If you are on the algorithm for KDrama watchers on social media, you’ve probably already heard of Vincenzo and chances are you don’t really need another review telling you whether or not to watch this. You’ve already heard all the hot takes from the hype train to the “unpopular opinion but…” This drama got incredible attention during its weekly releases and for good reason. The first half of this show is nothing short of an edge-of-your-seat experience. On the other hand, viewers who don’t take well to this drama are not unjustified, and my guess is that this drama is not going to age very well. If, by some slim chance you’re actually reading this review while on the fence, then know that this show is more like The Sopranos meets Law and Order meets KDrama than some of the other comparisons I’ve seen. It’s good, but I’d question your taste if this made it into your all time favorites list.

The good: music and production
The OST of this drama is great. Every song hits hard when it needs to. KDrama OSTs are usually very long, but 67 tracks? That’s why nothing ever gets old- there was some real thought that went into having a song for every moment. Solar’s performance on Adrenaline is great- she’s got amazing control of her voice. The production was great too, but I would also say that it’s about what you’d expect for an $18 million KDrama in 2021, there’s nothing that’s novel.

The just alright: story and acting
The story progression of this drama is mostly this: a threat upon Vincenzo is made at the beginning of the episode and either by the end or halfway through the next, it is revealed that Vincenzo knew all along of what was coming and had a plan. Vincenzo always wins and the stakes get higher for the next threat. It’s not objectively a bad formula and this show does it very well at the beginning. Even though you know that Vincenzo will win, you still want to know how. Getting there is plenty rewarding at the beginning, and this show is not entirely without consequences, but by the end this formula gets tiring because it's less rewarding as time goes on, less and less character development happens, and Vincenzo fully reverts to being a cruel mafia member by the end. The world building is outrageous but not out of the ordinary for the genre. I never really fault KDramas for not being “believable” but if that’s not your thing, then you should skip this one.

The acting is just okay. Song Joong-Ki was good, but didn’t show a ton of range. The romance scenes never quite hit the way they were supposed to. Honestly the chemistry the two leads had as business partners was way more satisfying than as lovers.


The terrible: rewatch value
I think you know where this is going: the glorification of vigilante justice. There’s absolutely no sugar coating it because it’s so bad, and it just gets worse and worse. The way to beat the bad guys at first was to outsmart them, but this show gets progressively more violent as it goes on, and by episode 20 the writers are working overtime to convince you that the heinous acts being shown to you are okay because Vincenzo is doing them, he knows best so this must be the only solution.

Another crime was what was unexplored or undeveloped, like the flashbacks that Vincenzo kept getting at the beginning of his mafia days, or Vincenzo’s adoption story. This could have been such a good story. “Adopted Korean grows up in an Italian mafia as a consigliere, ends up back in South Korea and takes on the nation’s corrupt politicians and business leaders.” When I hear that, I picture a story that tells who he was in the past, how that changes throughout the series, and who he might be afterwards, but you don’t get any of that. We’re forced to believe he’s invincible and always has been because it’s what everyone in this show keeps telling you. He goes through absolutely no character development after episode 4. Vincenzo is never confronted with the consequences of his actions and he never has to because the point of the show is to constantly tell you that he is all knowing, all powerful. I feel the worst for all the other characters because by the end, they’re all worse people. They’re greedier and more needlessly violent. Honestly, I’m convinced that the studio commissioned this story and the writers bent over backwards to “just make it work” but had no direction as to how to do it.


Overall
I’d still say that this was entertaining to watch as long as you know how to suspend your disbelief and are familiar with the genre. The ratings of this are incredible across the board, and people all over are singing the praises of this drama. I really want to drive this point home though: it’s trendy, not a classic. People will talk about it all through 2021 because it ticks a lot of boxes for people, but it’s not here to stay as a “classic.” The writers were so concerned with being edgy and trendy that they forgot to be timeless.