"Vincenzo" a modern day Tom and Jerry

If you don't know the reference Tom and Jerry refers to a very old American cartoon. Where the cat, Tom, would chase Jerry, the mouse, through many inventive schemes and plans

but yet never quite able to get him. However, with Vincenzo, Tom and Jerry would be played by different characters at different times. Sometimes Vincenzo would be the cat and sometimes the Jerry to Han Seok's cat. This was even a line in the drama "A rat who's about to be devoured by a cat has no rules." but full disclosure I had my title before that episode aired. Ha. The cartoon lasted for years and years of crazy antics. Thankfully Vincenzo ends at 20 episodes which was about 4 too long and each episode could have been trimmed about 15-20 minutes.

When Song Joong Ki was announced as the lead of a mafia based drama, expectations were unknown but it was mostly assumed it would be this dark, revenge seeking drama. When it premiered no one was more surprised than me that it had a levity and warmth mixed in with dark moments. At times it bordered on absurd and from one scene to the next you really never knew what you would be getting. That was half the charm, these "moments" that you would get that were just so good. However, there were many scenes that just felt like we were in a endless cycle of cat chasing mouse. Rinse and repeat.

The evil was truly evil in this drama. From the lawyers of Ms. Choi and Han Seung Hyuk to Han Seok, CEO being the top dog evil. Ok TaecYeon was stellar in his role. He played a psychopath to perfection. The other main lawyers were mostly followers but they were also as evil as you can get because they just didn't care about the human lives. The only gray character on that side was the acting CEO and brother of Han Seok, Han Seo. He's definitely complicit in crimes but he's also like a little lost puppy who has been neglected and mistreated for so long that you just want him to find a good home and learn to trust and love. His relationship with Vincenzo was that start of that healing process.

The subplot of the gold in the building ran through the entire series at times being the fore front and at times it wasn't mentioned at all. The tenets of the building were numerous but they all had their own special place and purpose. They were a motley cast of characters that by the end of the series you loved each and every one of them for their quirky ways and loyalty to Vincenzo and each other. I saw someone mentioned that the tenets were the real gold of the building and I can't disagree. Vincenzo came from a lonely place, his mother abandoning him and growing up in a deadly and violent mafia family in Italy. He needed all those tenets to ground him and bring some humanity back to him. Along with Inzaghi, his pigeon. What a quirky thing to bring in but that bird probably humanized Vincenzo as much as the people in the building. While I appreciated the acting surrounding his mother's death, I felt like that whole subplot was just designed to advance the revenge angle and because they hadn't had interactions in so long the intense focus on the death and wake and burial site was a bit much. Maybe if they had actually reconciled with words before the event?

Ms. Hong's character took a moment to get used to. She was over the top and loud and very disrespectful to her father. As often the case, those types of individuals are often the ones who are hurting the most. As time went on she learned about herself and found her own humanity that became her life work. Her father would have been proud. She and Vincenzo had a lot of chemistry and I never expected any romance. I was happy with the "bromance" type vibes. The small romance moments we got was perfect and while the ending point of their relationship did make me want for more, I knew it ended at the right place.

The violence at times was pretty violent, sometimes I looked away, but the funny scenes and the absurdity of the scenes would easily balance out the violence. I do like that while Ms. Hong wanted revenge, you could tell she was always not quite willing to cross the line whole heartedly. When Vincenzo made the decision to kill the lackey's who were working for him (formerly on the other side) you could tell it bothered her a lot. I think that invisible line that Vincenzo being on one side and Ms. Hong and her values being on the other were the ultimate dividing factor in why they remained as they were.

FINALE

Knowing they delayed the drama a week over differences between the writer and director over how the drama would end was a bit concerning and that fact was in the back of my head most of the hour and twenty-eight minutes. In the end, I didn't see a huge divide in the end of the drama. If you had asked me episode 1 how I think the drama would end, I think I would have said exactly how they had it end.

Our leads were in a perilous situation. Ms. Hong was shot. Vincenzo and Han Seo were at the mercy of Han Seok who was holding a gun and wasn't afraid to use it. Though he did appeared shocked that he shot the woman he supposedly was in love with, it only made him pause. Sacrificing himself for someone else, Han Seo tried to stop his brother and his brother crossed the final line of whatever code he lives by and killed Han Seo. I think even that surprised Vincenzo. I think Vincenzo thought Han Seok would never cross the line with his brother. He died with Vincenzo, his true brother, by his side knowing that love in the end. Well done Kwak Dong Yeon for giving us so many layers of Han Seo.

I like how Mr. Han was taken down. Vincent helped set it up but Han Seok took care of the dirty work. And so long Ms. Choi, you disturbing vile human being though that was a particularly terrible way to go out but the Zumba music was perfection and really diabolical. Wow. I probably will never take another Zumba class again without thinking about that scene. Then there was one...Han Seok. I am not sure any type of pain could be equal to the pain he's inflicted on people. His take down was brutal and very difficult to watch and I'm glad they didn't show us each painful mm. That being said, Ms. Choi's revenge killing for me personally was far more satisfying.

Why Mr. Lee? Damn. Thankfully he survived cause that was going to be unnecessary. Although finding out the gangster used to be a surgical nurse was a fun surprise.

I do believe Vincenzo and Cha Young loved each other but their values could never mesh. I could see her loving the side of him that wanted the bad people to pay for their crimes but the way he carried that justice out was not coming from the same place. I teared up a bit at the airport goodbye. Vincenzo and Ms. Hong meeting up at the end and kissing was bittersweet. (Song Joong Ki is a good kisser) While I would love the thought of Cha Young visiting him on the island, I think that was likely their final goodbye and not going to lie, it hurt a bit. It was the right ending though. I didn't want Cha Young compromising her values anymore than she already had and Vincent needed to be who he was. I enjoyed the kissing but appreciated the consistency of the characters nature.

In the end, Vincenzo was who he was. A morally gray villain. He didn't get this miraculous transformation and I didn't need that. He never pretended to be anything else but a killer even if he had moments of goodness. He was always going to be the cat and as he said "evil is prevalent and vehement." He was going to have a lifetime of work cleaning up garbage.

By the end, I was ready for the chase to be over. I felt if they had tightened up the script and had one or two less cat and mouse chases, it would have been a better drama. Some weekends I just couldn't do both episodes and I would break the second episode up by 15 minute increments to watch each day over the week.

When it was good, it was great but when it was "bad" it lulled into boredom and dread of having to watch almost a movie length episode. Watch this for the delightful characters of the Plaza and the bromance/never meant to be love of Vincenzo and Ms. Hong. Watch it for OK TaecYeon's brilliant performance of a deranged individual. Watch it for Han Seo's character arc. Watch it for the pay off of everyone getting what they deserved. Just don't expect to binge it due to it's length.

All in all I give it a B+.