‘Vincenzo’ Episode 13: Review, Recap & Reactions

Last week, Jang Han-seo took his shot (literally) to try and take down Han-seok, only to fail miserably. Mr. Cho also revealed his true colors when he placed a gun to Vincenzo’s head after they finally got to the basement with the infamous gold!

Vincenzo episode 13 continues to tread familiar waters as another scheme-slash-prank is played on Jang Joon-woo Han-seok when he makes his first public appearance as chairman of Babel. Han-seo flies under the radar after he botches the attempt to kill his brother, and Mr. Cho’s real intention with the gold is (somewhat) disclosed.

Find out everything that happened in this episode with our review, recap, and real-time reactions. And as always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Remember: if you missed our recap and review of previous Vincenzo episodes, you can always go back to them HERE.

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Vincenzo Episode 13 Review & Recap

This was one big meh after all the high expectations the k-drama has set so far. It’s too quick to judge based off this alone, but as I’ve worried about before, it looks like Vincenzo is going to struggle with having 20 total episodes. I definitely felt like they could’ve cut many scenes here without losing much of the story.

Let’s first get to where we had ended the previous episode: with Mr. Cho’s betrayal of Vincenzo. Who knew it would take less than a minute of them getting into the basement before one of them tried to turn against the other? Gold really does change people!

I think what I was most surprised by was Mr. Cho telling Vincenzo he only needed one particular bar of gold, and we all know what that means: he’s only been participating in this gold hunt not for the prospect of being rich, but for the Guillotine File!

Turns out our not-so-favorite insignificant character actually works for the International Security Intelligence Service, the agency that messed up and lost the file.

Vincenzo was able to martial arts his way out of that predicament and get some answers out of Mr. Cho. What was odd to me was they still seemed pretty friendly to each other during this time. It’s as if no one tried to pull a gun moments ago. In fact, Vincenzo forgave him pretty quickly after the incident.

I guess I found it odd because I never really saw the two as friends, but as business partners. I think the writers knew that a lot of us would feel that way because they gave us some exposition in this episode to explain that yes, they really are friends.

READ: ‘Vincenzo’ Episode 12: Review, Recap & Reactions

But neither of them were able to get any gold or file from that basement because the Geumga Plaza tenants actually wised up on their way to the hot springs. They found the whole trip suspicious and stormed back to the building. Better late than never!

Vincenzo and Mr. Cho hurriedly threw back all the gold bars in the basement along with the latter’s jacket, then shut it close. Only problem: in the jacket was the only device that would be able to open the basement. That meant the only way to get to the gold now was to demolish the building.

Okay, so was it a big plot hole for Mr. Cho to shut the basement door close knowing that the “key” was thrown in the basement? Or is he just playing a scheme on Vincenzo? It’s pretty stupid of him if he didn’t do it on purpose… I was very confused.

He saw Vincenzo throw the jacket with the device in the basement and had a big enough window of time to get it out.

It seemed like Mr. Cho was planning to sell the information from the Guillotine File. Someone had met up with him in a black trench coat, which we can only assume is the person who’s pulling his strings. Also suspicious is Seo Mi-ri, who seemed like she knew the gold was really under the temple floor… but didn’t say a word.

I don’t know if it’s just my mood, but I found this progress in the gold storyline to be pretty bland. I’m actually kind of ready for it to be over. Mr. Cho just never interested me as a character since he’s so flat and never seemed like a major player to me.

But I am curious about the person in the trench coat who visited him, and what they have to do with the Guillotine File.

At the very least, all this development on the gold gave us the best moment of this episode: Vincenzo fake-crying-but-really-crying because the gold bars are stuck in the basement.

The most interesting thing from Vincenzo episode 13 was the changing dynamic in Team Babel-Wusang after last week’s events. Seung-hyeuk started to suck up even more blatantly to Jang Han-seok (formerly known as Joon-woo) after Han-seo shot him in their hunting trip. Ms. Choi warned her former #1 ally to be careful because he’s playing a dangerous game, wanting to please the two Jang brothers.

But it looks like his true allegiance may be to Jang Han-seo, as he gave him the advice to “play dumb” for a while so his psychotic brother won’t see him coming when he strikes.

And play dumb, he did.

We don’t know if Han-seok is buying this dumb act though; he didn’t even buy Han-seo’s lame excuse that the gunshot from the previous episode was an accident. But Han-seok made it clear that the only reason his brother is still alive is because he will take the fall if Babel goes down.

Like I said in my reactions below, I wish Han-seok had just kept the reason to himself so he can keep Han-seo on his toes. Meanwhile, I like how Seung-hyeuk is keeping me guessing with who he’s siding with between the two brothers. I honestly don’t know what his endgame is and what he truly wants, but I feel like he has the potential to be killed off soon since he’s too wishy-washy.

The last thread of story left to tell for Vincenzo episode 13 was Jipuragi taking another shot at Babel. Jang Han-seok finally made some appearances in public as the real Babel chairman. He looked good with his new hair, he wore luxurious suits, and he even got the media to praise him at all costs like a K-pop idol.

Unfortunately, Ms. Choi’s decision to kill off the union leader from last week may have destroyed Han-seok’s image just as quickly as it was built.

To make sure that the rest of the indictments against Babel push through, Team Vincenzo wanted to make sure that they would be able to show the world that Han-seok was a dirty chairman.

Their first mission was to expose him as the direct supervisor of the Babel Vision Team leader, who handles all union-related cases in the company. They knew they couldn’t make the Vision Team Leader talk, so the Jipuragi Law Firm decided to go after the company union leader instead.

What ensued afterwards was the most comedic torture(?) scene that we had seen in the show so far.

The people from Jipuragi had no guns this time around… just chic black outfits with leather face masks. They got the guy from the company union to blackmail the Vision Team Leader: two billion won, or he exposes all the illegal activities that the Vision Team has made him do.

While this is going on, Prosecutor Jung kept Ms. Choi and Jang Han-seok trapped in an interrogation room as he orders a fake raid against Babel. The goal of the fake raid was to distract them from what’s really happening.

And the crazy thing is, they bought it. Hook, line & sinker.

Han-seok gave a talk to the young leaders of tomorrow as the chairman of an extremely successful conglomerate. But as he played a video on the projector, it was interrupted by footage of the Vision Team Leader and Babel company union leader negotiating. In their conversation, it was revealed to everyone in attendance that Jang Han-seok was the person behind all of the decisions pertaining to unions.

Que horror!

Han-seok had asked Han-seo to shut the whole thing down, but as he did his lamest half-assed attempt to stop the video from playing, there was a small smile on his face as he watched Han-seok be exposed to the world. *sips tea*

If that wasn’t enough, Vincenzo added insult to injury to Han-seok by making sure that pig blood was poured all over him.

Overall, Vincenzo episode 13 was pretty uneventful. It actually felt like I was back to the first few episodes for a minute there: the gold is back in the basement, Team Babel-Wusang got outsmarted again, and we got no romantic development between Vincenzo and Cha-young. Zero!

Who would’ve thought I’d be so invested in their relationship after doubting them so heavily back then?

But yes, I was looking for that because this episode kind of dragged. What I am most bothered by was the fact that Jang Han-seok looked dumb again. It really makes you question his legitimacy as the Big Bad of the show. I mean seriously, can you think of a time where he (and not Ms. Choi) actually felt like a threat to Vincenzo?

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 Vincenzo Episode 13 Rating: 5.5/10 

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Favorite Moments in Vincenzo Episode 13

1. Vincenzo cries over the lost gold

2. Pig blood is poured all over Han-seok

3. Vincenzo and Mr. Cho do 108 bows

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Vincenzo Episode 13 Reactions

1. Hooooly shit. I didn’t expect Mr. Cho to be after the Guillotine File! I am pleasantly surprised. Who is he working for?

2. You knew all along that he was going to be a traitor, Vincenzo? I didn’t!

3. Mr. Cho is such a loser. If he had not threatened Vincenzo and just pretended to accidentally take the gold bar with the file, then he wouldn’t have gotten away with nothing.

4. Mr. Cho works for the International Security Service? Isn’t this the same agency that An Gi-seok works for?

5. This Babel E&C guy is just saying what everyone’s thinking!

6. It’s so weird seeing Chef Toto outside his chef clothes.

7. Mi-ri creeps me out. She knows too much about the gold.

8. Stupid or smart that Mr. Cho helped close the basement knowing that the device was inside his jacket?

9. Vincenzo crying is the funniest thing ever!

Seung-hyuk’s true allegiance is questioned

10. What do we feel about Joon-woo Han-seok’s new hair? I don’t like it.

11. Seung-hyuk is playing with fire playing in the middle of the two Jang brothers. I wonder who he’s going to end up siding with.

12. Yesss, we’re finally back to the Vincenzo vs. Babel story. How I missed it after all that distraction with the gold.

13. So Mr. Cho and Vincenzo are just letting bygones be bygones? That’s a shock.

14. Oooohhh, a mystery person in a coat just approached Mr. Cho. I have a feeling that it’s Ms. Choi. Get those hand analysts ready!

15. What game is Jang Han-seo playing throwing this tantrum in the police station?

16. Seung-hyuk’s right. The union leader being killed is quite irresponsible.

17. IDK about Han-seok telling Han-seo why he kept him alive. Seems pretty stupid… wouldn’t it have been better to let Han-seo ponder on it?

Getting information from the company union leader

18. Okay, nooooow Han-seok looks dapper.

19. Here we go. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of Vincenzo’s elaborate schemes.

20. Aaaannnd here’s another torture scene. My favorite! I don’t think anything’s gonna top the Russian roulette torture from episode 11 today.

21. I can’t stop thinking about how fashionable these matching gang outfits and face masks are.

22. Them being all buddy-buddy with this company union leader is bizarre, but I’ll take it.

23. Vincenzo smiling at Cha-young when she said she wanted to try splashing pig blood was subtle but cute.

24. Prosecutor Jung is lowkey a really strong character not succumbing to any of Babel’s BS.

Han-seok’s reputation takes a hit

25. Ms. Choi, if only you knew… if only you knew what they were really up to.

26. The arrogance of Ms. Choi and Han-seok is seriously going to be their downfall. They haven’t done anything to deserve to be that arrogant… at least not Han-seok.

27. Vincenzo and Cha-young eating popcorn… they’re also pretty arrogant themselves, but at least they got something to show for it.

28. Han-seo’s smirk through it all is freaking glorious. He deserves this small victory, tbh.

29. Pig’s blood. Why didn’t I see this coming when they were talking about it earlier?

30. And in that moment, Jang Han-seo realized that he must align himself with Team Vincenzo if he wants to take down his brother.

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What were your thoughts watching the thirteenth episode of Vincenzo? Leave them in the comments below! And if you missed it, you can view our reactions and review for other episodes here.

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