Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 3 recap – does Jake grab a story?

By Jonathon Wilson - April 7, 2022 (Last updated: September 15, 2024)
HBO Max series Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 3
By Jonathon Wilson - April 7, 2022 (Last updated: September 15, 2024)
3

Summary

A slight dip as the show seems to suffer from its near 1-hour episode runtime. Tokyo Vice still delves the audience deeper into the mystery that Jake tries to solve.

This recap of the HBO Max series Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 3, contains spoilers.

Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 3 recap

https://youtu.be/wMLUoH288pg

Jake listens to some more audio tapes, where he learns that his Mom freaks out about not hearing him as often. Following the previous night’s incident, Jake meets with Detective Katagiri. Jake tells him he wants to learn how the city works, but right now, he doesn’t know what he is doing. It seems that Detective Katagiri will help him. Later on, Jake learns that there are many suicides happening in Tokyo. Several of which happen outside as a way to ensure that the landlord cannot sue. 

Jake receives a call at work, but they refuse to speak to him as he is American. And when Jake passes the call to Emi, they refuse to speak to her as she is a woman. The next call, however, leads Jake and Detective Katagiri to a document of proof. The gang that provides the document claim that Nakamura owned the gun in violation of the Swords of Firearms Control Law. But as Nakamura did not own the bullets, he insists on arresting two more men. And just before he does, he warns the gang that if they start a war with Ishida they will be starting a war with him and the TMPD. 

Doing Jake a huge favor, Detective Katagiri gives him the exclusive on the story. Sata-san watches the news of the arrest and recognizes Jake from the footage. After Jake and Samantha grab food, he not only asks if she’s a prostitute but learns that she hasn’t spoken to her family in four years. Meanwhile, Sata-san violently beats up one of his “brothers”. In the aftermath, he asks Oyabun for forgiveness before claiming he can provide something better (Jake perhaps.)

The ending

Jake goes out for lunch with Detective Katagiri and his family, where Jake turns the discussion to the mysterious logo. Jake states that he wants to find the logo, with Detective Katagiri adding that the best way to do so would be to find the registration number. If so, Jake may be able to find the person behind it all. As Jake leaves for the night, Detective Katagiri’s daughter hands Jake a folder of documents. Among the many documents, one reads “die, die, die, die”. As Emi speaks on the phone, Sam gets secretly photographed from her apartment. And it appears that she’s been getting photographed for quite some time. 

After Jake spends time with his work colleagues, an officer appears and claims to be looking for Aderu-stein. With Aderu-stein not around, they forcefully take Jake for a drive.

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