Tokyo Vice
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
I want to report on what really happens.
Thats what Jake Adelstein told Samantha Porter in thefirst episodeofTokyo Vice.
So where do we start?
With the Yoshino, of course.
Its always been about that damn boat.
The plan is to raid Tozawas suite and the Yoshino at once to avoid tipping him off.
But Tozawa will find a way to kill it like he always does, Nagata reminds him.
But if Tozawas enemies learned of his betrayals, they might exact revenge on their own.
Plus, Katagiris going to need Jakes help to get on the Yoshino.
I promise you, Emi says over the phone, Ill find another home for the story.
And find another home she does.
Shingo understands the stakes, but hes not in a position to endanger his own staff and publish.
Are the lives of my reporters less valuable than yours?
So thats on ice for now.
It was my fault.
I pushed this story.
I dragged everyone into it.
And whenwedo our jobs, Sato says, there are consequences.
Every move, no matter how critical or out of pocket, draws blood somewhere.
Our boy Satos already coming in full force with his hard-earned, reluctant oyabuns wisdom.
It hits with Jake enough to knock loose an idea.
Thats right, partner, this aint exactly a Western youre living in.
Ripples in the fabric of society, not splashes.
Time to call in yourrealpartner in the job of Tokyo underground operator.
The story is shelved.
Time for the Plan B (filed under Breaking Bad).
Katagiri arrives at the hideout real quick, and the main players in the endgame are all lined up.
And for Sato, a deal to do whatever Chiahara-kai sees fit with the FBI documents.
But why not take this to the newspaper or the police?
We are past that now, Katagiri says.
At the same time, Nagata barges in on Tozawas suite with a warrant to search his safe.
Nagata finds nothing of consequence in the safe and bolts, then calls Katagiri to confirm.
Once on board, Yoshino, Katagiri, and Jake find the safe already open and empty.
It would have been a great story, says Jake, looking over the secured FBI documents.
But wait, whats this thing with Shigematsus signature on it?
It looks like we have a story, after all.
Tokyos most notorious gangster tries to buy the next Prime Minister, Jake lays out the headline.
We print this, Shigematsus done.
And give this bastard what he deserves, Baku tells her after reviewing the documents.
I destroyed that tape, Ozaki tells Emi behind closed doors.
No access to sources.
No access to the truth.
There it is: the institutional version of truth corrupted on arrival, vested interest, and so forth.
How would that serve our readers?
Emis not buying it.
No dangling of a promotion will get her to forget who she is and the fates of justicesheserves.
If making such decisions is a prerequisite for sitting in your chair, then I do not want it.
The choice is clear but no less devastating.
Elsewhere, Samantha, Misaki, and the boys of Chihara-kai go to Club Polina to hide out.
Him or your mother, he says.
The choice is yours.
Im sick of discussing Tozawa, one of the other bosses says in the emergency yakuza meeting.
Weve all made our deals with him.
He has lied to your face and stabbed you in the back, Sato tells his elders.
He has no respect.
I respect every man in this room.
Nows the time to take down Tozawa, for which they all must play a part.
He gave the contract to Sato, who will administer a different kind of justice.
A bit of a feeble gesture.
Every players hands are getting dirty by the minute in this endgame.
But its no less genuinely and deeply felt.
Tozawas final shellacking is a still, yet fever-pitched climax to the central conflict thats made upTokyo Vicethus far.
She lays a beautiful dagger down before her husband.
You have become a liability to us all.
So you will settle accounts, or we will settle them for you.
Thats right, Kazuko was the one who sent him the Yoshino tape.
Exposing it would have checked Shinzos power much sooner.
But you let it slip through your fingers.
I will not forget that.
Thats when Id be like, Nice knowing ya, Tokyo, I gotta bounce.
From there, things nicely wrap up to varying degrees onTokyo Vice.
Turns out, Jake couldnt help but give up American embassy BF Jasons name to Lynn Oberfeld.
From now on, stay away from me, Trendy says.
Its a heartbreaking rift.)
The Tozawa FBI informant story is published.
Meanwhile, things are mostly looking up for Emi and Shingo (good for them).
Sato is officially and ceremoniously instated as the oyabun of Chihara-kai.
Im gonna recharge my batteries and do some thinking, she says.
Then Ill be back.
Something tells me this wont be your typical white girls eat-pray-love trip.
And we can all breathe a sweet sigh of relief now that Misaki has broken up with Jake.
Lets be real: Who among us thought this would ever go anywhere serious?
Misaki is ready for a boring, safe life away from the yakuza and the police.
Jake is always going to have one foot in the danger that birthed their romantic dalliance to begin with.
Its not long-term partnership material.
You will do, daring, exciting things, Misakis parting words.
And I will read all about them in the paper.
Ourtruepartners inVice, Adelstein and Katagiri, nursing some whiskeys from the retired detectives back porch.
I love doing nothing, Katagiri says in response to Jakes protest that he wont stay retired.
It is you, Jake, who cannot do nothing.
There will always be anotherthemto get, another case to crack.
Peace isnt an option, not even for a moment.
I can do nothing better than you, Jake retorts, insisting on a competitive game of count-to-ten.
The city never sleeps, and neither do the reluctant harbingers of her rippling underground.
Action, consequence, repeat.
