BeetBits: Vincenzo

If you follow me on Twitter, you would know that Vincenzo is one of the few dramas I followed weekly till its final episode recently. I was very happy and satisfied with how things were developing in this drama - until a certain point, that is!!!

Why I loved Vincenzo!

Vincenzo is a story about a consigliere who leaves Italy after the head of the family dies and goes to Korea to start a war again evil 😅. While I am not familiar with how well the drama showcases the mafia, it is a fact that Song Joong Ki put a lot of effort in this role. According to reviews, his Italian is very good, and he definitely tried to mimic Italian body language even if he was not always successful. 

Vincenzo starts as a well-balanced show with quirky characters and fun interactions between Vincenzo and the tenants of Guemga Plaza, and serious altercations between Vincenzo and Ok Taecyeon - Aka. Evil Guy - Aka. Jang Junu.

 The main genre of the show is dark comedy; however, it definitely didn't set the tone for the level of darkness to come. Vincenzo starts with only hints at how the rich control society and people's lives; scenes showcasing murders followed by comic dances and celebrations are the only hints at dark comedy during the first few episodes of the show. Don't let that deceive you, though! This show gets as dark as it could be and as sarcastic as a dark comedy could be. 

If you think you will get a thrilling revenge story only out of this, think again! This show is simply a big LOL game between the Geumga Plaza team and the Babel team. The loser loses all!

The show plays a game with the viewer, whereas you get a glimpse of how good Vincenzo is throughout the first half and only gets the bloody truth at the end. 

Vincenzo is vicious, canny, unforgiving, smart and sarcastically, a good leader?? He is as contradictory as the next person, which makes him both appealing and appalling. Ironically, elements of dark comedy are present in how people handle Vincezo mainly, not the other side who acts and behaves like typical evil people. The female lead was totally fine with drowning a group of assassins. The Geumga Plaza team was totally fine with a human exploding as a warning to the evil people. Even the intelligence agency was totally fine with a mafia handling country secrets and playing with people lives. 

Why I hated Vincenzo!

So far, it might seem like Vincenzo simply followed its theme throughout the series, which means I should be happy with it, right? .. Wrong! While I was very happy till the final couple of episodes in Vincenzo, the final episode totally changed my perspective. Despite Vincenzo's extreme criminal behaviour, I did expect a happy ending for the drama. The writer was obviously aiming at keeping us on Vincenzo's team throughout the series, so a happy ending was expected. Additionally, an ending where Vincenzo kills the other side was hinted at throughout the final half; therefore, even that was expected.

 What was the issue, though??! The writer took it too far during the final revenge. Don't get me wrong, it was obvious Vincenzo had killed many, many people throughout his life by the end of the series. However, how sadistic he could be was certainly not well explained until the final episode. Cruel and inhumane are not enough to explain how Vincenzo killed his enemies. As a viewer, the final episode took a turn that I was not ready for nor willing to accept. It was expected that Jang Junu will definitely meet his demise; however, was literally screwing him a good idea to end a series that obviously needed to end with people still in love with Vincenzo?

For me, it wasn't! It definitely added the series to my blacklist faster than I thought. Maybe the irony of how easy it is to kiss after massacring people was what the writer aimed for!! It definitely didn't sit well with me, dark comedy or not!

Overall, Vincenzo gave me satisfaction for few weeks; however, it will stay in a corner in my watchlist that I never expected to add it to. The corner of " Never Watching Again" right next to School Days, if you know that anime😅.