Vincenzo – K-Drama Episode 17 Recap & Review

Moving The Chess Pieces

Buckle up guys, episode 17 of Vincenzo is here and business is about to pick up. Vincenzo moves his silenced gun from side to side, threatening our four lawyers and firing several shots. “Killing my Mother was not just evil, it was utterly foolish.” Vincenzo rasps, promising a humiliation worse than death and then a slow, painful death after. Just before he walks away, Vincenzo shoots Joon-Woo’s ear.

Vincenzo reconvenes with a distraught Cha-Young, eventually seeing his Mum and saying goodbye. He sits by the stream, bemoaning the lack of time he had with her and the regretful Hell he’s now stuck in. As he reads the note from his Mother, Vincenzo struggles hold back tears.

In the morning, he feeds Inzaghi like normal and gets dressed up. All the other residents shut down their shops as a sign of respect. They greet Vincenzo out in the hallway and confirm they want to help take down Babel with him. The whole Plaza is by his side; Vincenzo’s new make-shift family. The group have been through a lot but Vincenzo eventually walks away silently.

When he does, the group decide to buy themselves a new set of outfits. Swanky suits, slicked back hair and stunning dresses are the name of the game. The group literally look like they’re part of the Mafia – which is obviously exactly the plan!

Anyway, it’s a short-lived disguise as the real plan involves them infiltrating the Babel Tower meeting. All the VIP guests are in attendance, bidding on the various different floors for power.

They’re interrupted by Hwang-Gyu showing up at the tower, confirming there’s a bomb in place and he’s been adducted. This is all part of the plan though, with Hwang-Gyu and Hyeok-Pil working with Vincenzo.

Anyway, the group are given a 10 minute countdown and instructions to sever ties with Joon-Woo at all costs. If they don’t then the bomb could go off. Just to prove the validity of this, the bomb on Hwang-Gyu’s chest detonates, sending the man flying into a bloody heap on the ground.

Cha-Young is shocked but Vincenzo reminds her of the quote he told her before about the lion’s den. This, coupled with the bomb going off, is enough for Joon-Woo and the others to believe the threat is 100% real. It’s pure anarchy and all these men and women drop to their knees, severing ties with Babel Tower. While Vincenzo smiles, Cha-Young exchanges a concerned glance.

The timer drops to zero, everyone races out the room, and the bomb goes off. Only…it’s not actually a bomb. It’s simply a shower of humiliation, washing over the Babel Group. For his troubles, Hyeok-Pil takes the brunt of punishment and is beaten down with baseball bats. Eventually Myung-Hee tells her goons to bury the evidence. That evidence of course, being Hyeok-Pil.

With Vincenzo’s army rallied together, Babel Group start to see their plan failing. Knowing this is the case, Joon-Woo tasks his brother to take over Babel Bio and start up a subsidiary. It’s disguised as a kind gesture but it’s clear there’s an ulterior motive here.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo, Cha-Young and Joo-Sung discuss the contents of the Guillotine File. Specifically, they talk about the keyword that comes up the most. It turns out it’s actually real estate. Or IUDC (Innovative Urban Development Corporation) to be precise.

Joon-Woo and his cronies are deep in this and need to bring out the big guns. This comes in the form of a political candidate called Park Seung-Jun. Seung-Hyeok literally throws himself at the feet of this man and promises to be his shield.

While this is going on, Vincenzo manages to gain Mr An’s trust enough to tell him he’s obtained the Guillotine File and he’s going to use it as he sees fit. In fact, he Mr An takes Vincenzo’s side, telling his superior Tae Jong-Gu that the file is stuck in the basement.

With this news at hand, he convinces the Director to make sure no one goes after Cassano. When this news reaches Joon-Woo, he’s absolutely irate – and even more so when Han-Seok is made the Chairman again. However, there’s another plan in the works.

Seung-Hyeuk has managed to get Interpol involved. Not long after, Seung-Hyuk is promoted to the position of Chief Prosecutor, strengthening his claims. This poses a serious problem for Vincenzo, who realizes he’s being double-crossed.

While out on the ice rink together, Han-Seok and Vincenzo both pull guns on the other but Vincenzo has Han-Seok’s number. However, before he can fire Interpol arrive to arrest him. Han-Seok suddenly shoots, sending Vincenzo sprawling. As he lies on his back, bleeding out, the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

We are fast approaching the end game of Vincenzo and big moves have been made on both sides of the conflict here. Not only have Babel group managed to rally together and seek out higher authorities, this political candidate and Seung-Kyeuk’s promotion pose a particular problem for our Geumga Plaza residents.

Seeing the group all together and on the same page is definitely one of the highlights of the episode though. Their outfits and solidarity together really helps this show stand out and in a way, the residents do have some similarities to the lovable North Korean soldiers in Crash Landing On You.

Not only that though, this episode really solidifies that we’re into the end game now and our characters have all managed to join together for this final fight.

The incident inside the VIP room is a definite highlight, and the intense bomb blast killing Hwang-Gyu is definitely one of the more unexpected moments of the episode. Given the way this one ends, the final 3 episodes set up a brutal final battle to come.

With Interpol now involved and Vincenzo bleeding out, what’s next for our group? We’ll have to wait and see in tomorrow’s follow-up!