We ended the hilarious episode last week with Cha-young threatening to expose Babel in front of the media. While it wasn’t much of a cliffhanger, we find ourselves in an interesting position as both sides try to learn more about who they’re really facing.
In Vincenzo episode 9, Joon-woo finally plays dirty and makes some big moves to try and take out Team Vincenzo. But he better be careful because the next step in Team Vincenzo’s plan mission is to figure out who the real Babel Boss is.
Who will have the upper hand between the two foes? Let’s find out in this week’s review, recap, and real-time reactions. Feel free to leave your thoughts about this episode in the comments below!
And remember: if you missed our recap and review of previous Vincenzo episodes, you can always go back to them HERE.
This episode felt like total filler at first, but increasingly upped the ante in its final moments. I was having a tough time trying to think of how to summarize the episode for this review as I was watching it. I’d say you could’ve skipped the first two-thirds of the episode and you would’ve still enjoyed the climax just as much.
Granted, it was a pretty huge cliffhanger that revolved around Babel’s brutal revenge against Team Vincenzo. It was all orchestrated by the psychotic Joon-woo, who is becoming more and more like a cartoonish villain. I’m saying that as a compliment because he was the most compelling character in this episode with all the moments he was given. If you remembered my biggest complaint two episodes ago, it’s that Vincenzo has been kicking his ass again and again to my boredom.
Well for the first time since the k-drama started, it finally feels like Joon-woo is clearly two steps ahead of the consigliere.
Vincenzo episode 9 actually made me think that the lawyers from Wusang were pretty useless when Joon-woo singlehandedly made things swing in their favor. Get it, swing? ‘Cause he swung a hockey stick at a prosecutor’s head to kill him and send a message to the Chief Prosecutor Hwang Jin-tae? Ha… haha.
Yeah, so that happened in what was probably the show’s most shockingly brutal scene so far.
After the two prosecutors had laughed at Ms. Choi for suggesting that they team up with Babel, Joon-woo ordered their kidnapping. Then he came out of nowhere to murder the helpless guy to the shock of Han-seo, Ms. Choi, and Her Partner in Glasses who witnessed it all. Needless to say, the Chief Prosecutor begged for his life and he is now in with Babel.
Prosecutor Hwang’s first order of business was to “investigate” two banks who chose not to invest in Babel which led to the arrest of their directors.
But perhaps the biggest shock of the episode (which had Joon-woo’s fingerprints all over it) was the Babel victims’ families “committing suicide”. Before we get there though, let’s take a few steps back. Team Vincenzo set their eyes on finding out the identity of “Babo” — their nickname for the real boss behind Babel. This eventually led them to Director Gil Jong-moon.
He is apparently the only person besides Jang Han-seo and the Wusang lawyers to know who Joon-woo truly is. The director had called Joon-woo earlier in the episode to extort some money from him by using his real identity as a bargaining chip.
After meeting with a prosecutor named Jung In-kuk who had agreed to help them conduct a “sting operation”, Team Vincenzo went to Director Gil’s house only to find him dead. This was a pretty underwhelming reveal since we knew he was dead meat the moment he blackmailed Joon-woo.
But what was a more “whelming” reveal was what would happen after: Cha-young received a text from one of the Babel victims’ family members to tell her that they couldn’t handle their grief and did something stupid.
Cut to the next scene, and we see them all dead in their van. Vincenzo and Cha-young look on in utter disbelief… bet they didn’t see that coming for once! This is actually where we left off things in Vincenzo episode 9.
The last time we saw the Babel victims’ families, they had dinner with our two leads and seemed pretty stoked to go on their group trip together. So it seems pretty suspicious that they actually committed suicide. While the show will probably go in the direction of staged suicide, how interesting would it be if it was revealed that they actually did make a pact to die together?
What Joon-woo was unsuccessful in doing was getting rid of Vincenzo and Cha-young. Masked men attempted to attack them in their homes, but they thankfully avoided getting murdered.
Vincenzo got off pretty lucky because he wasn’t there when the intruders broke into his home. Instead, they were in for a rude awakening as they had encountered the husband-wife duo of Beanie Guy and Weightlifting Goddess who were hunting for the gold.
The two of them actually held themselves pretty well against the attack, but a pepper spray attack finally did them in.
Cha-young was not as lucky though, as she came face-to-face with an intruder when she got home. Thankfully, Vincenzo had noticed somebody tailing them earlier in the night, and came back to rescue her. Watching him protect his romantic interest with his fists was admittedly one of his coolest moments.
Our heroine had been pretty shaken up by the incident. After a lot of convincing and self-invitations later, she was able to make Vincenzo agree to let her sleep in his place.
We’re finally at that point in the k-drama where the stars are aligning for our lovebirds and it feels natural. Vincenzo is still in denial mode when it comes to his feelings though. But nonetheless, the wait for their first kiss/confession scene is officially on.
It’s only a matter of time before Hong Cha-young wins over Vincenzo’s heart. She has gradually been making herself present in some aspects of his life that only he has kept under lock and key. The ex-mafia lawyer continued to fight against his own pride in Vincenzo episode when he checked in on his dying mother who had abandoned him. In one of his rawest moments, he scolded his mother for not following the doctors’ advice.
Oh Gyeong-ja was actually happy he did that because she had been so used to being alone for her whole life. Girl, put two and two together! He’s your frickin’ son.
Cha-young was able to witness another one of Vincenzo’s good deeds towards his mother so she will eventually learn the truth about them. And speaking of the T-word, she finally got to ask the question we all wanted her to since she had first met Vincenzo: have you killed anyone?
He firmly said no to that, but asked if anything was going to change between them if he had.
This was probably my favorite exchange between them throughout the entire series. No one was joking, no one was plotting… it was just a conversation between two potential lovers before drifting off to sleep at nighttime. Cha-young learning about Vincenzo’s death streak is one of the reveals I am looking forward to, especially now that he has lied about it. In case you don’t know: murder is swipe-left material in the dating world.
The last significant storyline we dealt with in this episode was the gold hunt in Geumga Plaza. Apparently, every tenant in the building is looking for the not-so-fictional hidden gold bars. Yes, even the monks!
No one is close to finding them though with how deeply they are buried under the monk’s temple, but The Girl Who Likes Vincenzo aka Seo Mi-ri seemed to suspect that Vincenzo is actually looking for the gold too.
Writing this episode recap, I realize that our favorite ex-mafia lawyer has been keeping so many things to other people. But you know who has finally come out with their truth? An Ki-seok aka Chef Toto’s assistant, who finally told Vincenzo that he was in Geumga Plaza to keep an eye on him. He even offered his services (through a pop-up card) in case “his help” was needed.
I believe this is the indication that the police will finally involve themselves in the whole Babel-Wusang vs. Jipuragi storyline soon. Who will they side with? We don’t know yet.
Overall, Vincenzo episode 9 could’ve cut half of its running time and it still would have made the same impact. It was only made memorable by a satisfying cliffhanger which we hadn’t seen since the fourth episode. As always, Psycho Joon-woo continues to be a delight to watch especially as we explore how ruthless he can truly be.
The romance between Vincenzo and Cha-young also continues to be a bright spot in the show. And this… coming from someone who doubted their chemistry so hard in the first episode!
Vincenzo Episode 9 Rating: 7.0/10
READ: ‘Vincenzo’ Episode 8: Review, Recap & Reactions
1. A pepper spray’d Yeon-jin gives Vincenzo ramen (I know this is random, but it legit made me laugh hard)
2. Joon-woo violently kills a prosecutor
3. Vincenzo vs. the bird
1. I wish they gave Joon-woo a better motivation to not get rid of Vincenzo quickly than the fact that they’re good “sparring partners”.
2. Random anecdote: Vincenzo’s hair looks way better like this with the side bangs than gelled back.
3. Nice. In a matter of five minutes, we’ve already touched on three storylines: the quest to find out Babel’s boss, Vincenzo’s mother, and the tenants’ hunt for the gold.
4. Anyone else got The Amazing Race vibes from the tenants looking for the gold bars?
5. LMAO, I would’ve freaked myself if I stepped on a death tarot card.
6. I do wish the monks would find the gold just to see if they’ll make good with their promise to use it to help sick children.
7. I have a feeling that with Mr. Gil’s help, Team Vincenzo will be finding out who “Babo” really is.
8. Han-seo is slowly finding his spine! I bet he’ll turn on Joon-woo and help out Team Vincenzo.
9. Maybe Joon-woo doesn’t want to go after Team Vincenzo… because he loves Cha-young? *My ChaWoo heart intensifies*
10. Babel is not playing around!
11. Who are y’all rooting for in the Amazing Race for th egold? Ngl, I love this husband-wife duo but I am Team Monk all the way.
12. Well… I did not expect that girl was going to be a Weightlifting Fairy of sorts.
13. Vincenzo hugging this woman from the Babel victims’ families is so adorable. He’s finding his heart.
14. Cha-young is still hilarious in a scary breaking-and-entering situation.
15. This is the coolest Vincenzo has looked in a looong while. I hope this leads to Cha-young moving in with him.
16. Damn, Joon-woo is fucking cold-blooded! The trauma in everyone’s faces speaks for themselves… and doing it all with a sing-songy voice.
17. “Nothing’s a problem for me as long as I don’t feel like shit” – good quote if it wasn’t said by a psychotic maniac.
18. Damn Vincenzo, let her sleep in Geumga Plaza! Not him making it look like he was gonna stop the car for her, lol.
19. I wonder how the policeman story is going to tie up with the main plot involving Babel.
20. This running feud between Vincenzo and the birds is hilarious. Who knew that he’d be so scared of them?
21. I just googled who Booralro (the suit designer Vincenzo keeps namedropping) is, and apparently, he’s fictional.
22. They did it. I’m warming up to the idea of Cha-young and Vincenzo.
23. Shit, is he gonna tell her he killed- oh. He just lied to her… sad.
24. Joon-woo likes Cha-young and is jealous of her sleeping in Vincenzo’s place, isn’t he?
25. The Girl who Likes Vincenzo is starting to figure things out! This is gonna be interesting.
26. I actually think they’re gonna find out about Joon-woo’s real identity in a while… as long as Babel doesn’t kill Director Gil and Jung In-kuk first.
27. It’s about time Joon-woo spies on Team Vincenzo.
28. I love how Joon-woo wears silk sleepwear in the same shade as Vincenzo’s. The contrast!
29. This Director Gil murder is the least surprising death in Vincenzo ever. What did the victims’ families do though???
30. Daaaamn. The body count in this episode is freakin’ high. What an ending!
What were your thoughts watching the ninth 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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