When it comes to K-dramas, we look for those with tags that will suit our taste. However, the ongoing K-drama ‘Vincenzo’ is something that might fulfil all of your criteria. Thanks to Netflix that never fails to bring the best of K-dramas for the international fans to binge-watch. From crime and law to romance and comedy, ‘Vincenzo’ does not lack anything that will let people not catch their interest in it. The show casts Song Joong-ki and Jeon Yeo-been in lead roles along with Jeon Yeo-been and Yoo Jae-myung in notable roles.
The story revolves around an Italian lawyer, originally from Korea, as well as a Mafia consigliere, who flees to Korea after the death of his foster Mafia father. Although he initially comes to Korea in order to retrieve his gold bars from beneath the Geumga Plaza, he somehow gets involved with Lawyer Hong Cha-young to defy a corrupt Pharmaceutical Corporation. As the show is nearing its end and while waiting for future episodes, we have made a list of the reasons why people should not give a second thought if they ever think of giving it a try.
1. Song Joong-ki Playing a Righteous Mafia as Vincenzo Cassano
When Song Joong-ki was first selected to play the role of a Mafia, none of us had thought that he could actually pull this off with his baby face. Traditionally, a Mafia member is hailed as a merciless tough guy who would stick to his tactics irrespective of the situation. Although Vincenzo is a character who never thinks twice before using the other party’s weaknesses and threatening them to extract information, he is also someone who will never hurt an innocent person out of the will. He shares his own side of getting angry or scared at stupid things, swearing at pigeons in a foreign language and dealing with a plaza full of weird people. With his over-the-top notch action scenes and him speaking in Italian aren’t enough to convince you either, you should simply remember his charming face in new fancy suits at almost every moments!
2. Jeon Yeo-been as Hong Cha-young is Not Our Usual Upstanding Female Lead
Admit it or not, Jeon Yeo-been’s character is nothing like we all had expected. Starting off as a corrupt character who cares more about money than anything, Hong Cha-young has come a long way since then. Totally opposite of what her father is, Hong Cha-young is a gritty, confident and quirky woman who fulfils her job by bribing people. However, the way she provokes her enemies into tearing their hair out of irritation is something you wouldn’t like to miss. Not to mention she is the best partner in crime that Vincenzo can ever get. Both the main leads are good-looking, smart, take the right decisions, share amazing chemistry and complement each other perfectly. What else do you need?
3. The Most Evil, Crooked and Vile Pair of Antagonists
Ever watched a show and felt like swearing at the antagonists every time you see their face? That’s how Choi Myung-hee is. Despite not being the master of all the deceitful actions, she is a character who can go to any extent in order to satisfy her anger, including murder.
And then there is Jang Jun-woo aka Jang Han-seok. Although it was really shocking when his identity as the real boss of Babel Group was revealed, it was also a blessing in disguise that the show makers revealed it quite early in the drama. His dual acting performance as a dumb, happy-go-lucky and naïve lawyer and a psychopathic villain is definitely a bonus for the viewers of the drama. Despite finding him crazy and evil as a negative character should be, we just can’t help but love him. There are several other people who initially shared the same boat of corruption with these antagonists but later changed paths.
4. The Jaw-Dropping Moments at the End of Each Episode
That’s how an episode should end, shouldn’t it? There hasn’t been a single episode of the show till now which ended flavorlessly. Whether it is a tragedy, a win for Vincenzo, or a brewing conflict, the end of every episode is just Jaw-dropping. As much as the end of the third episode seems to be mind-blowing, the very next one’s end is equally satisfactory.
The way the moments have been captured on camera also plays a very important role in bringing out that moment of tension and victory. Even every episode as a whole is very unpredictable, which is a little rare in K-dramas. The turn of events and the backstory behind it are something that helps the drama with a better experience.
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5. The Humourous Supporting Characters
We know how important it is to form a good set of supporting cast, it’s it? For a drama with such a heavy plotline with so many twists and turns, we need something that will keep us engaged throughout an episode of an hour and twenty-five minutes. And there comes the comedy. The drama might not be as interesting as it is now had there not been the perfect pinch of comedy, most of which comes from the supporting characters.
The residents of Geumga Plaza provide comic relief in their own peculiar ways. Be it the con chef pretending to have graduated from Milan but fails in fooling the smart Vincenzo, the laundromat who ruins the expensive suit of Vincenzo, the over-excited self-proclaimed martial artist Yang Kyung-woon, or the monks of the Nanyak Temple— the characters have done an amazing job for providing humour. Each character stands out while offering something or the other to the plot along with the amusing interactions with the main cast.
6. The Presence of Multiple Sub-Plots
There is so much going on in this drama simultaneously that you won’t feel bored any minute. Along with the conflict against the evil Babel Corporation forming the main plotline, we also get to see the tenants of the complex continuously attempting to stop the demolition of their building, the existing threat from the Mafia in Italy, and Vincenzo’s painful past. Although the drama is not yet over, it would still be safe to assume it would have a satisfactory ending connecting the different threads and giving out an outcome.
7. The Intruding Background Score
One of the least talked about factors that make a series an exceptional one is the background score and among countless reasons which makes Vincenzo worth watching, the background score is one of them. The music and the sound effects have been used in a very subtle manner. Although the drama uses acoustic guitar sound for romantic parts like any other K-drama, the newness lies in the use of classical Italian music and modern K-pop for Vincenzo’s dark past life and his new life in South Korea respectively. The sound effects are full of flavours and do not fail in adding depth to the characters as well as circumstances.
8. The Central Theme of Corruption
Many series like Itaewon Class, Chief Kim and Mad Dog make use of police and company corruption as the main story and Vincenzo is no exception either. Maybe it is because this scheme never fails to work. The Babel Group treats its employees, abuses them on the will to expand their empire and protect their reputation, and everything they do to shut the mouth of those who decide to protest with the help of Woosang Law Firm. Everything seemed to be corrupted here including law (the judge of the court was bribed), police (bribed again multiple times) and even the families of the victims were not compensated properly. Rather, they were threatened and murdered. People are framed for things that they do not commit, punished with fabricated evidence, while on the other hand, guilty people just escape owing to the power of money.
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