‘Vincenzo’ Finale: Episode 19 & 20 Review, Recap and Reactions

Countless deaths, multiple schemes, and many mindgames later, we are finally here in the Vincenzo finale! We ended the previous week with a low-stakes cliffhanger as the show took its time to get to the very intense final couple of episodes. The consistently top-charting k-drama on Netflix has had its highs and lows, but we expect it to end with one big bang — literally and figuratively.

Will Vincenzo be able to take down Babel for good? And what does Jang Han-seok have in mind for the mafia lawyer? Find out all the things that happened in the Vincenzo finale with our review, recap, and real-time reactions! As always, feel free to leave your thoughts about these episodes in the comments below.

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

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Vincenzo Episodes 19 and 20 Review & Recap

“Crazy” is probably the best word to describe whatever I just witnessed. For some reason, the k-drama has been struggling to keep things fresh and entertaining for the past episodes, just like what we saw in the lackluster Episode 18. But they definitely brought out the big guns in the Vincenzo finale (in particular, Episode 20) where we had a good sixty minutes of nonstop action before settling into a soft swan song.

Let’s start with where we ended things last week: with Vincenzo returning to Geumga Plaza to defend Seo Mi-ri and Hong Cha-young from Mr. Kim. In a scene that reminded me so much of Tekken, the tenants were able to physically fend off Mr. Kim and his men. Bye bye, lame-os!

And just to make sure he learns his lesson, Vincenzo leaked some info about Park Seung-jun — the presidential candidate whom Mr. Kim has been working for.

Then in a weird moment, Mr. Kim suddenly joined forces with Team Babel-Wusang, and it looked like we were going to see him be a major player. Thankfully, that didn’t happen because I didn’t personally care for the scenes featuring him. He felt like such an unimportant character who was introduced late to the show so that it would be able to reach its 70-minute running time per episode.

Thankfully, we quickly diverted our attention to something more important: the Babel trial! There was a moment when it was postponed by Han Seung-hyuk, but Vincenzo, ever the quick-minded one, was able to make the court trial happen.

And sure enough, the Babel conglomerate went tumbling down without any shenanigans thanks to some threats sent the prosecutor’s way. Classic Vincenzo!

The people whom Vincenzo exposed in court were arrested, but they were quickly released afterwards thanks to some intervention from Prosecutor Jung. Vincenzo quickly put him in his place by pushing him off a building and onto his death. He had warned the prosecutor not to get in his way after all!

While watching Prosecutor Jung fall to his death was amazing, I didn’t know that there’d be a lot more gratifying deaths waiting for us in the Vincenzo finale. As for the outcome of the trial, I was elated when the Geumga Plaza tenants finally took the victory that they’ve been hoping for since the start of the show. What I am disappointed at is how they didn’t get a lot of screen time in the last two episodes. We didn’t even get to bask in the glory of their winning!

READ: ‘Vincenzo’ Episode 18: Review, Recap & Reactions

With all hope lost, Ms. Choi had one last Hail Mary in her pocket that she claimed would “end Vincenzo”. Her plan was to fabricate some evidence that would pin her as the mastermind behind all the crimes Babel have committed. This meant that she would trade places with the increasingly bloodthirsty Jang Han-seok in jail.

The plan went successfully, and sure enough, the insane Han-seok was free without anyone knowing. Babel wasn’t even in his mind anymore; it was just revenge against the mafia lawyer.

The first in his hit list was Cha-young, and the next, his own brother that betrayed him: Han-seo. He abducted the both of them to lure Vincenzo into his place. Unsurprisingly, it worked. To add insult to injury, Han-seok gave his brother the choice of beating Vincenzo with a hockey stick, or getting shot. What a fun choice that was!

Han-seo would finally make his decision in his most character-defining moment, when he chose to protect his adopted hyung over his own blood. He tried to hit Han-seok with the stick, but in classic Han-seo fashion, he failed.

The two brothers got into a huge scuffle while Vincenzo tried to free Cha-young. But not so fast: Han-seok was able to shoot a bullet headed Vincenzo’s way. Unfortunately for him, Cha-young would end up taking the shot.

Han-seok wouldn’t stop there because in perhaps the saddest moment of the Vincenzo finale, he would shoot his brother in the stomach. When he realized that he had no more bullets in his gun — which was pretty stupid given how he only used two bullets, but his revolver could’ve definitely fit in more than that — Han-seok made his escape to who-knows-where.

Our favorite underdog, Jang Han-seo, would die in Vincenzo’s arms with the latter reassuring him that he was deserving of being called his brother. I freakin’ cried! If you’ve been following my Vincenzo episode reviews, then you know just how much I adore the Han-seo character. I think many of us got the feeling that he would wind up dead in the finale, but it was just cruel to watch it unfold.

I guess Babel didn’t really need a new leader like Han-seo; it just needed to die. I’m just happy that he was able to hear that Vincenzo saw him as some sort of brother too, because you just knew that boy had a huge gaping hole in his heart left by Han-seok.

The action didn’t stop there because Vincenzo was on a witch hunt of his own with Han-seo dead and Cha-young injured. He would make his first move by forcing Seung-hyuk to free Ms. Choi in three hours so he could kill her. Being a coward and all that, Seung-hyuk only agreed to do it in exchange for Vincenzo’s promise to spare his life.

But it didn’t matter in the end because Jang Han-seok would end up being the one to kill him. He ordered some men to stab the Chief Prosecutor to death at the steps of the courthouse — in a crowd of camerapeople and interviewers, nonetheless!

Ms. Choi would still continue to be Han-seok’s little lap dog throughout the whole thing, until Vincenzo stopped her at her tracks. He was finally able to catch the fishy little woman!

In what I would rank as the second most gruesome death in the Vincenzo finale, Ms. Choi’s toenails were cut off and then was burned alive. I couldn’t even type anything in my real-time reactions (which you can view below) at this point of the episode because I was just stunned with how brutal that was.

And of course, Vincenzo would save the biggest fish for last. With some help from Han-seo, who had proven himself to be actually smart, the mafia lawyer was able to track down where Han-seok was. The psycho wanted to escape to Mexico, but Vincenzo’s aides were able to locate him in no time. As they fought off Han-seok, Beanie Guy aka Mr. Lee wound up getting stabbed. We learned later on that he was okay though! Whew.

Han-seok was unconscious from the massive beating that he got which only meant DISASTER for him. At this point, all the viewers were probably thinking how Vincenzo could ever top Ms. Choi’s death. Well the answer to that question was the Spear of Atonement: a torture device used by the Russian mafia that involved slowly drilling a person to his death.

And that’s how Han-seok died: tied up to a chair, drill in his lung, while a raven pecked his body.

I was just in amazement watching the series of deaths (and Beanie Guy’s false death) unfold in the Vincenzo finale. Up until Episode 19, I really thought that the Jipuragi Law Firm was already satisfied merely putting the Babel people behind bars. But what we got instead were brutal deaths following one another.

I absolutely love how gory the show brought things despite not showing a lotta blood. And at the back of my mind, I just kept thinking how this was the most violent k-drama I’ve ever seen.

Watching Ms. Choi and Han-seok beg for their lives was nothing short of satisfying after all the heinous things that they’ve done. I loved how Ms. Choi’s death integrated her love of Zumba, but I kinda wish that Cha-young was the one to pull the trigger on her just because she was more of her arch-rival. And the Spear of Atonement? One word: bravo! I would’ve loved to see a little more torture on Han-seok, but I guess the emotional torture was enough.

Killing all these people didn’t come without a price. Vincenzo had to flee the country in under an hour because the police were after him. That was enough time for the Jipuragi Law Firm, Mr. Cho, and Gi-seok to say their goodbyes to him.

And just like that, he was gone.

One year later, we got an interesting glimpse into what Team Vincenzo has been up to: the Cassano family is still a thing as they make sure to destroy (now-presidential candidate) Mr. Kim’s plan of redeveloping Geumga Plaza… again, Mr. Lee and wife Yeon-jin have their baby, Babel Balloon Guy is helping them out with the pawn shop, Mr. Cho is now working under An Gi-seok in the Intelligence Service, and Seo Mi-ri has her gold stored inside one of the pianos in her shop.

Which brings us to where the gold been all the time: as it was revealed in the Vincenzo finale, the Jipuragi Law Firm, Mi-ri, and the monks were able to open the basement door some time ago. They then slowly transferred all the gold in Cha-young’s place, day-by-day so that no one would notice.

As for the feisty lawyer, it was revealed that she had been receiving many postcards from Vincenzo. She received an invitation to an event that celebrated the diplomatic relations between Korea and Italy. And to no one’s surprise, Vincenzo showed up to see her there.

It was during this event that we finally got to see a real kiss between the two lawyers — not one that they had to do because they had to pretend to be a couple in an art gallery. Vincenzo told Cha-young that he bought an island in Malta where they would hopefully stay in with the other tenants.

We ended the k-drama with Vincenzo roaming the streets of Korea. Through a monologue, we learned that he was still the same ol’ Vincenzo: fighting evil, justice be damned.

The latter half of the Vincenzo finale finally gave us some room to breathe. While nothing was going to top the violent deaths earlier, it did its job in wrapping up the show. I still don’t know how I felt about Vincenzo not growing from his experience battling Babel. Everything regarding his character development felt like the opposite of what should’ve happened: instead of other people changing him, he ended up changing the people around him.

Maybe I’m undecided about that because most stories in television follow a protagonist changing their ways, and Vincenzo subverts that completely.

There was a lot to like in the last two episodes of the show because it was so action-packed. But, the number of heart-stopping scenes was also the result of the awkward pacing which the show has been suffering from. The lack of major game-changing events happening in Episodes 17 & 18 made a lot more sense now, because it definitely seemed like the writers had all these awesome moments in the finale planned out after the hiatus, but they didn’t know how to get there.

What we ended up with in Episodes 19 & 20 was an unnecessarily fast-paced chain of events that didn’t give us time to soak in what had happened. The one that comes to mind is how we never really got to enjoy Geumga Plaza tenants getting their building back since we weren’t able to see why the victory mattered so much to them. They didn’t get some sort of closure with Vincenzo after he left Korea.

And Chef Toto didn’t even get an epilogue! If the guy who had a major hard-on for Vincenzo got his closure, why couldn’t he?

Then there was Han-seo’s death which no one seemed to care for besides Vincenzo… who didn’t even feel like he cared a lot about it himself. Even Seung-hyeuk’s death felt like such an afterthought being squeezed in the middle of two major deaths. What I’m saying is, couldn’t they have spaced out their deaths more in the span of twenty episodes?

I also had a lot of trouble with the Mr. Kim character since he was such a waste of space, and his scenes screamed FILLER.

There were also some missed opportunities for captivating storytelling in the last two episodes. I was quite bitter about how they barely said a word about the “Cha-young being uncomfortable about Vincenzo’s violent behavior” storyline that they had been building up to for some time. And why was Ms. Choi so far up Jang Han-seok’s ass? Did she like him romantically?

Then Han-seok told Cha-young that he loved her when he had abducted her; he even had this weird look on his face when he shot her. Was Han-seok in love with her?

But perhaps the biggest opportunity the show missed was the Guillotine File. Throughout the whole show, Team Babel-Wusang never really got the upper hand against Vincenzo, and I thought the Guillotine File was gonna be theirs to swing things in their favor. Unfortunately, the Guillotine File was just used as a crutch every time the Jipuragi Law Firm needed some leverage on their opponent. It was too powerful to be in the hands of the good guys because watching them dominate their enemies with it just became lame.

But before I look like I actually didn’t enjoy the Vincenzo finale, I just wanted to say how well the show was able to rebound from Episode 18. The last two episodes gave us the closure that most of us wanted as we watched the thrilling human chess game being played by Vincenzo and Babel-Wusang come to an end. Ms. Choi in particular, gave quite the fight, but she was no match to the consigliere.

Despite having a lot less comedy than what we’re used to, the finale was a fitting and deliciously satisfying, if not sadistic, conclusion to a show that revolved around ruthlessness and the bloody war you could get into dealing with the mafia.

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 Vincenzo Episode 19 Rating: 7.5/10 

 Vincenzo Episode 20 Rating: 8.0/10 

Favorite Moments in Vincenzo Episode 19

1. Han-seo makes his choice

2. Geumga Plaza wins over Babel

3. Vincenzo threatens Prosecutor Jung in the bathroom

Favorite Moments in Vincenzo Episode 20

1. Ms. Choi gets burned to death

2. Jang Han-seok is scared for his life

3. Vincenzo says Han-seo deserves to be his brother

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Vincenzo Episode 19 Reactions

1. Vincenzo seems “relatable cool” now as opposed to “too cool for school”.

2. One pet peeve about fight scenes where it’s one man against multiple people: the way they all just come after the guy one-by-one.

3. Everyone in Geumga Plaza really be a Tekken fighter.

4. LOL’ing at An Gi-seok, the Vincenzo Fan Club President.

5. What a great way to highlight all the Geumga Plaza tenants. We’re officially reaching our endgame!

6. Cha-young with a stick to the head in this no-disqualification match!

7. Vincenzo doing these head bops with Seo Mi-ri is sooo weird.

What really happened to the gold

8. I knew the monks were being sketchy in the previous episode. They knew about the gold!

9. So we’re still not discussing the hints about Cha-young being uncomfortable about Vincenzo’s antics?

10. Everyone simping over Vincenzo will never not be hilarious.

11. Park Seung-jun and Mr. Kim are joining Team Babel-Wusang late in the game.

12. Jang Han-seok biting that guy’s ear is the psychopathic insanity we’ve been missing for the past episodes.

13. One thing I will not miss are these Kopiko product placements.

14. “It’s okay to be corrupt when you’re competent” definitely doesn’t apply in the Philippines when everyone is both corrupt and incompetent.

15. Has Jang Han-seo officially outed himself as an ally of Vincenzo’s? Why is he sitting with them?

The Babel Tower trial

16. How long did it take them to rehearse that cross-legged thing, I wonder.

17. So why are their faces blurred?

18. Prosecutor Jung is suddenly being the most annoying person in Team Babel-Wusang.

19. Ms. Choi and Seung-hyuk’s alliance is officially over. It was a good run!

The trial aftermath

20. The Geumga Plaza is finally getting their building back! They deserve this.

21. I love how Han-seo just casually dropped Seung-hyuk that he’s siding with Vincenzo.

22. Jang Han-seok’s tower model was shot down. It really feels like the end of the show, doesn’t it?

23. He’s going to be out for Vincenzo’s blood after this, and I can’t wait.

24. I love how Vincenzo genuinely cares about Han-seo’s well-being.

Ms. Choi’s sacrifice

25. Again, why does Ms. Choi feel such a deep loyalty to Han-seok?

26. Finally, we’re getting to explore Cha-young’s feelings about Vincenzo’s evil pranks… oh it’s over?

27. Wow, Ms. Choi is sacrificing herself for Han-seok. She’s the freakin’ MVP of the evil people!

28. Good riddance, Prosecutor Jung!

29. This sounds like some major foreshadowing that Han-seo will die soon.

Han-seok is back with a vengeance

30. I totally missed Ms. Choi’s dancing.

31. Prayer circle for Han-seo’s life!

32. …And another one for Cha-young. Jesus, what does Han-seok have in mind?

33. Pleeeeaaaase don’t hurt Han-seo.

34. I am loving the direction this episode is going. It’s starting to feel like a horror movie of sorts.

35. I know Han-seok says he likes Cha-young, but now I wish the show built up to it more.

36. Wow, he really made Vincenzo kneel.

37. So either Han-seo is gonna end up killing Vincenzo, or he’s gonna end up killing himself if he doesn’t, huh? What a sad predicament for us Han-seo fans.

38. Cha-young got shot! Good news though: she didn’t get hit in the heart. She’s definitely not yet dead!

Vincenzo Episode 20 Reactions

1. Hard to tell what Han-seok’s thinking after shooting Cha-young.

2. Well folks, we called it. And it breaks my Han-seo stanning heart that he’s the one taking the fall in the Vincenzo finale!

3. LOL. Sucker only got two bullets in his gun! Not so LOL = him getting away.

4. Oh wow, I’m actually crying. This is so freaking sad. I really wanted Han-seo to have a happy ending.

The second death

5. I think this is the first time we’ve actually seen Vincenzo be physically intimate with Cha-young.

6. I really wanted to see Seung-hyuk’s reaction to Han-seo’s death. Why is literally no one mourning his death?

7. I love how Ms. Choi is just annoyed at Vincenzo’s death threat.

8. That Samsung Galaxy placement was the most random product placement ever.

9. Well at least my guess of Han Seung-hyuk dying turned out to be correct! The body count in the past two episodes is now at three.

10. Mr. Cho is finally redeeming himself from his poor decisions throughout the entire k-drama.

Ms. Choi’s time is up

11. You know you done fucked up when you hear Vincenzo’s lighter.

12. Ms. Choi, giiirl, you deserve whatever it is you’re going to get. I do wish it was Cha-young finishing you off though.

13. WTF @ the police suddenly getting involved with this. But now it does make me think that Vincenzo going to jail should be inevitable.

14. Holy foot torture! Vincenzo going dark.

15. Is it bad that I’m enjoying this torture?

16. Body count: 4. What a GLORIOUS death that was from Ms. Choi. I don’t know how Han-seok’s will top that.

Jang Han-seok’s torture

17. No way, he just killed Beanie Guy!!! Everyone is just dying and I’m amazed.

18. Mr. Tak with the punt kick! I adore how Vincenzo just went straight to Beanie Guy instead of going after Han-seok.

19. I’m tearing up again. I wasn’t expecting this amount of deaths. Babel Balloon Guy might just save him though.

20. Nooooo, seeing Vincenzo and Han-seo eat together is just gonna make me cry.

21. That drill is fucking scary, and watching Han-seok beg for his life is muy bien.

22. Imagine how more amazing this torture scene would be if this was an HBO show and we wouldn’t have to censor anything.

23. Wow, Vincenzo is really leaving Korea right now. Things are moving too quickly!

24. Do I feel sorry for Han-seok? Maybe a bit.

One year later

25. Aaaawww, they’re still wearing their Cassano family team uniform.

26. Totally forgot that Oh Gyeong-ja still had that sexual harassment case hanging over her head. I’m glad that Cha-young tied that loose end up quick.

27. Mr. Cho working for Gi-seok seems right since they’re like two of biggest Vincenzo’s fanboys.

28. Are these two.. together? And OF COURSE NOT, because Beanie Guy is alive!

29. Shouldn’t you be storing your gold elsewhere, Seo Mi-ri?

30. Monk just kinda justified Vincenzo’s violent means. Weird.

Vincenzo, the ending

31. So Cha-young is totally going to meet up with Vincenzo in this Korean-Italian diplomatic relations event thing.

32. Finally… THE KISS! And I’m loving this choice of music.

33. I see we only have a minutes left, and I kinda wish we had some scenes with Vincenzo and the tenants.

34. Didn’t expect Vincenzo to still go after evil people in a “justiceless” way. Hmmm… I don’t know how to feel about that yet.

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And that’s a wrap for our weekly Vincenzo episode recaps, review, and reactions. It was such a blast doing this with you guys. I’m gonna miss the mafia lawyer and all the crazy tenants so much! What were your thoughts watching the Vincenzo finale, and what are your final thoughts about the show? 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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