Just Finished Watching "Vincenzo"

The finale of Vincenzo hit yesterday and I don't blame people for making a comparison to the "hit" Pinoy TV drama known as Ang Probinsyano. I decided not to do episode reviews like I do becaus eI want to take things easy. So, what are my thoughts after 20 episodes? There will be some (minor) spoilers ahead so please divert if you haven't completed it. If not, please read ahead with my thoughts. Just remember these are just my personal opinions so feel free to disagree.

I think the love story here isn't that well-developed,. Sometimes, it seems that Jeon Yeo Bin's character as Atty. Hong Cha Yong tends to be used as either eye candy for the men or the "necessary" love interest. Maybe, I was too used to how Pride and Prejudice managed to flesh out the romance of Atty. Goo Dong Chi (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Pros. Han Yeol Moo (Baek Jin Hee) manages to get some steps while trying to find the real culprit of the case. Here, I felt some scenes were rather forced (such as when the two pretended to be a couple) in contrast to how Dong Chi and Yeol Moo were developed. Though it does develop - I still feel that they could've just remained friends. Spoilers: Cha Yong does live through that gunshot and still beats ass.

The whole ongoing plot of Babel may also be a commentary on social responsibility. Babel looks like a benevolent corporation but it's only a legal front for its illegal activities. Many employee abuse cases were silenced by the power of money and politics. Jang Jun Woo is one who plays with people's lives together with his lawyer Choi Myung Hee. Even worse, we see Vincenzo's biological mother die from foul play. This causes Vincenzo to slowly torment his foes as an anti-hero. Just for a bit of a spoiler: Vincenzo does go crazy and finally kills them in some brutal fashion. I'm thinking about the Darkman film where the main hero brutally murders the people who ruined his life. I'm not going to describe it though they're all so satisfying to see. 

The series tries to use some gray areas one way or another. Not everyone who seems evil is evil and not everyone who seems evil is good. Vincenzo manages to show he's not your typical clean hero. Instead, Vincenzo becomes like Batman in the 1987 movie - the Batman that caused Joker to die from a top place or Darkman who brutally murdered Strack by dropping him off WAY HIGH. Babel's boss Jung Woo looks very innocent, seems very polite, but he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Babel looks very respectable but is involved in destroying others' lives. It's somewhat unpredictable and fun to watch with a great degree of predictability. 

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