The newly premiered tvN drama Vincenzo comes with an interesting case for me — I found the first episode good in parts but was not feeling the urge to continue. Ultimately, I did click next and wow, the show kept getting better, with episode 4 delivering on so many fronts. It was indeed a good decision to continue!

Song Joong Ki stars as the titular Vincenzo Cassano, a lawyer working for a mafia in Italy. After his boss’s death, he comes to South Korea to finish some business, which leads him to a rundown building. The place is inhabited by many tenants, including a law office run by Yoo Jae Myung‘s Hong Yoo Chan. He is a lawyer who always fights for justice. His daughter Cha Young, played by Jeon Yeo Bin, is also a lawyer but she works in a high profile law firm, that has clients who are rich, powerful and mostly on the wrong side of law. This creates constant tension and conflict between the two. Taecyeon plays an intern at Cha Young’s office and her junior. Kwak Dong Yeon stars as the head of the main big bad company at the center, the Babel Group.

The drama has an uneven pace and mood during initial episodes. I did like the central idea of Vincenzo and Yoo Chan joining hands to save the building and fight against the Babel group but the unevenness, in addition to the annoyance caused by the irritating tenants was making me hesitant to carry on. Speaking about tenants, each and every one of them is made so over the top, annoying and entitled — I can gladly fast forward their scenes. The drama has an odd mix of comedy and darkness, which works most of the time.

I like all the main characters, especially Hong Yoo Chan, who is so warm, earnest and righteous. Without spoiling much, I have to say that as we move towards the end of episode 4, there are major shifts in terms of characters and plot, and things get way more serious than we anticipated.

I find Vincenzo as a character really good and Song Joong Ki brings a perfect combination of calmness, anger and intensity. It’s also great to see him gradually and reluctantly trying to do good, despite his selfish goals at first. I think we are yet to understand Vincenzo completely. It’s hard to comprehend his full motivations. I’m enjoying the sass and confidence of Jeon Yeo Bin as Cha Young. I also like the little details here and there which add to the amusement, like the lighter that our hero carries around. I also find Choi Myung Hee (Kim Yeo Jin) a very scary character and I was very happy when our hero outsmarts her.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The death of Yoo Chan was surely shocking and extremely sad. But it triggered Cha Young and Vincenzo to act how they did later. I did love how despite the wrong details of him being corrupt in the news, his former clients sent so many messages in his memory. And the way they helped to cause destruction in Babel’s warehouse, and the whole last bit in episode 4 — so good. I cannot wait to see how our freshly formed team struggles through and finally reach their destination of victory. The revelation of the main villain was something I did not expect but adds more complications for our hero and heroine.

SPOILERS ENDS

I’m looking forward to the upcoming episodes. We have just started and I’m excited to see what Vincenzo brings on the table. Just don’t bring too much spotlight on the tenants. Or better, make them interesting.