Vincenzo (2021)

Borderline on Comic relief

This drama is one of my favorites this year, having watched 18 episode of it I can boast that you will hurt your ribs from laughing too hard while watching this drama. The plot is simple, Vincenzo fled italy to Korea to get his buried gold out of Guemga plaza , we have our female lead who still works for the villian. I love how most of the tenant in Guemga plaza have a secret identity... No scratch that .... Almost everyone in this fr***king drama as a hidden motive or secret identity. The villians are almost as comical as the heroes. Just when you think oh no it's over for our Mafia friend Vincenzo he bounce back with countermeasures of his own (absolutely brilliant). Overall you would want to revisit some of the most hilarious scene (lots ofthem).

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Might be spoilers so dont read if you didnt watch ep 4

To be honest with you I thought I was going to hate this drama because I hate crime show but this is actually really good

But most people might also hate it because it has romance which I don't understand
Is it because of the FL or because of the ML?

This show is really good
I think most people misunderstood the FL because of her Character but it shows that she a good actress if she plays a character like that.

Ok Taec Yeon First Villion lead
In Ep 4 when we found out that the building that was burned was own by him I was so shocked

But I hope you continue to watch it because it getting better every ep

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Started on a high note but..

The first few episodes were good and created a curiosity about the characters' stories. Episode 3 climax was also interesting as I thought that finally the good lawyer will team up with devil to take out the devil instead of being straightforward.. He hardly says it that the crash happens. And then he dies???? What the! I was hoping to see how they team up and win so this was an anti-climax. Also, had high hopes for Yoo Jae-myung after his performances in Itaewon and Stranger so this seems like a wasted opportunity especially after his almost equal presence in the first 3 episodes!! Another untapped charatcter- Yang Kyung-won from CLOY. Disappointed. Now, I have to put up with a over the top female lead trying to do what I am not sure, her silly ass intern, slow motion and opera music, the main character being stylish from a 100 different angles! Zzzzzzzzzzzzz... Predictable how this will turn out.. I am dropping out. No thanks!

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It’s exciting but it definitely have flaws

I have to say that Vincenzo can be an awesome drama if you don't think too much and I understand the hype as the drama do have some good things. But Vincenzo was slow to captivate me, I only started to really like the drama after episode 6/7 and altought I do think it's a good drama, it does have some serious flaws.

First, the concept of mafia, revenge, corruption and "only evil people can fight evil people" are very interesting but mixing these heavy themes with comedy was TERRIBLE. Of course this is my person opinion and for some people it may have made the drama easier to watch but for me the themes in Vincenzo doesn't match with comedy. The "funny" scenes was too much sometimes and even made some things look inappropriate. For example, how could they make an episode with an LGBT character so stereotyped? If we analyze the whole situation with the character, everything was seen as pure comedy, including his "romantic" scenes with Vincenzo. I honestly found it quite how they portrayed the character in such a stereotypical and comical way, and Vincenzo's reactions to everything didn't help either. I can totally understand if the LGBT+ community felt disrespected. The scene with the pigeon saving Vincenzo was too cringe too and it was like I was watching a cringe comedy drama or something lol Besides the comedy, this drama have another problem: Vincenzo is smart most of the time, except when the script needed him to be dumb. The way they make Vincenzo look invincible but suddenly become dumb or impotent makes the plot loose credibility and it doesn't make sense to everything they created about the character.

Other thing I didn't like was the sound effects. I understand that its necessary to have some sound effects to make some scenes look more impacting but they use this TOO MUCH in Vincenzo, its unreal. You don't need to use sound effects ALL THE TIME to make the scene look impactful. The way the characters act, the characters lines, or even the actors acting could already do that. This frequent use of sound effects in Vincenzo pissed me off a lot and was one of the things I hated most about the drama. Sometimes it made it seem like the drama was a cartoon and If the scenes did looked impactful was thankfully to the ACTORS good acting.

Talking now about the characters, I have mixed opinions. Vincenzo was too invincible. Sure, his fighting scenes with the bad guys was really great and exciting but sometimes it looked unreal because it was like everyone else was too weak for him (except, like I said, when the plot needed him to be weak). Joo Won for example, he's a great villain but that is only because Taecyeon made happen because talking as a character, compared to Vincenzo, Joo Woon was complete powerless. But I cannot lie, besides that, I did enjoy Vincenzo, he's charming and I think Song Joongki really did a great job here. (I just wished he wasn't that powerful all the time and the whole episode with the LGBT character didn't happened). Joon Woo was an exciting character as well. Sometimes I thought that the acting was too much but most of the time Taecyeon was fenomenal and portrayed the character really well. His scenes with Han Seo was SO POWERFUL, I loved to hate him. But altought I liked his scenes and thought the character was exciting, the character decline a little in half of the drama. In the beginning, Joon Woo looked like a cold psychopath but then later he looked like a spoiled child. We had 20 episodes so I think we could had some episodes to show a little more about him. Not to mention that as I said, although he's a villain, the character was completely powerless compared to Vincenzo so I wish they had made a villain more at the level of the main lead. And omg it doesn't make sense for Joon Woo not have any good security to protect him. The guy has to go to prison because he can't escape Vincenzo (a one man) and a few other guys chasing him. Han Seo was a cute character and I hated his ending so much omg NOTHING in that scene made sense, it was like the screenwriter just wanted to kill the character out of nowhere, my baby deserved more :( Chayoung was REALLY ANNOYING for me, her reactions was too much. I don't think is Yeo Bin`s fault as I know she can act its just the character is too forced sometimes. She does get better later and I started to like her a little bit but she could have been more great and in the end, they lost an opportunity to make a badass and more important character, she was there just to be Vincenzo`s partner. The other prosecutor was annoying for me as well.

Some people didn't liked the couple but personally I didn't have problem with it, some scenes was cute to me. I do think we didn't need a couple in this drama but as romance isn't the main plot it's not like we had a real couple with real romantic scenes. Actually both main lead acted more like partners most of the time and their feelings was just showed to each other in the end. (maybe for fanservice? who knows lol)

Everything said, Vincenzo do have some good things like the cinematography, OST, the characters are good looking and some of them, charming, the dark concept is interesting, the acting is great and for people who always like couples in everything, they also have it. I was really immersed in the last episodes and If you watch Vincenzo without thinking and analyzing too much it can be a good drama. The references used in some episodes were very interesting too. But the bad construction of the plot the heavy themes mixed with comedy, the characters losing sustainability in some episodes and the damn sound effect in EVERY SCENE made the drama least impactful. It's sad because this drama could easily been a 10/10 for me if wasn't these problems. After all, I think Vincenzo will be one of the dramas that will become necessary for every kdrama addicted to watch, whether they love it, hate it, or think it's so-so.

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This is a story about the lesser of two evils.

I came to this drama, about a year later, it's been on my Netflix main page staring at me for a while, and since I need something to distract myself after the university exams, I decided to give it a try. So I went somewhat blindly. I didn't read any reviews, which for what i can see are very mix, with people liking it and other people totally despising it, and I get it, this drama isn't for everyone, I think is an acquired taste.

This drama starts slow, but eventually it picks up the pace, and then you are hooked up, and watching the next episode. Because something this drama does well is cliffhangers.

This drama follows main character Vincenzo Cassano, an Italian mafia consigliere, and just by that description we can tell he is not a good guy, not even close, he is an anti-hero though-and-through and i love the writers for sticking to their guns and keep him like this to the very end. Then, we have the counterpart, Hong Cha-Young, that is someone who is willing to go to any length to win a case, even if that means less legal stuff. And with this, we have the killer duo together to fight their common enemy Babel Group. Next, we have the "villains" of the show. I liked the whole concept they created for the main villain, but i think the execution wasn't the best as he relied a lot on other people to do his dirty work, and I feel that consequently that was his down fall. For me Choi Myung-Hee, at times felt more like the real thing, she felt more like the actual villain, but i guess she was only doing what she was told too.

This drama is a commentary on corruption and the web of bribes, favors and money that basically controls it all, even justice. This drama, to me, in a way, serves as catharsis, someone came and gave the bad guys what they deserved, he did what normal people can't do and sometimes want to, make the evil people pay for their sins. Vincenzo isn't a good guy, and he never claimed to be, he is the lesser of two evils, he is the devil fighting another devil.

In a lighter note, this drama is also filled with quirky comedy, and a cast of surprisingly entertaining people, like the tenants of Geumga Plaza. I think they were endearing and fun to watch, and without them half of the things that happened wouldn't have happen.

There's a very buried romance subplot with the main characters, that only comes to some fruition at the end, and honestly never did I feel so frustrated with a couple before, they acted almost like they were married, but only in the last minutes, of the last episode is that they finally admitted it. But, for a drama that isn't about romance, this couple his one of the heathiest non-toxic relationships I've ever seen in a drama.

This story is full of twists and turns, some predictable, some unpredictable and others straight out ridiculous, but I think that's what makes this drama good. Sometimes my predictions for what happens next were right, and other times they were wrong, because cliché isn't necessarily bad, and when well done can be as good as something unpredictable.

Acting/Cast: I need to congratulate the casting director because he nailed it, I honestly can't see anyone else playing this characters, from the main one to the side ones. Song Joong-Ki was great in is role, i love the
duality he had, one moment he looked adorable and innocent, and in the next one a cold-blood killer, and honestly this man's eyes tell all the story alone, I could tell what he was feeling by just looking at his eyes. Jeon Yeo-Been was also great, i found her over the top acting a bit annoying in the beginning, but as time went by I start finding it quite funny nad adorable. Kwak Dong-Yeon, I’ve seen in dramas before and I really like him, and honestly, he stole my heart in this drama, and even made me cry (and that's something, as i rarely cry watching anything), I think he's acting was superb. Kim Yeo-Jin was amazing, she really made me hate Myung-Hee with all my heart and honestly, it's been a while since I despised a character this much. The rest of cast were also great in their roles and made me love every single one of their characters. And last but not least, we have to talk about Ok Taecyeon, he stole the show with is acting, principally because of how much he improved from the last drama I saw with him, he was brilliant in this role and deserves an award, and i won't say more cause i don't want to spoil anything.

As for the cinematography, was good, nothing out of this world, but it did the job well. The OST was also fitting, and i really enjoyed some of the songs, and they are now part of my playlist.

Side note, i really applaud Song Joon-Ki for his effort on trying to speak Italian as best has he could, I’m totally sure it wasn't easy, as Korean as nothing to do with Italian, and as someone who’s first language is a Latin one and still finds Italian hard, Joon-Ki was incredibly good, and was also funny to hear him curse in Italian.

Will I watch this drama again? I don't know, I'm not the type to rewatch dramas, principally those who have plot twists, as the second time around isn't as enjoyable, so it's more a no then a yes, but we will see. Do I recommend it? Yes, if you like dark comedy, very light romance and moral greyness. I think this drama is not for everyone, and that some people won't like it and that’s okay. To me it was a good drama that I enjoyed every single moment of. I think if you can get through the first couple of episodes and get use to the style, you will like it, and by the last couple of episodes you'll be in the edge of your seat. Overall, I think this drama it's a dark but fun watch.

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So much potential, but it wasn't used.....

I waited until after the show finished airing to watch it, because honestly, I like to binge watch tv, instead of waiting each week to watch one new episode. Honestly, I somewhat think that I should have made an exception for this. Not because I thought the show was so amazingly good that I could have stuck it out, but because I saw so many good things about it on social media, and when I finally got around to watching it, I went in with such high expectations and I am quite sad that it did not meet them. So maybe my opinion would have different, but now we will never know.

Plot: When looking at a basic synopsis of the show, you are given so little to what the show is actually about. One could argue that the main goal of the show is about finding the gold and getting it out or not. It seemed to be the only reason Vincenzo would flee to Korea in the first place. The show starts with that being the main goal, but very quickly that is pretty much put on the sidelines. At one point or another, I honestly forgot why Vincenzo was even there in the first place, it seemed like he was destined to help the FL bring down the bad guys. Then you are randomly brought back to why he was actually there in the first place, finding the gold, stealing it, fleeing, and becoming rich. The audience gets used to the plot being helping fight bad guys in Korea instead of just getting gold and leaving again. Which would have been fine, but randomly throwing in times when people from Vincenzo’s mafia life in Italia, made those moments seem random. Other than when the antagonists purposely used the Mafia members in hopes of killing Vincenzo, the random bits of Mafia members showing up, I thought did not really add to the story itself.

Character Development: I wish I was shown more character development, in this type of show, where there is very much good vs evil, there would be room for characters to develop and become “mature”, but it was lacking. We are shown small bits of character development, just by certain people changing their actions, but then realizing that they were just faking it all to begin with. Jang Han-Seo, I felt was the only character that had a general change of mind and heart, but he was so wishy-washy about it all. Every time I felt that maybe he had finally grown, he would do something that proved it wrong. If Han-Seo had held all that anger and hatred towards his brother, like he said multiple times, then why was it always back and forth? Why wouldn’t he have realized what he actually wanted earlier on? How many more people had to die, before Han-Seo made his choice? As well as maybe I am looking at it a bit too realistically but look at the people who lived in the Plaza. Before Vincenzo showed up, these people were depicted as normal people just trying to make a living to survive and people not wanting to give up their home for redevelopment in town. How is it that these “normal citizens” are not phased at all when any crime happening in the plaza? Within the very first episodes of the show, Vincenzo throws someone through a window and no questions were asked, no comments made, it was almost as if that sort of thing happens in normal day life. Where was the hesitation from these “normal people”? Wouldn’t have these people called the police or at the very least at least question the whole thing??

FL & ML: Initially, I did not care if the FL & ML had a relationship or not. Of course, the chemistry between the two was present, but the show made it seem like some random thing to throw in, in the mist of all this violence. I was honestly rather thrown off by how easily Hong Cha-Young started to develop feelings for Vincenzo. I say this partly because of their differences in lifestyle, not that someone cannot go out with a member of the Mafia, more what they spoke about before so much violence occurred. The two had a conversation about what it is Vincenzo did when he was in the Mafia fully, whether he had killed people and if he was going to kill people going forward. Vincenzo lied and told her that he had not killed people previously and would not kill people going forward. We are shown dreams/nightmares of the ML killing in the past and then after this conversation, the killing begins. I was generally surprised by how easily Cha-Young was okay with all the killing and torture that Vincenzo used throughout the show. Cha-Young is depicted as a strong independent woman, the type that would not stand down, but very quickly she had a change of mind about the violence.

The Bad Guys: Now we are getting to the villains, Jang Jun-Woo and Choi Myung Hee. These two did a phenomenal job at playing the villains of the show. Honestly, I found myself getting so into the show because of how heated I was at these two. Every time I thought that maybe Vincenzo and team would have things go easily, these two threw something in their path to throw them off. But these were still never good enough to beat Vincenzo, they kept blaming it on the fact that Vincenzo was in the Mafia, but I don’t think that was it. Ultimately, I think that even though they were depicted as evil, strong, and willing to do anything, they were still just weak. Personally, I thought that former prosecutor Choi Myung Hee was more of a villain than Jun-Woo, I hated her character even more than the real head of Babel. She was so self-conceited even more than the psychopath that was the “ultimate” villain. When we learn finally about Jang Jun-Woo’s past, that was the moment I finally started to take him seriously. Before this, he was just some ridiculously angry kid and Myung Hee in her own was telling him what to do, even if he did not notice it. After hearing the past, he was not just some stupid kid, he was a literal psychopath, which in the end added to his character.

Final/e Thoughts: All I wanted for the end was not for them to find the gold or the guillotine file or even for the FL and ML lead to live happily ever after. I wanted the villains to get what they deserved, because at that point justice wasn’t shit, all that mattered was that they would painfully die and that it would hopefully replace all the pain we had gained previously. The one and only character I was sad to see die was Han-Seo, he had finally shown his true colors, but was killed before he even had a chance to be free.

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Dramedy with a good share of blood and slapstick humour

Although I was a longtime Song Joong Ki fan (since Sungkyunkwan Scandal), I wasn't initially drawn to watch Vincenzo. I thought the premise was a bit ridiculous, a Korean in the Italian mafia?

However, I decided to give it a shot, and I was not disappointed. I found the mix of comedy (albeit more slapstick than wit), drama, action, and melodrama (the bits with the parents of the main characters in particular), a very refreshing addition to the K-drama universe. I am honestly very tired of the usual K-drama tropes and melodramatic romantic stuff that has been seducing audiences for years, and continue to do so, while now masked into different time periods or mixing it up with the military or fantasy genres.

Cast and Acting
The entire cast was STELLAR, to say the least. I do agree there are many missed opportunities to develop the two main characters (I honestly really wanted Vincenzo's Korean/Italian childhood storyline to take off), however, I think they made up with the very solid performances of all of the support cast. I was endeared to most, if not, all of them, at certain points of the series, and each support character had a great contribution to the plot. They each brought a unique flair to their character, and I found myself chuckling quite a fair bit at the interactions they had with each other.

The main cast, however, tried their best with what little they had to work with. Nevertheless, I think the noteworthy performance by Song Joong Ki is during the scene where he threatened the Babel group after his mother got murdered. Ok Tacyeon deserves a lot of credit for managing the two personality extremes, though I much prefer his evil side. Jeon Yeo Bin's best performances were in the first half of the series; I think she fell a bit flat in the second half just because of how the storyline progressed. As for the romance portion, I was very satisfied with the lack of focus on this; it is somewhat forced into the storyline just because, but I think it makes sense that the two leads endeared to each other because of all the trauma they experienced together. I disagree that the acting fell short here: Vincenzo was already someone who kept his feelings to himself and is not someone who displays emotions easily, Song managed to capture this and expressed a lot of the subtle displays of affection quite well. As for Hong Cha-young, come on, who wouldn't fall in love with an invincible, intelligent, wealthy man, who supported her emotionally throughout, and with a cute face like that, seriously?

Storyline
Generally enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game between Babel and Jipuragi, but I felt the absurd number of deaths attributed to Babel too unbelievable. But then again, being the dramedy that it is, I don't expect all things to make sense. There's a lot of wacky comedy weaved into the serious topics of corruption in the business and legal worlds, justice and morality, and grief and death. I did not feel this was done in bad taste, though it might appear slipshod to some folks. Episodes were about 80-90 minutes, and this is the first time I've felt they were not too long. Perhaps it might be because there were so many characters and plots involved that I could not get enough of them. I really liked how this show presents us with the challenge to re-think what justice and morality ought to be (the juxtaposition between Hong senior and Vincenzo, Hong junior and Vincenzo, etc.). I am generally a Hong Yu Chan type, rosy-eyed and idealistic, and this drama helped me to explore different motivations that others might have in life. Pacing of the drama was an interesting mix of fast (for the action and comedy) and slow (for the sentimental parts).

Production
Cinematography and editing was another hit for me. I think the production team was experimenting a lot of the camera angles, and they were mostly successful in their attempts. Some individual shots of Vincenzo thinking or sleeping were questionable to me, but with the addition of the BGM, they didn't bother me as such. The CGI team really did a good job as well.

Music
The OST was commendable, and I actually went ahead and bought it on iTunes. There's a wider variety of musical genres in this OST, compared to most K-dramas (which feature mostly ballads). I particularly enjoyed Questo edificio è mio, Aalia's version of Adrenaline, and Holy Anger.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Vincenzo, and I am currently re-watching it. It might not be on par with the greatest black comedies ever made, but I think it does well enough. I actually prefer this series to Parasite (the movie). My personal favourite is Keeping Mum (2005) with Rowan Atkinson. Oh well, to each her (his) own.

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Vincenzo Casano.
Acting: Tremendous.
Especially Ok Taec Yeon, { Villan } . i loved his acting , he was super awesome , you wont understand until you see this series.
Directing Awesome.
Story:Good I mean Not Bad.
its a great tv drama.some dialog are so strong that i cant even forgot.
OST: i do not want to talk about OST because its so perfect,
Its basically content a mafia family. Who has too many enemy . He will overcome his enemy one by one....
i loved this series but some scene was Little Bit disappointed ... i dont want to spoiler but otherwise It was great tv serise.

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This is Dark Comedy guys!

The series description itself says this is “dark comedy”
Seeing most of the reviews saying the drama is overrated and it lacks the point, telling 10 rated comments didnt make sense...
Well I wanted to clear this out by pointing some of the key points people saying are “lacking”

“This drama is not fully crime concentrated.”

Well the screen writer of this drama is famous for his dark comedy scripts and Vincenzo itself is one of them. If you guys watch this drama expecting only crime, well I say... You might get disappointed.
Each episodes have its own essence of either crime or comedy.
This drama, contains standard comedy with a better crime theme. In the end, its however about the entertainment. With prior said, if you are into comedy, well you will be thrilled by the crime action scenes.

“About geumga plaza tenants”

I read many comments telling that the tenants scenes are just lagging and they dont make it up to the point.
Guys, the main theme is concentrated in the geumga plaza. So how could they avoid tenants?
And in my opinion, the cast did well potraying each characters beautifully.

“Vincenzo is not being overrated”

The cast and crew did an amazing job with this series. The plot,visuals, characters,osts are just “chef's kiss.” Just because it's a mix of dark-com, it doesnt make the drama any less thriller.

“The drama isn't romance biased”

Ofcourse it contains romance scenes but not any fluffy or lengthy.
Ms. Hong and Vincenzo are perfect couples. Their romance is mainly off screen. The story is showing only slightest peeks of their relationship.

If you're expecting more romance scenes from this drama, you may just stop now or might get disappointed in the end.


THIS IS A DRAMA! “DRAMA”
That being said, if you look for perfect logic, then why calling it drama?
Drama is all about dramatic plots and twists... And vincenzo, adds to it.

If you're ok with a drama being less logical,dramatic, thriller x comedy, less romantic...
Then this is recommended for you :')

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All Star Cast, Amazing Acting, Compelling story, some inconsistencies

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean Action and Crime drama with 20, approximately 80 minute episodes.

Park Joo-hyung (Song Joong-ki) grew up in Italy. At eight years old he was adopted and harbors resentment towards his Korean mother who he feels abandoned him. He later becomes part of the Italian mafia and is such an asset the head, Don Fabio, adopts him. As a member of the Cassano family Joo-hyung is renamed Vincenzo Cassano. He becomes a lawyer and utilizes his skill as he works as a representative for his adopted father in mafia dealings. When the father dies, the biological son attempt to kill Vincenzo and, after taking revenge, Vencenzo flees the country back to South Korea.

In Seoul, Vincenzo goes to the the Geumga Plaza which is a site where he helped a Chinese tycoon hide 1.5 tons of gold and install tenants to disguise the real intention of the building.
The Chinese tycooln is dead, and ownership of the gold now falls to the Cassano family, and Vincenzo plans to recover the gold for himself. Of course, the building has been taken over by a South Korean crime organization in the form of a pharmaceudical company, the Babel group. The Babel group has been strong arming the tenants so Vincenzo decides to team up with one of the tenants, a lawyer, to take down the Babel group. The lawyers daughter, Hong Cha-young (Jeno Yeo-been) was originally represting Babel but after her father is murdered by them, joins up with Vincenzo to exact revenge on the Babel Group. Sparks had originally flown between the two but as they unite toward a common purpose those strong feelings evolve to something more.

Overall, I liked this series a lot. All of the actors, and you had a pretty much all star cast with a few exceptions, did an amazing job acting out their characters. The storyline was exciting and the villians were incredibaly villanous. The whole "it takes a villian to catch a villian" axiom was true throughout the series. The chemistry between the two leads was not immediate, which made sense to me because they did not start out liking each other but developed a deep friendship through working to take down a common enemy.

*Spoilers The pros were the incredible acting, great locations and filming, and appropriate but not too invasive musical scores. Who doesn't love Song Joon-ki in action, he is incredibly handsome and charasmatic. The sense of community with the building tenants was both refreshing and engaging. I loved that Cha-young was a tough, no nonsense lawyer with a bit of a dark streak. It made her the perfect pairing for Vincenzo because she did not have an issue, if justice would not be served, with going outside of the law. I loved that there was gold hidden in the building and how disturbed Vincenzo would get whenever someone would pursue his gold. He reminded me, in those cases, of a Leprechaun guarding his gold. One of the most comedic scenes was when he had to pretend to be gay to lure in a bank that was willing to work with Babel. Whether you are gay trying to be heterosexual or heteresexual tying to be gay if you are engaging the sexuality that does not fit - it is cringy. I was laughing, so hard during that part. The funny thing, was he seemed to turn all the guys around him gay. The men seemed to love him as much as the women did. It was like everyone's dark fantasy, apprently, to be in the mob. So there were bromances galore.

The cons were the times that Vincenzo failed to stay true to character. What it seemed, was he was a South Korean child, adopted into the Italian culture but was old enough to remember the language and most of the culture of his original country. His anger at his mother for "abandoning" him, and the death of his foster parents through criminal activity, led him to embrace the dark side for revenge. I got that. Made sense. But, it showed, in so many ways that he was very humane and caring and had conscience and could love and all that - not even a sociopath because he wasn't simply "blending in" his feelings appeared genuine and he underwent an evolution through meeting and falling in love with Cha-young, being mentored and befriended by her father, and just forming so many friendships in South Korea. But then, his mother, who he was on the precipice of a true reunion with, is murdered and it is like it flipped a switch. He backtracked on all the progress he made and the brutal element fully came back in him. The fact that he had flashbacks and nightmares of past incidents clearly showed that he had remorse to that point. But then it was like he became a slightly different person after his mother's death. I thought the way he killed the Babel villians was just a bridge too far. I cannot reconcile burning someone to death with someone who is a good person. Although the chairman was evil and had done horrible things, drilling someone to death is just the next level of brutality. Becoming as evil as the evil you are punishing does not make you a good person. I was disappointed when he blew up Cha-young's father's killer. He broke his word in my opinion. hHe told him once he did this thing the debt was fulfilled and he could go free. It was dishonest and it seemed even Cha-young felt he had gone too far. But she never said that although her response to the news seemed as if it bothered her.
When he killed the female lawyer he broke his morale code which was no women and children. She even said you are going to do this to a woman and he said, basically, you are not a woman, you are a monster. Still, burning her alive was the next level up brutality. It took him from a batman like, superhero justice seeker, to just a murderer little better than the people he was "punishing". I also could not buy that the law enforcement friends in his circle were so okay with him brutally murdering those people. They helped him get away with it and even shook hands with and hugged him when he had the blood on him. It was a bit like "Dexter" in that dark anti hero type persona but I am just not a fan of that level of "eye for an eye" because his treatment of them was even more brutal than the way they treated their victims.

The ending also fell short for me. Perhaps they are setting it up for another season. I did not like the very "Pirates of the Caribbean" end where he can only come back when on a diplomatic mission (diplomatic immunity). It was over obvious in the postcards he sent that he wanted her to come find him - yet she didn't. To me it seemed as though her emotions toward him took a turn. I did not have the sense she would be willing to leave South Korea and go join him on an island off the coast of Malta. I had no care for his Italian family. We never got to know enough of that piece to care that he had reunited and was now ruling that family. And, we were reminded of his brutality when he mentioned the revenge he took on a rival family and that their remains were fertilizing his grapes. They confessed and kissed but then parted ways with a somewhat sad and whistful look in both of their eyes.

His behavior, as other reviewers have pointed out, was not even consistent with what is often the case in organized crime. I knew a situation like that once - one of my best friends in high school let's just say her father was a retired person in a very well known organized criminal entity. In those situations, usually the lawyer is very valuable and also high up in the crime organization. They do not have those folks act as "hit persons" they are too valuable to the organization. And they typically have done their dues and don't want to get their hands dirty that way. Not that they have suddenly grown a conscience, but they just don't do the dirty work anymore. So that did not make sense. He was a lawyer and the second in command - the family would typically not risk such an individual by involving them so intimately. Even if he, himself, wanted to be involved, unless there was a compelling reason he would usually be ordered by "the boss" not to.

That being said - I would still recommend it and might even rewatch it at some point. It is unique and so well acted that the flaws are not a complete deterrant. Others really liked it and did not consider these things flaws. Cha-young had just enough darkness in her to accept a lot of what he did. It was very "Game of Thrones" in the darker elements and how most of the characters were not completely good or completely evil but various mixes thereof. And how you were rooting for anti heroes. The "Queen of Dragons" in Game of Thrones reminded me of Vincenzo in the way their characters evolved and the sudden switch down a much darker path. But I wasn't a fan of how that ended either. I like redemption and character growth. This followed the opposite trajectory. If there were a second season I might watch it. I am extremely disappointed in the brutality of the murders so I can't think of a way back from that but would be interested to see where their relationship evolved.

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