Encore!
Episode 13 of Vincenzo begins with Mr Cho holding Vincenzo up at gunpoint. Snatching the gold bar holding the Guillotine File, he takes off. Only, Vincenzo tells him the File isn’t actually in that bar after all. This serves as a big enough distraction for Vincenzo to grab the gun, knock down Cho and gain the upper-hand. It turns out Cho is actually a corporate spy and works for an International Crime Bureau. He’s pretty cunning and admits that he’s not a good guy. As we soon find out, Vincenzo knew and suspected this deception the whole time. Vincenzo realizes the Guillotine File is a big deal and that Cho wasn’t actually going to call it in. Cho actually wanted to profit off this, which he knows thanks to his own informants working on his side. Meanwhile, Joon-Woo leads the Babel group in their plans going forward. Only, they’re interrupted by Director Tae Jong-Gu of the International Organized Crime Bureau showing up – the same organization Cho works for. He apologizes for his tardiness and joins them for the upcoming discussion about the group’s future. En-route to the hot springs, the group change their minds and head back to Geumga Plaza. Cha-Young frantically phones and lets Cho and Vincenzo know they’re back. This seems them break up their ensuing issues in the basement and scramble to protect the gold. They both kick everything back down the hole and work to put the temple back to normal. They manage it just in time as the residents scramble back to the plaza. When they do, Cha-Young stalls for time, telling a drawn out story about the location of the gold. As they head back inside, they see Cho and Vincenzo praying in the temple. Mi-Ri is immediately suspicious, especially with the floor of the temple displaced. However, she remains quiet for now. When they leave, Vincenzo and Cho both breathe a sigh of relief. Only, they suddenly realize, to their horror, that they’ve left the iris device in the jacket…which is now inside the vault. After all that, they’re both locked out from the gold. Vincenzo and Cho find themselves despairing and bawling their eyes out, disguised as enlightenment in front of the monks. This sadness continues late on at dinner when Vincenzo learns that the residents are “accusing” him of hiding the gold. Meanwhile, Babel group weigh up their options regarding the Guillotine file. There’s some very incriminating files on there that could cause a lot of problems for them if it leaks out. After their meeting, Han-Seok speaks to Seung-Hyeok in private, confronting him about the misfortune befalling them and how none of Seung-Hyeok’s ideas have worked in his favour. Seung-Hyeok proposes that he take a break, lowering Joon-Woo’s guard before striking again. Han-Seo takes this advice and embraces acting like an idiot. He makes a big scene down at the police station, assaulting someone and throwing money around. When Myung-Hee shows up, she watches in disdain. Meanwhile, Cha-Young and Vincenzo work together and try to piece some evidence to use against Babel – which includes setting their sights on the Vision Team. Their plan includes finding out who the company Union leader is. Or, as Cha-Young puts it, the “King of the lackies.” After heading out for some food, they decide to try and go after the company union leader. Having done some research, he’s quite the traitor and they intend to use that to their advantage. With the Geumga Plaza residents, they all work together and grab the union leader, taking him away by the docks. Everyone huddles and force him into submission, using those traitorous traits he has to phone the Vison Team Leader, Park Chan-Ki. With the Union Leader on the phone, he tells Chan-Ki to bring him two billion won in a days’ time or he’ll disclose everything they’ve been up to. When he hangs up, the residents cheer and congratulate him. In fact, this one act allows Vincenzo and Cha-Young to intercept the Babel Group Anti-Union strategy. This document is enough to get a warrant to search the property. Back home, Vincenzo drops off some food for Inzaghi outside the window, talking to him about their current situation. News of Joon-Woo breaks online, and in particular his upcoming Inauguration to reveal himself as the actual CEO of Babel. Joon-Woo though is surprisingly happy about Han-Seo’s indiscretions, handing over a watch for him to wear to signify their brotherhood. As Joon-Woo puts it on his wrist, he reminds his brother of the shooting incident. In fact, he intends to use Han-Seo as a scapegoat for when things go wrong. Joon-Woo shows up at the prosecution office and the media don’t even contain how much they love him. Discussing his custom suit and mannerisms, Cha-Young and the others watch the same broadcast and see straight through this façade. They have a plan of their own. They want to oust Joon-Woo as the one giving the orders behind the anti-union activities. In order to do that, they plant a coup to have the files intercepted mid-move. Tailing the employee holding the boxes, Cheol-Wook moves like a titan from Attack On Titan…who in turn walks straight into Cha-Young and Vincenzo. With Joon-Woo kept inside the prosecutor’s office eating food, they catch wind of the Vision Team being raided – and news that the files have been transferred out. What they don’t know, however, is that Vincenzo and Cha-Young actually have those files themselves. Evening rolls round and Vincenzo heads in to the big press conference with a large drink and popcorn. Up in the rafters watching this take place, Han-Seo visibly yawns. However, he soon sits upright when the conference is completely interrupted. Vincenzo and the gang have intercepted the press conference with footage of the Vision Leader confirming that the Chairman ordered these anti-union measures. Vincenzo then tops this off with the pièce de résistance- dunking the leader in pig’s blood (I could be wrong, please correct me in the comments if it’s not!) The intent is clear. As the spotlight shines on Vincenzo, he throws his popcorn in the air as he applauds. Han-Seo can’t help but smile and blow chewing gum bubbles as Joon-Woo looks up with murderous intent.
The Episode Review
How’s that for a finale? The rivalry between Babel group and Vincenzo’s gang continues to heat up as we move into the later stages of this crime drama. At this point it’s obvious a lot of us are here for the potential Cha-cenzo romance and seeing more of this rivalry come to light. The actual law drama is okay but to be honest, it’s secondary to what’s otherwise a solid character-driven romp. The different players in this conflict – on both sides – is really what makes this such an intriguing showdown and the battle lines have well and truly been drawn here. Interestingly, it seems like Han-Seo may even be switching sides in the near future – especially with the recurring motif this episode around loyalty and traitors. The comedy has been a tough one to nail and this episode has seemingly reverted back to more of the silly slapstick that doesn’t always work that well. In fact, at times here it felt really forced. The moments involving the Union Team leader in particular really didn’t do any of the characters here any favours. However, the ending is absolutely on the money and I – like many other people I assume – did not expect that for Joon-Woo! The murderous look from the Chairman was absolutely chilling and props to Taecyeon, he has been on fire all season long. Quite what will happen tomorrow in the follow up remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure – things are about to get very intense!
