground. Joon-woo too is shocked, but he’s not done yet. His primary target is Vincenzo and he wants to make sure he gets to see the Mafia member die. So with that, he prepares to shoot his gun once more at Vincenzo but just like before, Han-seo comes to the rescue. He steps in to to grab his brother’s gun and urges for his brother to shoot him instead. He tries to buy some time for Vincenzo and Cha-young and utters one last word before getting shot. Han-seo firmly believes that Joon-woo should have never been born. With that, Joon-woo doesn’t waste any time in killing his brother and pierces a bullet through Han-seo’s body. Han-seo falls to the ground with just a few more seconds to live.

With Han-seo out of the way, Joon-woo once again goes back to targeting Vincenzo. Vincenzo assumes he’ll bear the same fate as Han-seo and Cha-young so he uses his body to cover and protect Cha-young. However, luck is on his side as Joon-woo’s gun jams when he pulls the trigger. With the gun inoperatinoal, Joon-woo escapes out of the building as Vincenzo attempts to chase him down. Joon-woo makes it out alive and drives away in his car while Vincenzo returns to tend to both Cha-young and Han-seo. Using his last few breaths, Han-seo is commended and affirmed by Vincenzo for his bravery. He did well as Vincenzo’s little brother. He also hands over his cellphone to Vincenzo so that they can track Joon-woo down. Han-seo’s time runs out and Vincenzo closes Han-seo’s eyes as Han-seo lays on the ground lifeless. Cha-young sheds a tear as she watches nearby.

Joon-woo escapes to a dock and throws his gun into the water. He just shot Cha-young and killed his brother. He takes a few seconds to process what just happened, but he’s a monster and he keeps treading along. Thankfully, Cha-young survives and stays in the hospital for her recovery. Vincenzo is there right next to her when she wakes up and the two joke with each other about their hospital visits. He paid for her hospital room, but Cha-young reminds him that she did the same when he was in his coma for ten days. Haha. Eventually, they’re reminded of the mission that Vincenzo has to finish and Cha-young encourages Vincenzo to get the job done. He shouldn’t blame himself for what happened to her. Once Vincenzo finishes Joon-woo off, he’ll have to leave the country and Cha-young is okay with that. It’s not what either of them wants, but Vincenzo will keep his promise to Cha-young and he’ll come back one day. Cha-young requests that Vincenzo not contact her once he’s done and that he immediately leave the country once everything is over. With that, the two comfortably relish in each other’s company for what would be their last night together. Omg, this scene is so soft, I am not okay over here. I loved everything about this scene and I love the two of them so so much.

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Lawyer Choi reads about the murder of Han-seo by Joon-woo in the newspaper in her prison cell and she’s not thrilled at the news. Vincenzo isn’t dead like how she wanted. All our Geumga tenants are determined to help Vincenzo in his fight against Joon-woo and Babel. They’ve already won plenty of battles in the past, they can win once again. Mr. An is handed Han-seo’s cellphone and the Guillotine file in a meeting with Vincenzo. Han-seo’s cellphone will be unlocked within a few hours and Vincenzo reminds Mr. An to use the Guillotine file to trample their enemies. Sometimes, justice is not justice. People like to talk about justice but do the exact opposite to prevent that. Mr. An vows to follow Vincenzo’s principles and he gets to work. We love the president of our Vincenzo fanclub! Vincenzo’s next target is Mr. Han. In a phone call with the Chief Prosecutor, he demands Mr. Han use his leverage to get Lawyer Choi out of prison within the next 3 hours. If he wants to live, he must do whatever he can to get Lawyer Choi out of prison. Mr. Han follows through with the directions; he does want to live after all.

Joon-woo meets up with a man to obtain some guns and weapons in exchange for money. After the transaction, Joon-woo hands some of his hitmen some money in return for their service. They all gather into the same van together and Joon-woo heads out to finish his mission. Lawyer Choi is eventually released from prison and it doesn’t take long for her discover why or how. Just seconds after exiting, she receives a special phone call from Vincenzo who plays a recording of the phone call conversation he had with Mr. Han. Vincenzo warns Lawyer Choi that she won’t be alive for much longer. Unbeknownst to Lawyer Choi, Mr. Cho secretly follows her and updates Vincenzo on her whereabouts. Lawyer Choi’s first stop out of prison is her Wusang office and she contacts Joon-woo right away. After updating Joon-woo about Mr. Han’s betrayal, she is instructed to go to Joon-woo’s place to work out some stuff regarding his property. She is also to wire some money to Joon-woo as well as to her own bank account. Lastly, her boss suggests she leave the country and find refuge somewhere else. They are on Vincenzo’s hitlist after all.

Vincenzo gets moving thanks to Mr. An who successfully unlocks Han-seo’s phone. He’s able to track Joon-woo’s location down and heads out to find the Babel Chairman. Meanwhile, Lawyer Choi too gets moving after successfully following Joon-woo’s instructions in wiring money. Just how much time does she have left until Vincenzo finds her? Mr. Han is busy chatting it up with journalists and reporters outside of the courtroom. It’s only until they all stop recording and put their cameras down that he opens his mouth. Mr. Han defends Wusang and claims that all of Babel’s illegal activities were committed by a selfish Lawyer Choi. However, Mr. Han’s informal press conference is interrupted by a phone call from Joon-woo. Mr. Han lives a few seconds longer to listen to Joon-woo’s last words for him before getting stabbed twice by two of Joon-woo’s hitmen. While everyone panics and Mr. Han bleeds to death on the stairs, the two guys manage to escape in Joon-woo’s van. Vincenzo appears a few seconds later and witnesses the horrific scene in front of the courthouse. Cha-young and Mr. Nam watch the news coverage of Mr. Han’s murder at the hospital and are in disbelief with the news. Cha-young is confident Vincenzo will stay safe though; there’s no one else who can kill him.

Joon-woo escapes to a place underground so Vincenzo is unable to locate him on the GPS tracker. With that, they shift their focus to Lawyer Choi first who heads to her apartment to find her passport. She’s finished wiring the money so her assignments for Joon-woo have concluded. She assumes she’s safe with the security guards she’s hired to protect her, but there is no guarantee of safety when it comes to Vincenzo. She hurries into her apartment and rushes to find her passport only to hear the flickering of a gold lighter nearby. It’s Vincenzo (wow, I legit had goosebumps!). Indeed, Vincenzo is inside of her place and he also has access to her passport. There’s no going anywhere now. Mr. Cho does his duty in killing all of Lawyer Choi’s security guards so she’s alone without any support or help. Since Lawyer Choi enjoys Zumba dancing so much, Vincenzo will make sure she can dance her heart out in her final moments. Oh and the money that Lawyer Choi wired to Joon-woo’s bank account? It’s been intercepted thanks to Mi-ri’s expert hacking.

And so Lawyer Choi gets to Zumba dancing when she awakens to find herself in an abandoned warehouse. Her bleeding feet are glued to the floor as she’s perched onto a bench. Vincenzo appears shortly afterwards with his infamous gold lighter and the two exchange some words. Vincenzo is no different than Lawyer Choi; just like her, he’s also a scumbag. There’s no difference between the two of them, but Vincenzo begs to differ. The more Lawyer Choi talks, the more she seems less afraid to die so Vincenzo cuts their friendly chat short. He sprays the room with some oil and plays some of Lawyer Choi’s Zumba music while doing so. It’s a bit too late for Lawyer Choi who attempts to appease Vincenzo during her last few seconds. To Vincenzo, she’s a monster and she should die. And so, while walking away from Lawyer Choi, Vincenzo flicks his gold lighter open and throws it over his shoulder. Lawyer Choi literally lights up as she burns on fire. A slow burning death like Vincenzo promised. Vincenzo always follows through with his words.

With Lawyer Choi gone, Vincenzo’s remaining target is Joon-woo. He maintains communication with Mr. An who updates him on the whereabouts of Joon-woo since he also has access to the tracker. Since Vincenzo is quite far from Joon-woo, Mr. An has deployed Mr. Tak, Cheol-wook, Mr. Park, and Larry to distract Joon-woo to buy some time. And so they arrive at the dock where Joon-woo and his men are located. While our Geumga team fights off Joon-woo’s men, Joon-woo attempts to escape by driving away. Cheol-wook prevents the villain from leaving, but Joon-woo is a monster and he’s not afraid to hurt people. Cheol-wook is stabbed in the chest by Joon-woo and begins to bleed heavily.

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Thankfully, Vincenzo pulls up just in time to shoot Joon-woo twice in the leg, rendering him weak and unable to escape. Mr. Tak kicks the evil monster out cold while they all tend to Cheol-wook’s stabbing wound. Cheol-wook assumes the worst and says a few words to Vincenzo while fighting for his life. He hopes that Vincenzo will be able to take Joon-woo down and he also hopes Vincenzo will be his daughter’s godfather when she’s born. All the guys panic as Mr. Park pulls out his kit to save Cheol-wook’s life. He wraps Cheol-wook’s wounded leg with some bandage but is cut short when the police arrives. It’s a sign for Vincenzo to get moving since he’s a wanted man at the moment so the group splits up. Joon-woo is thrown into Vincenzo’s vehicle while our Geumga team reconvene in Mr. Park’s small but mighty car. They’re able to help Vincenzo escape by distracting the police and demanding for aid for a wounded Cheol-wook.

Mr. Nam receives an update about Vincenzo and relays the information over to a worried Cha-young. He managed to escape just fine and also has Joon-woo with him. However, it’s not all good news as Mr. Nam begins to tear up at the thought of Cheol-wook. Cheol-wook? Cheol-wook wasn’t so lucky. When Joon-woo wakes up, he finds himself strapped to a chair with a long drill aimed right at his chest. Vincenzo sits patiently across from him flickering his gold lighter open and shut once again. Vincenzo credits Han-seo for helping him find Joon-woo. Thanks to Han-seo’s quick and smart thinking, he had put trackers in all of Joon-woo’s watches and downloaded the app in his cellphone knowing fully well that it would be useful some day with all the type of trouble Joon-woo pulls off. Vincenzo then goes on to explain about the machine that Joon-woo is tied to. Just like Vincenzo said he would, Joon-woo will experience excruciating pain for his death. Vincenzo gives Joon-woo a preview of what to expect as he steps on a a pedal that pushes the drill inches closer to Joon-woo’s chest. Joon-woo attempts to appeal to Vincenzo just like Lawyer Choi did and vows to give him whatever Vincenzo wants. He’ll even let Vincenzo cut off his limb. He wants his life to be spared. Although Vincenzo knows he can certainly do that, he won’t. Not after all that Joon-woo has done. So with that, he switches the machine back to auto and turns it back on. Before walking away, Vincenzo grabs Joon-woo’s watch just like how Joon-woo did with all the other people he murdered. With Joon-woo slowly dying, Vincenzo is tempted to call Cha-young despite her initial request. However, he refrains from actually going through with the phone call and he tosses his phone away. There’s one more thing he has to do.

Vincenzo meets up with Mr. An and Mr. Cho to plan his escape. He’s handed a Korean passport and is urged to leave within 30 minutes or else he’ll get caught by the police. Vincenzo expresses his gratitude to both men and even to Director Tae for the help with the passport. Vincenzo prepares to head out when he receives a surprise visit from his Jipuragi team. Cha-young and Mr. Nam exit from the vehicle and Vincenzo pulls Cha-young in for a hug. She’s content now that she’s seen his face one last time and they bid farewell with each other. Vincenzo does the same with Mr. Nam and gives him a hug before leaving for the airport with Mr. Cho. Mr. An, Mr. Nam, and Cha-young watch as Vincenzo is driven away in the vehicle and Cha-young cries with his departure. It’s a bittersweet feeling. Meanwhile, the torture and pain for Joon-woo doesn’t end. As he stays strapped onto the chair, a crow finds its way into the warehouse and begins to eat at Joon-woo’s body. Oof.

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A month passes and the police are still in search for Vincenzo who’s no longer in the country. Cha-young takes a break by going on a tour at a wine facility and she’s even dedicated a row in the vineyard under Vincenzo’s name. Since he was a wine fanatic, it only seems fitting. While hanging out with his friends, Yeong-ho reads on a huge TV screen that all of Babel and its subsidiaries has gone into receivership. It’s not the exciting ending he was expecting, but alas, Babel has been dealt with. Mr. Kim goes on his run for the presidential election and he’s determined to resume with the redevelopment plans in the town where Geumga Plaza is located in. However, our Geumga family know better than to let outsiders destroy their home under the name of “redevelopment” and they host a protest at Mr. Kim’s event. Our Geumga-Cassano family are determined to settle the issue once for all while Cha-young heads out for her lawsuit regarding Ms. Oh’s retrial. It’s an easy win for Cha-young as Mr. Hwang – Ms. Oh’s employer – is found guilty of attempted sexual assault while Ms. Oh is found guilty of manslaughter and not murder. Mr. Hwang’s former wife is also guilty of negligence for not reporting the incident despite having witnessed the scene. She was ratted out by her own son, Min-sung – who made a written confession in prison in exchange for some photos of handsome Vincenzo. Hahaha. I love our Cha-young! She sure does know how to get things done.

It’s been a year since Vincenzo’s left and President of the Vincenzo fanclub, Mr. An, can’t help but wonder where the Consigliere is. While thinking about Vincenzo, Mr. An receives a visit from Director Tae in his office. With special access to the Guillotine file, Director Tae has refused to do any joint investigations with any other office or department. He also reintroduces Mr. Cho to their team and Mr. An welcomes the new addition. Mr. An still is his Sunbae after all so Mr. Cho receives his first assignment from Mr. An and is instructed to look into the whereabouts of Vincenzo. Haha. Mr. Park dedicates some of his time to helping Yeon-jin with her pawn shop. Now that she has a daughter to look after and take care of, she’ll need all the help she can get. Unlike what we thought, Cheol-wook isn’t actually dead. He’s alive! Thanks to Mr. Park’s first aid on Cheol-wook, his life was saved and he was able to recover after his surgery. Cheol-wook owes Mr. Park his life, literally. Meanwhile, what has Mi-ri been up to? It’s the same old stuff for her as she tutors a young child playing the piano at her piano school. The only caveat? She has some bars of gold hidden inside one of the two pianos. Hahaha. I love it!

What about our two monks and their temple? They’ve now turned into a marriage proposal temple and celebrate as a couple propose to each other in their temple. Hahaha. I love it! Monk Jeok-ha reminisces on the last conversation he had with Vincenzo regarding his life. After all that has happened, Vincenzo reaches the conclusion that he’ll never change. He can never be good or do the “right” thing. He’ll be swept up in emotions of pain and anguish for the rest of his life and that’s okay. Jeok-ha notes that Vincenzo might never be able to become like Buddha in his life, but he’ll receive compliments from the higher power from time to time. Jeok-ha grins as he thinks about the huge golden Buddha figure resting in the secret room beneath them. And just like with the other Geumga tenants, all is well with our two monks. It’s time for Cha-young to reflect on her time with Vincenzo. She takes a break after her trial by sipping on some soda at a park and recalls a conversation she had with Vincenzo about his departure from Korea. She was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to return once he left, but Vincenzo wasn’t too afraid. He was sure he’ll be able to come back. Omg, my heaaaart. They’re so cute!

When Cha-young returns to the Jipuragi office, she reunites with Mr. Nam and together they rejoice over the results of the retrial. Things are going great for them and they’re glad to have finally brought justice for Vincenzo’s mother. With that, Cha-young receives yet another postcard from Vincenzo with the message “friends are like one soul in two bodies.” She pins it on the board alongside all the other postcards that he’s sent her the past year. Aww. She also receives an invitation to attend a party celebrating Italy and Korea’s diplomatic relations. Since Mr. Nam is occupied with a paper airplane competition on the same night, she’ll have to attend the party alone.

But Cha-young isn’t alone and she never will be. While walking around the lobby of the building and admiring the “Liberty Leading the People” painting hung up on the wall, Cha-young is joined by her soulmate. Her friend that she shares a soul with appears in front of her and it’s too good to be true. She recognizes his voice right away and it is indeed Vincenzo standing right next to her. It’s been a year since they’ve last interacted and the wait was well worth it. Vincenzo greets Cha-young like nothing has changed and Vincenzo explains to her how he had to sneak in with the Italian delegation to get into Korea. Regardless, he’ll one day invite her to the island he’s purchased in Malta that he’s named after himself. Just like in Korea, he’s named the island “Jipuragi” in Italian. Vincenzo also makes sure to thank Cha-young for helping him store the gold inside of a room she has outside her house. That was where they were hiding and storing the gold and there was so much gold to stack that they even built a bed out of it that Cha-young herself slept on. Haha.

As Cha-young and Vincenzo continue on their stroll outside, Vincenzo invites Cha-young over to his island. He’s now the boss of the Cassano family and there’s many different reasons to visit his island. Cha-young smiles at the thought of visiting Vincenzo at his new home and she’s excited for the trip. The two pause the chitchatting for a few seconds to enjoy each other’s presence. They must have really missed this feeling. To have gone from spending everyday together to finally reuniting after a whole year, it’s obvious they don’t want to let this moment go. Cha-young resumes their conversation by adding that she missed Vincenzo. Vincenzo reciprocates by adding that he too missed her and thought about her constantly ever since he left. It’s hard for Cha-young to believe Vincenzo at first, but it’s not until he kisses her that she knows he’s saying the truth. They’ve both missed each other so much and their passionate kiss proves that. And so the night comes to an end and Vincenzo has to return back home. He and Cha-young exchange glances with each other one last time before he heads out. Just like they’ve done so many times before, they can tell how the other person is feeling with just one look in the eyes. Although separated in the meantime, there’s comfort in knowing there will be many more opportunities for the two to reconnect.

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While walking about, Vincenzo reflects on his life as a Mafia member and villain. You see, he can care less about justice. He’ll stay a villain for the rest of his life and will do what he has to do to maintain a peaceful life. With that, he’s going to focus on getting rid of scumbags and garbage just like how he’s been doing his entire career. He reminds himself that evil is prevalent and vehement. Once a villain, forever a villain.

My Thoughts:

Ahh, it’s over! It’s finally over. I can’t believe it is finally over. I felt like I’ve aged 30 years the past ten weeks and I’m just glad we were able to witness how thing wrapped up for everyone. While I didn’t completely enjoy everything about this drama, it’s brought me much laughter, tears of joy, tears of sadness, and everything in between over the weeks. I’m not even so sure where to start with my thoughts on the finale.

The drama had hyped up the war between Vincenzo and Joon-woo its entire run that I didn’t think too much about their confrontation with this last episode. I think I was much more interested in everything else going on that I didn’t really care to see how exactly Joon-woo went out. We knew Vincenzo was going to eventually kill Joon-woo off so when the time came, I was less interested in seeing how and was just more relieved when it happened. Joon-woo deserved to die for various reasons and we know that a part of that was due to how he murdered Vincenzo’s mother. I think I would usually be a little bit more invested in the final battle between our protagonist and the villain, but in this case, there was so much going on that I didn’t really care to see how things wrapped up between Joon-woo and Vincenzo. Joon-woo got the ending he deserved and Vincenzo was able to get payback for his mother, Cha-young’s father, and for everyone else that was killed or hurt by Joon-woo. The drama had also dragged on the battle between Vincenzo and Joon-woo that I sort of lost interest as the drama progressed. It was fun getting to see the two go at it with each other in the beginning, but then the sizzle in their battle began to sort of die out and got less interesting as the show continued. It was what it was and we got the rightful ending that we wanted.

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With that being said, what definitely was more exciting were all the interactions and antics that our Geumga-Cassano family pulled off. I loved that a group of random individuals who didn’t really have any strong and positive connections to one another in the beginning were able to not only bond and get closer, but also befriend an outsider like Vincenzo. It’s one thing for the tenants to form relationships with one another which we witnessed throughout the drama, but it’s also another for them to trust, accept, and love a person like Vincenzo who takes some time to warm up to. Throughout the duration of the drama, we watched as our Geumga tenants were at first wary and cautious of Vincenzo and then eventually opened up to him once they saw just how supportive, serious, and genuine Vincenzo was in standing up for them. I loved that they never hesitated to support him and even risked their lives in the process of siding with him and helping him in his fight to defeat Joon-woo. It wasn’t easy, but it was well worth it as the journey helped the Geumga family recognize the strength, resilience, and power they had in themselves the entire time. There is power in numbers and it takes a village to fight for justice. By fighting alongside Vincenzo and working together as a team, our Geumga family were able to stand their ground and stand up for themselves. They were able to learn more about themselves in the process.

As I reflect on this final episode, I really have to give it up for Han-seo and the interesting and bittersweet trajectory that he faced as he went on with his plan for revenge. I didn’t provide any commentary in my last few recaps for the drama, but I definitely felt it when Han-seo mentioned how Vincenzo felt like a brother to him. It pained me when he made that confession to Vincenzo because it clearly proved just how much he wanted a brother growing up. Despite being half-brothers, Joon-woo was never like a brother to him. Joon-woo was never a brother figure to him and Han-seo never had a father to rely on. Han-seo was always tiptoeing around Joon-woo and was always in his brother’s shadow. He could never be himself because of Joon-woo and it took a huge toll on him mentally and emotionally because he knew he could never meet Joon-woo’s expectations or do more with his life. Therefore, it broke my heart when he admitted that he enjoyed being with Vincenzo because Vincenzo felt like a Hyung to him. He liked helping Vincenzo and spending time with him because their brotherly relationship was something that he wanted and craved growing up but ultimately never got. All Han-seo wanted growing up was a brother and he didn’t get any of that with Joon-woo.

With Vincenzo, it was different and it was the complete opposite. Han-seo could be comfortable with Vincenzo without the fear of being judged or killed (even though he did fear for his life a few times with Vincenzo, lol). Han-seo was an easy character to root for even during the first half of the drama. His life was definitely engaging and interesting because you could sense that he wanted to go against his brother. You just never really knew when or how he was going to do that because Joon-woo was so powerful but you knew that Han-seo had it in him to get the pieces rolling. Therefore, it was exciting when Han-seo paired up with Mr. Han at first because I knew that it was the push that Han-seo needed to move on with his plan. Then when he joined sides with Vincenzo, it only made things more refreshing and exciting because you knew that Vincenzo would help him succeed in taking down his brother. Han-seo was one of those characters whose ending I also wasn’t too shocked about. Although unfortunate, there were risks that went into betraying Joon-woo and even Han-seo himself was well aware of those risks going into it. He ultimately risked it all and although he didn’t get to witness the death of Joon-woo per se, there is some peace in knowing that Vincenzo took care of that for him. It was bittersweet watching Han-seo’s journey from a frightened puppet to a courageous and confident young man. He really did do well.

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I think the episode also did a fine job in tying up loose ends and wrapping things up with our Geumga tenants, the gold, the Guillotine file, and all the family situations. I’m glad that the drama went back to revisit some of the older topics that it brought up such as Mom’s retrial or that it dedicated some time to showing us the aftermath of our Geumga tenants. Cheol-wook and Yeon-jin were able to give birth to a beautiful and healthy daughter (and I’m so relieved Cheol-wook actually didn’t die! I knew some people were going to die in the last episode, but I sure was hoping it wasn’t going to be Cheol-wook!). The Guillotine file was utilized to take down enemies and garbage. The gold was safely stored near Cha-young’s house. Our Geumga tenants were able to find peace with this new chapter in their life. Although Vincenzo left, it was obvious that he impacted their lives in many ways and that he could still be felt even without his physical presence. I was afraid that the last episode was going to rush things especially given the fact that Vincenzo hadn’t even killed Lawyer Choi and Joon-woo off yet at the beginning of this episode. One of my biggest K-drama pet peeves is when a drama rushes its ending and doesn’t give us a satisfactory conclusion for its protagonist and characters. More so than seeing the villain be taken down and killed, I would rather much witness and watch our characters recover and heal in the aftermath. Thankfully, we got both in this episode where Joon-woo and Lawyer Choi died in ways that was fitting and made sense (Lawyer Choi with her Zumba dancing and Joon-woo with the way that his own watch was taken away from him like how he used to do with the people he murdered) and we also got to see what happened to our Geumga tenants in the post-Vincenzo era. I never felt as if the episode was rushed with this finale and I’m content with the conclusion.

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Although there were a few moments in this episode that stood out to me (Vincenzo commending Han-seo for his efforts and telling him that he did well as his younger brother right before Han-seo died or watching our Geumga-Cassano family stand up to Mr. Kim), one of the standout moments in this episode was definitely the conversation between Vincenzo and Monk Jeok-ha. I think their conversation is a perfect representation of not only Vincenzo’s growth and development as a character, but also an accurate representation of Vincenzo’s journey and time in Korea. In one of his first raw and serious conversations with Monk Jeok-ha, Vincenzo questioned whether he would ever be able to alleviate and overcome the anger that had been built up inside of him for his entire life. He pondered over whether he would ever be free from all his pent-up anger that he had suppressed and had been oppressed by thus far in his life.

Fast forward to a few months later, a few bruises and fighting, a few hugs, a few trials and lawsuits and Vincenzo was finally able to reach the conclusion to this ongoing question that he wanted an answer for. He finally realized after all that he went through that he would never be freed from all the anger, pain, and anguish that he’s experienced and will experience. It’s a part of him and it’s going to live within him for the rest of his life. I loved that Vincenzo was able to come to this conclusion on his own, but I loved it even more how accepting he was of it all. This feeling wasn’t something that he was trying to fight; instead, Vincenzo opened up to the truth and to his new reality. It’s just who he is and his past has helped shape him into the person he is in the present. I also loved that Monk Jeok-ha acted as a mentor of some sort to Vincenzo and listened intently to the Mafia lawyer express his feelings to him. He didn’t act as if he knew the answers for Vincenzo, but instead, respected Vincenzo through it all and supported Vincenzo by providing some thought-out advice and responses. I still remember clearly that scene of Vincenzo and Monk Jeok-ha in episode 6 when they first talked it over and now things have come full circle in this final episode. Vincenzo was able to learn more about himself and felt comfortable enough to share his observations with Monk Jeok-ha. It’s the perfect ending in this chapter to Vincenzo’s life.

I’m over here wondering when in this commentary would be the perfect time to talk about Cha-young and Vincenzo as a couple and dream duo and I guess I should just get on with it now. I noticed that we didn’t get as many interactions between the two the last few episodes so I was a bit sad and bummed out when we were barely getting by with crumbs (it was probably because people were disappointed with how much romance the writer was developing between the two given how non-romantic their past works have been). I felt as if the end results and wait was well worth it though because episodes 19 and 20 definitely gave us a lot more with them and I was satisfied with how things turned out. There’s many things to love about Vincenzo and Cha-young as a couple, but the biggest thing about them that is the easiest to root for are the parallels between them and their parents. I seriously can go on and on about this and just how beautiful this component in their relationship are. Cha-young lost her father earlier in the drama and didn’t really get the time to really spend time with him as his daughter. They were on opposite sides of the power spectrum. She was working for a huge corporation that her father dedicated his entire career to fighting against. They butt heads a lot so they always argued and fought and they had a difficult time acknowledging each other as family. Vincenzo and his mother separated when he was just barely a child and he resented his mother growing up for leaving him. He thought the worst about his mom, but still yearned to be reunited with his mother because she still was his mom at the end of the day. We were able to witness the bittersweet and complicated relationships that Vincenzo and Cha-young each had with their parents, respectively, so it was even more beautiful to witness the two learn some lessons along the way.

When Vincenzo got closer to Lawyer Hong, he advised Cha-young not to do or say anything regretful to her father because he knew what it was like to grow up without his mother or a parent for that matter. In return, Cha-young served as the mediator and bridge between Vincenzo and his mother when they were finally reunited because she knew all too well what it was like to lose a loved one and be left behind with regrets. She didn’t want Vincenzo to go through the same thing that she did so she pushed Vincenzo to spend time with his mother and to repair his broken relationship with her. As much of a happy ending as Cha-young wanted between Vincenzo and his mother, Vincenzo eventually experienced the same pain and loss that she did with the passing of his mother. He never got to call her mother just like how Cha-young never got to fully acknowledge her father as her father.

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As painful and heartbreaking as the loss of their parents was, I think that’s why it was even more beautiful and touching to see the two comfort each other in it all. When Mom passed away, Cha-young was there every single step of the way. She stayed next to Vincenzo’s Mom’s side while he went out to seek revenge. She was by Vincenzo’s side at Mom’s funeral, she was there when they visited Mom’s burial site, and she listened to him process out loud the passing of his mother. She was there to comfort him and reassure him that their short time together was well spent and that they brought eternal happiness into each other’s lives. Sure, Vincenzo might carry that blame and guilt with him for the rest of his life, but there were also many positive and sincere things that came out of his reunion with his mother. I just loved watching Cha-young be there for Vincenzo just like how he was there when she lost her father. They showed their support for each other in their own ways, but the love was always there. The way that Vincenzo showed his love and support for Cha-young differed from Cha-young’s methods, but they could relate to each other because they both lost their parents.

I’ll never forget the way that Vincenzo looked at Cha-young in episode 5 when they met with the family members of the victims of Babel Chemicals. The family members were afraid to proceed with the lawsuit because they weren’t so confident they were going to win and they had heard some stuff about Cha-young’s father. It was one of the first moments after Lawyer Hong’s death that someone had spoken about him and it obviously hurt Cha-young a lot to hear those type of rumors about her late father. In that exact moment, Vincenzo stopped what he was doing and he looked at Cha-young to check her reaction. He then stepped in for her and continued her efforts in persuading the family members to team up with them. Another moment that I loved was at the ending of episode 9 when Vincenzo and Cha-young arrived at the scene where the 4 family members were discovered dead in their van. Vincenzo glanced over at Cha-young for a second before going back to stare at the horrible sight in front of them. It was one of those things where he knew just how big of a deal their deaths meant to Cha-young and how tragic and unfortunate it all was. Another unforgettable moment for me was in episode 9 when Vincenzo and Cha-young were enjoying some Makgeolli together and Vincenzo relayed to her the words that her father wanted him to tell her. Vincenzo communicated to Cha-young how great of a lawyer her father felt she would become and she felt so embarrassed to hear it because she knew it was something her father would never be able to say to her face to face because that’s not how their dynamic worked. I seriously loved the parallel that the drama drew between the two in regards to their parental relationships and that’s why I enjoyed watching the two bond. If Cha-young and Vincenzo were going to grieve, they were going to grieve together. If they were going to mourn, they were going to mourn together. If they were going to be happy, they were going to be happy together. Cha-young and Vincenzo were friends who shared one soul in two bodies. They are soulmates.

This episode definitely did not disappoint and did not shy away in providing us more beautiful moments and interactions between our power couple. The kiss and cute little stroll at the end was beautiful (it was also shot very beautifully! It was seriously so so pretty), but I also loved the little touches that the drama gave here and there (such as the “Liberty Leading the People” painting that the two were staring at in the building). I also loved when the two joked with each other at the hospital about how they paid for each other’s hospital bills or the way that Vincenzo stroked Cha-young’s hair as they stared lovingly at each other in that moment. Vincenzo and Cha-young were perfect complements for each other and worked so well together. She’s a bit more feisty, haughty, and fierce while Vincenzo’s a bit more reserved, meticulous, and introverted when it comes to interacting with other people. He’s not as loud as she is and he keeps to himself a bit more, but I think that’s why they made the perfect duo. When it came to working together on lawsuits or coming up with hilarious antics to take down Babel, they were both so creative. Whether it was pretending to be a couple for their art gallery date to supporting the four family members of the victims of Babel Pharmaceutical, they did their best to get the job done and they did what they needed to do. Episode five will forever be my favorite episode out of the entire series because it was one of the more well-rounded episodes. For the first time, we got to witness our Geumga tenants team up with Cha-young and Vincenzo, but we also got to witness the awesome work dynamic between Cha-young and Vincenzo. We got to witness why they make the perfect duo.

Something else I noticed between their dynamic and amazing chemistry was how Cha-young was always the more expressive of the two. She always thanked him first and used words as a way to express her gratitude and appreciation for Vincenzo while Vincenzo did the opposite by using actions to express himself (just like how he kissed her at the end of this episode, amirite? *WINK WINK*). They went through both some good and bright times together, but also saw each other at their most vulnerable and painful moments. Whether it was winning against Babel and Wusang or losing their parents, Cha-young and Vincenzo went through it all together. They saw each other in moments that weren’t so happy or cheerful, but they also experienced victories together that made them feel better about their situations. They could look each other in the eyes and know what the other person was feeling or thinking. This gave me all the more reasons to support the two and that’s why I loved them both so much. Through all the ups and down, the highs and the lows, the pretty and the ugly and everything in between, they were there for each other. They were together every step of the way.

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I guess that leads me to my next conversation which is about Cha-young. If I had to seriously choose one of my favorite characters out of the entire drama (and there were many characters in this drama), Cha-young would definitely have to be the winner (my other favorite character is Mr. An but that’s more because of his role as the President of the Vincenzo fanclub and all his comedic highlights). I’m glad for the exposure that Cha-young got in this drama, but I can’t help but feel a bit sad at how little she was given. I wanted more of Cha-young and I wanted to see more of her. I wanted to see her continue her efforts to fight for justice like how her father did. I wanted to continue to watch her fight in court and use her knowledge and power as a lawyer to get the job done. I wanted to see her do more in the hilarious antics that she and Vincenzo pulled off when they were going after the bad guys. In the process of dragging on the war between Vincenzo vs. Joon-woo and Lawyer Choi, I felt as if Cha-young was sort of pushed to the side. She played a much bigger role in the first half of the drama and I loved just how involved she was in it all. By the end of the show, I felt as if she never really got the respect and credit that she deserved.

Cha-young’s character arc was by far my favorite in this drama due to the interesting dynamic that she had with her father. Her relationship with her father was my number one favorite thing in the drama and I spoke a little bit about it in an earlier recap. Therefore, I wanted to see Cha-young continue to use the inspiration she received from her father to do the same line of work that he did. Although she did get justice for Ms. Oh or there were some moments sprinkled in between of Cha-young missing her father, the drama didn’t do enough to showcase more of her beautiful journey and trajectory. It’s such a shame that Cha-young wasn’t shown doing more because she was such a funny and interesting character. The drama could have done a lot more with her character and I actually didn’t realize it until this episode just how much I missed watching her be so badass. When she and the Geumga Cassano family stood up to Mr. Kim during his event or when she successfully settled the lawsuit for Ms. Oh’s retrial, it reminded me again of the spazzy and feisty Cha-young that we were introduced to earlier in the drama. There was so much potential to do so much more with Cha-young and seeing how things ended up for her, it sort of made sense that a newer actress like Jeon Yeon-bin was selected to play the character. Although Cha-young was our female lead and Vincenzo’s love interest, she sort of felt like a side character especially in the second half of the drama.

In all honesty, I sort of was checking out with the drama the last few episodes, hence, why I didn’t provide any commentary with my last few recaps. I’m not completely sure if the drama needed twenty episodes to show us what it did so maybe that’s why I didn’t feel as invested towards the end of the drama. I also felt this disconnect with the whole Guillotine file plot because it wasn’t something that the drama mentioned in the beginning. It was randomly thrown in in the middle of the drama so that the drama had something to keep itself going and so that the drama had a way to take down all the villains in the drama. I’m also curious as to how much the drama changed its ending with that one week break when it didn’t air the new episode. Sometimes, I also felt like there were too many moving parts to the drama and that the drama tried to do more than it could handle. There were times I wished the drama didn’t do so much and spent more time being selective on what it wanted to focus on (cough cough, Cha-young’s character arc). Although the drama was great, there was also so much potential in the direction that it could have took and the choices that it could have made.

Regardless, the drama was a mix of many different emotions and moods and tones. Although I did enjoy all the comedic highlights and the comedy, I wished we got more consistency with the darker, grittier, and more serious genre. ‘Vincenzo’ did a thing where it gave us the best of both worlds and I liked it and I enjoyed just how funny and humorous the Geumga-Cassano family was, but I loved it even more when Vincenzo and Joon-woo were trying to one-up each other. I’ll never forget the ending to episode 9 which remains my favorite ending to any of the episodes in this drama because of just how impactful the deaths of the four family members were at that time. In the time that Jipuragi had spent going back and forth with Babel and Wusang, Cha-young and Vincenzo suffered their first real big loss at the end of that episode. Up until then, they were able to keep winning small little victories and they hadn’t yet experienced any huge defeats or losses. It wasn’t until innocent people they knew lost their lives and innocent people who were supposed to help them in their fight against Babel died that they faced a huge bump in the war against their enemies. I loved how dark and mysterious and bleak and serious that ending felt and I wished the drama kept up with that line of feeling for most of its run. The drama did manage to maintain both the comedy and the darkness, but man, I wished we got more of what we saw at the ending of episode 9. It was seriously so so good.

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(omgeeeee, look at the way they’re looking at each other! I love them both so so much!!)

With that being said, ‘Vincenzo’ was still a fun show to watch and it did what I expected it to do. You had the typical protagonist vs. villain premise, but the enjoyable part of it was watching not only Vincenzo take down Joon-woo but watching him take down Joon-woo and team with the help of his second family. It was interesting and entertaining to watch Vincenzo’s life change and evolve as he got more involved. He didn’t expect to reunite with his mother, he didn’t expect to bond and connect with a group of tenants, he didn’t expect to find love, he didn’t expect to unleash his inner Mafia in Korea and yet he did. He experienced all of these things and so much more. In what was supposed to be a month long trip to Korea to simply grab his gold and leave, Vincenzo stayed much longer to protect himself and his family. People lost their lives after meeting Vincenzo, but people also received blessings because of him. Vincenzo’s presence was one that no one saw coming but that they were ultimately grateful for. He was able to help the people he come across learn more about themselves, feel more confident, learn some fighting skills, and advocate for themselves. They were able to become stronger because they felt inspired and motivated to be more like him. They were encouraged to be more courageous and fearless. Because as we will see, there’s more than meets the eye. There’s more to first impressions and first interactions. Vincenzo might view himself as a villain, but to other people it’s different. Vincenzo might perceive himself as a villain, but in other people’s eyes, he is a hero.

Extra photos from the episode~