Summary
Episode 3 throws all the punches, dealing with the past and showing the significance of not dealing with regret. While plenty is going on, it’s the character’s personal issues that bring enjoyable themes.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Vincenzo episode 3 contains significant spoilers.
I’ll admit, there was a point in this episode where I thought it would follow the same pattern as Hello, Me! After two good opening episodes, I feared it was going to lose its way with the plot. However, as this episode reaches the second half, I was proven wrong. Very wrong.
To begin episode 3, we return to the party to stop the demolition, and Cha-young wants to talk to Vincenzo. She asks him why he was so desperate to stop the demolition. Vincenzo claims he’s fallen in love with the place, but Cha-young is sceptical (and so she should be). Cha-young meets Choi Myung-hee about the failed demolition. The two women clash immediately, arguing about both of their credentials. Meanwhile, the tenants celebrate their victory in stopping the demolition. But it was only temporary — everyone knows it’s not over yet.
The new drug in the market
Vincenzo episode 3 brings a new problem in the story that was slightly hinted at in the last episode. Drugs.
Vincenzo meets Hong Yu-chan about Babel Pharmaceuticals new drug, which is classed as a narcotic — an addictive painkiller. Hong Yu-chan wants to stop them and is flabbergasted that it will be released on the market. Afterwards, Vincenzo places some mats in the temple; meanwhile, the new culinary apprentice for the chef spies on him as he does it. He’s snooping around all episode, so we expect him to become important in future chapters.
Inside information from Yu Min-chul
Hong Yu-chan learns about the new drug and the trial process it went through — whistleblower Yu Min-chul tells all. It’s more than just a narcotics drug. Babel Pharmaceuticals did not care about the participants in the trials. Yu-chan asks him to testify in a trial, but he doesn’t want to. When he meets Vincenzo, he’s told that he will not defeat these monsters, stating that he’s reached a dead-end. Hong Yu-chan always wants a sense of justice, and you can tell he will not stop.
Oh Gyeong-ja is in the hospital
Vincenzo episode 3 starts to unravel the real reason Oh Gyeong-ja is nestled in the story, and it’s genuinely the best twist in the chapter…
Hong Yu-chan and Vincenzo head to the hospital to meet Oh Gyeong-ja — she almost died in prison. She’s introduced to Vincenzo, who appears nervous to meet her. She tells Hong Yu-chan that she stopped caring about justice a long time ago and tells the lawyer to stop complicating things. But there’s a reason why Vincenzo was nervous, which we’ll discuss later in this article.
Blackmailing Na Deok-jin
Vincenzo meets Na Deok-jin and tells him not to demolish the plaza for two months, and when the time comes, he wants to deal with it. He shows him a list of real estate agents he secretly took bribes from — it also implicates CEO Park Seok-do. There’s also evidence of an affair. Na Deok-jin raises how he’s merely an employee, but Vincenzo tells him he doesn’t care.
Park Seok-do attempts to get the demolition going again, but Na Deok-jin rings him and tells him to delay the demolition for two months. Park Seok-do tells the construction team to stop immediately. Vincenzo shows his power and leverage in the story already — he’s an enticing, cool-witted character.
Drinks with Choi Myung-hee
With the two women lawyers at war, you’d think drinks would ease tensions, but apparently not.
Cha-young goes for drinks with Choi Myung-hee and colleagues. Ms Choi asks Cha-young to stand up and do impersonations, but she doesn’t want to. Ms Choi tells her to get up and redeem herself. Cha-young does an impersonation of Choi Myung-hee’s dancing. After the night out, Choi Myung-hee tells Cha-young that the three-strike rule doesn’t apply to her — it’s a warning.
The next day, Hong Yu-chan tells his daughter to stop the drugs from Babel at the expense of her lawsuit — he’s worried about the cluster of cartels that will be created and will make people drug addicts. Vincenzo heads over as Cha-young heads out — she tells him to stop filling her father’s head with nonsense. Their playful arguments are like a game of tennis — to be continued.
Vincenzo’s mother
And then we learn the real reason why Vincenzo was so nervous around Oh Gyeong-ja.
Vincenzo speaks to Hong Yu-chan about Oh Gyeong-ja — she has 6 months to live. It’s then revealed that Oh Gyeong-ja is Vincenzo’s mother — Hong Yu-chan tells him to visit his mother himself next time and ask the questions. Hong Yu-chan had figured it out a long time ago. Flashbacks show Vincenzo at the trial getting increasingly frustrated, and Hong Yu-chan saw his rage across the benches. Vincenzo is the child who was abandoned by the prisoner. Episode 3 talk a lot about regret between parent and child, which becomes even important later in the chapter.
An attack on Babel Pharmaceuticals’ employees
Episode 3 then ramps up the story violently.
The next scene shows a planned gas explosion at a villa in Yangyang, Gangwon Province. Employees from Babel Pharmaceuticals were in that villa for a company getaway. Hong Yu-chan sees it on the news, and he’s angry.
Hong Yu-chan heads to the location of the explosion and wants to see if there’s evidence of arson, but police stop him. Vincenzo notices that there are men in suits spying nearby. He tells Hong Yu-chan that he needs to stop or he will pay the price — he feels he’s reckless. Hong Yu-chan states that reckless and stubborn people save the world. Meanwhile, Choi Myung-hee and Mr Han learn that the researcher Yu Min-chul has already talked to Yu-chan; the researcher has seen what happened to his colleagues and is willing to tell the truth.
Vincenzo can clearly see dangerous coming — his time in Italy has given him an instinct in these situations.
No more cases for Cha-young
And the arguments continue between both lawyers — the night of drinking has only made things worse…
Choi Myung-hee tells Cha-young that she’s off all cases that involve Babel Group, and the order is from Mr Han. Cha-young states she cannot accept that order without explanation. Choi Myung-hee tells her she failed to beat her father in the first hearing. Cha-young visits her father’s office and vents her frustration — she asks how he let her mother die and make their life miserable. She wonders why he’d jump into fires for everyone else except family before walking out.
Vincenzo finds Cha-young and tells her not to do something she will regret as “regret is the worst thing in life”. Vincenzo then tells Yu-chan not to give his daughter a reason to check how miserable he is. He’s hinting for him to stop fighting Babel. However, Hong Yu-chan doesn’t want to be a coward.
Vincenzo also understands regret more than anyone, and he knows how losing someone without dealing with that regret can be the worst thing in the world. He’s foreshadowing events to come.
Yu Min-chul is on the run
The ramping up continues as Yu Min-chul finds himself in a deadly position.
A police officer heads to Yu Min-chul’s house, but something sinister is happening. Yu Min-chul escapes through the window and hides on a boat. He rings Hong Yu-chan, but he’s outside having a smoke — someone suspicious asks for a cigarette off him. Vincenzo sees the phone call and knows who it is. He chooses not to answer it. Yu Min-chul is found, and we assume he’s killed as blood splatters over his phone.
The ending
When Hong Yu-chan heads back inside, Vincenzo asks if he’s hiding anything. Hong Yu-chan tells Yu-chan that he cannot be a monster to defeat another monster and asks Vincenzo if he’s one, which is met by silence. Vincenzo tells him that someone has been phoning him with the contact name “RDU-90” and asks if that is the researcher. Hong Yu-chan hurriedly rings back, but as he does, a truck flies through the window of where they are sitting and hits Yu-chan directly. Vincenzo smashes to the floor.
An injured Vincenzo looks over to see Hong Yu-chan, who is dead.
Vincenzo episode 3 throws all the punches, dealing with the past and showing the significance of not dealing with regret. While plenty is going on, it’s the character’s personal issues that bring enjoyable themes.
Additional points
- Cha-young checks out the credentials of Vincenzo and learns he’s a real lawyer.
- The chef at the plaza serves Vincenzo pizza, and he hates the food again. In the next scene, a man comes in claiming to love the chef’s pizza and wants to be his culinary apprentice.
