Swansong
Episode 19 of Vincenzo marks the beginning of the end as our Italian-Korean consigliere prepares for his final march against Babel group. We return to Geumga Plaza, where Vincenzo faces each of these goons head on. They all attack at once, leading to a really well-shot fight sequence. Unfortunately Vincenzo is smacked upside the head with a wood block. With all hope lost, the other residents all show up and turn the tide of battle. Each of them get their own cheeky title card too, complete with some well placed shots and hilarious inside jokes. Notably, Mr An is labelled as President of Vincenzo’s fan-club “Oh my consigliere.” The group successfully turn the tide of battle, dispatching all of Kim’s goons. Cha-Young gets the final blow in though, knocking Mr Kim out with a wood block. Now we see flashes of the past to see how Vincenzo moved the gold from the vault. It turns out the monks have known about the trapdoor to the vault for quite some time. They were experiencing electric shocks while praying. As Vincenzo squirms in his seat, he eventually breaks the news that they’re sitting on the gold. In order to break in, he enlists Mi-Ri’s help alongside all those who already know about the vault. Once in, all the residents work together to move the gold bit by bit without arousing suspicion. The Guillotine File meanwhile, is moved somewhere else entirely. On the back of all this, Vincenzo speaks to Cha-Young and admits he solved everything back in Italy by drawing up a contract and paying 80 million euros. Cha-Young is impressed and thanks him, eventually going on to flirt a little. Yes guys, Cha-chenzo is well and truly on! Back in the office though, the group decide to teach Park Seung-Jun a lesson. Almost immediately, scandalous news about him leaks online. His support starts to waver. By comparison, Joon-Woo finds his support growing. With an army of loyal followers by his side, he beats down and bites another inmate who opposes him. With the Guillotine file used as leverage, Prosecutor Jung and Myung-Hee’s ideas to postpone the trial until after the elections fall on deaf ears. Just to make this deal legit, Vincenzo poses as a driver and takes Judge Heo out, demanding that he play ball. We then begin the first day of the trial. Judge Heo arrives, as Vincenzo Cassano steps up as the first witness. Vincenzo decides to bring forth his video evidence, Myung-Hee’s attempts to discredit this as omissible is rejected. Instead, Vincenzo shows all the footage but with some of the faces blurred. Myung-Hee believes this is code for them dying very soon. Thanks to the corruption and issues with Babel Group, the Geumga Plaza residents win their case. On the back of this, Han-Seo immediately flexes his muscles as a chairman and cancels all production of the illicit Babel chemicals. Seung-Hyeok is there too and he chuckles nervously, believing his time is up and wanting to form a coalition to prevent that. Han-Seo shrugs this off though and tells him he’s with Vincenzo now. After the court case, Vincenzo shows up to see Han-Seok in prison. He shows the crook a picture of his model Babel Tower completely wrecked. This symbolic gesture hints that Babel group are no more. Vincenzo smiles wryly as Han-Seok promises to be completely unhinged when he leaves prison. He glances at the Italian’s watch and decides it will make a great addition to his collection. When Vincenzo leaves, he speaks to Han-Seok and tells him to go abroad. After all, he’s going to be Han-Seo’s first target. Han-Seok refuses though and decides to stay and fight. Myugn-Hee too is desperate to fight, and she rallies the team along with Mr Kim to find a way to break him out. Well, Myung-Hee eventually decides to sacrifice herself and take the fall for the Babel group incident. This way, Han-Seok will be let free. Vincenzo strikes Prosecutor Jung when he least suspects it, trapping him up on the rooftop and calling him out. He won’t acknowledge his sins so now he’s going to pay the price. And that comes in the form of being dropped off the roof to his death. That’s one down but for Vincenzo it’s just the start. He intends to take the rest of Babel group out one by one. Han-Seo knows what they’re planning and decides to slip out unannounced without any fanfare. Myung-Hee decides to do the exact opposite, singing her heart out while trapped in a cell. Han-Seok meanwhile, leaves prison with no fanfare. Vincenzo tries to eat with Cha-Young but she plays hard to get. When she leaves, Han-Seo happens to be high above, watching her. Eventually he seizes his opportunity and bundles her into his car. Han-Seok then shows back up at his old office and confronts his brother. He calls him a traitor and confirms that he’s paid off all his bodyguards. There’s no one left. Brandishing a gun, Han-Seo accepts his fate… and receives a nasty blow to the face from the butt of the gun instead. He isn’t being killed off just yet. Back at Vincenzo’s place, he immediately senses something awry and heads outside with his silenced pistol. On the floor is an envelope holding Cha-Young’s bloodied necklace inside. Vincenzo immediately realizes what this means as both Cha-Young and Han-Seo are kept prisoner at Han-Seok’s place. Well, Vincenzo bursts into the room, leading to a big stand-off. Han-Seok forces his brother to pick up the hockey stick and beat Vincenzo. He refuses to do so though, and instead turns against his brother. He slams the hockey stick down and scuffles for the gun. Unfortunately Han-Seok is shot in the skirmish as he suddenly turns and fires at Vincenzo… but hits Cha-Young through the chest! As she collapses to the floor, Vincenzo looks on with murderous intent.
The Episode Review
I cannot remember the last time I watched a show that managed to recover so strongly from a tepid first half. Its taken a good 10 or so episodes for this one to strike gold but my goodness is this show firing on all cylinders now. Cha-Young and Vincenzo have had great development over the season and this self-aware teasing and holding off on a conventional romance has really helped set this one apart. The law drama side of things is still a bit so/so and if it wasn’t for the colorful characters really wouldn’t be that interesting. However, it serves as a good stop-gap between the far more interesting action and thriller elements. The opening title cards for the Geumga Plaza residents is such a great touch and it helps to play up the well-timed humour here. It’s also worth noting that Han-Seok’s character development this season has been fantastic. He’s become a true warrior for Geumga Plaza and a lot of that comes from his affection for Vincenzo. He sees the man as the brother he never had, starved of that sibling love thanks to Han-Seok’s murderous psychopathic tendencies. His final stand against Han-Seok is such a fitting (possible) end for his character. This really does echo the same sentiments as Seung-Jung from Crash Landing On You. Speaking of which, the ending scene may irk some people but it seems logical for someone who’s finally realized he’s in love. After all, love makes you do crazy things and instead of helping Han-Seok kill his brother, Vincenzo’s first thought was to free Cha-Young before going back to help. Sure it may be a little contrived but it’s needed to get this bombastic finale. Overall though, Vincenzo has been a tale of two halves. After a rather tepid opening half, Vincenzo has turned into one of the best k-dramas of the year. Tomorrow’s finale cant come quick enough!
