Summary
Episode 17 proves that absence makes the heart grow fonder — after a scheduled break, the thrilling k-drama series returns and reminds audiences why it’s one of the best shows this year.
This recap of Netflix k-drama series Vincenzo episode 17 contains significant spoilers.
After a scheduled week break, Vincenzo is back, and we’ve sorely missed this k-drama series!
Episode 17 opens up with a vengeful and emotional Vincenzo marching into Jang Han-seok’s place with the man that killed his mother — Choi Myung-hee ordered the kill. Vincenzo holds his gun and aims it at all of them as they cower and panic. He shoots in random places to scare them. He tells them that killing his mother was foolish; he explains that he had a job to do, and if he had killed them before, it would have inconvenienced him. Vincenzo declares that he will kill them, but not now. He wants it to be a slow death. Before he leaves, Vincenzo shoots Jang Han-seok at the side of his head to wound his ear.
Afterwards, Jang Han-seok is furious, but Choi Myung-hee tells him that she will take care of Vincenzo and that he should focus on taking care of Babel Group.
We now have a completely different Vincenzo — episode 17 demonstrates why he was so feared and respected in Italy.
Vincenzo finally grieves
Vincenzo returns to the hospital, and Cha-young is crying. The exhaustion of recent events weighs on her. Vincenzo looks at the body of his dead mother, and he confirms her identity. He asks for a little longer with her, and he finally cries — he calls her “mom” just like he said he would before she was killed. Episode 17 quickly moves to the funeral. There’s a somberness as everyone grieves for Vincenzo. Later on, Vincenzo blames the death of his mother on himself and calls this world Hell. Cha-young disagrees, believing Vincenzo gave his mother eternal happiness and that once the hurting stops, he’ll understand. She comforts him as he cries. Afterward, the plaza residents tell Vincenzo that they are all part of the Cassano family and will support him.
It’s a tough part of the story to take, especially because Vincenzo never had the chance to have a conversation with his mother, both understanding that they know who each other are.
This really is war — Vincenzo tells Jang Han-seok that he’s started a game of chess
And then, episode 17 teases the audience and hints at what we can expect in the final four chapters.
Vincenzo rings Jang Han-seok, and they both trade war of words. There’s plenty of games between them now. Vincenzo states he’s starting to play a game of chess with him, and he’s going to get rid of his pieces one by one and that he’s already losing. Vincenzo wants to humiliate him.
The Babel Tower event
And the game of chess begins immediately — you can tell the characters that oppose Vincenzo are starting to regret crossing with him.
Jang Han-seok attends an event, and the plaza residents infiltrate and go undercover under the command of Vincenzo. The power of the Cassano family is at full throttle. Jang Han-seok and his brother give a presentation regarding Babel Tower. They give the high-profile guests an opportunity to win units in the tower.
Suddenly a man walks into the event, and Choi Myung-hee is immediately shaken as she knows him. He claims to be strapped with a bomb vest. He then reveals that’s there’s a bomb in the cake and that he’s doing as instructed. This is all part of Vincenzo’s plans — the bombs are supposedly all fake.
A moment of pause for Cha-young
The man with the bomb vest claims that the replica Babel Tower will explode in ten seconds, but in a strange turn of events, he explodes and collapses. Vincenzo tells Cha-young that the man is dead and that he always wanted to throw the lions who hurt her father into the hunting den — the man they sent in is the same man that killed her father. Cha-young isn’t coping well with the situation but then tells Vincenzo she hasn’t changed her mind — she wants them to pay for what they did, but you can sense a slight hesitation in the character; she doesn’t want to go as far as Vincenzo is.
Forcing guests to cut ties with Babel Group
Vincenzo texts everyone at the event that the bomb in the cake can wipe out everyone in the room. He asks them all to find their Babel Group agreement, chew it, and swear on their knees. All the high profile guests chew their agreements and swear to cut ties with Babel Group. Vincenzo tells Cha-young that it will be easy to nullify Babel Tower now. The guests are told to do everything they can to remove the details of this party — the doors unlock, and they are allowed to leave. The timer on the bomb goes down, and Jang Han-seok and his group learn that it was fake. It’s revealed afterwards that Jang Han-seo is helping Vincenzo against his brother.
Afterwards, the plaza residents use the footage from the event to blackmail the high-profile guests to stop the redevelopment of the plaza and to nullify plans for the Babel Tower. Meanwhile, Jang Han-seok tells his brother to run Babel Bio.
This was a tense moment as we are not sure what state of mind Vincenzo is in.
Offering to be the unbreakable shield
In the depths of madness, it’s easy to forget that Mr Han is trying to remove his association with Jang Han-seok after seeing his violent and corrupt ways.
Mr Han meets political leader Park Seung-jun. He wants to talk to him about the Guillotine file. Seung-jun is surprised that the Guillotine file and gold bars are buried and that an Italian lawyer has control over it. Mr Han tells him it’s buried underneath Babel and offers to be his “unbreakable shield”.
Park Seung-jun sends his assistant to a meeting with Jang Han-seok and tells him to stop talking back — he recommends that Jang Han-seo takes over as chairman and that Mr Han becomes Chief Prosecutor. Mr Han plotted all this with Jang Han-seo so they can have their power. Mr Han has also found a crime to frame Vincenzo with Interpol.
Planting a mole
In a long-winded way, Vincenzo episode 17 describes how Vincenzo recruited Director Tae Jong-gu of the International Organized Crime Bureau and asked the man to form a relationship with Jang Han-seok. As part of the plan, they ask Tae Jong-gu to make sure no one goes after Vincenzo — to scare people off, they claim that Vincenzo is dangerous globally.
The ending
Back as chairman, Jang Han-seo revels in his glory. Meanwhile, Mr Han holds a press conference as the new Chief Prosecutor.
Jang Han-seo rings Vincenzo and asks to join him at the ice skating rink. When he arrives, it’s revealed to be a trap as he points the gun at the Italian lawyer, but Vincenzo points a gun back. Vincenzo tells Jang Han-seo that he’s just like his brother. Jang Han-seo tells Vincenzo that his gun is empty and he was trying to scare him. Interpol head on to the rink and tell him to drop his weapon.
Vincenzo moves his gun slightly, but as he does, Jang Han-seo shoots his pistol and hits the Italian lawyer in the shoulder. He collapses to the floor, and blood spreads everywhere.
Surely he’s not dead?
Vincenzo episode 17 proves that absence makes the heart grow fonder — after a scheduled break, the thrilling k-drama series returns and reminds audiences why it’s one of the best shows this year.
Additional points
- The plaza residents dress in similar ways to represent the Cassano family.
- After analyzing the Guillotine file further, Vincenzo and Cha-young learn the most frequently used key phrase is “Innovative Urban Development Corporation” (IUDC). Babel and IUDC are working together.
