Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 7: If one follows the age-old axiom of all these stories about a high-functioning workaholic, the prevalent theme of this episode is the dilemma between family and work. Jake flies thousands of miles to be with his family, only to finally be attracted to the clarion call of unpredictability, which is his journalism work at the Meicho and the Tozawa cases.
For Sato, it is more in line with the Sopranos axiom—the family vs. family dilemma—and how his brother gets intertwined leads him to be at odds with the organization’s current leader—an organization he had been loyal to from the start.
Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 7 “The War at Home” Recap:
How was Jake’s return to St. Louis?
For Jake, returning to St. Louis allowed him to reconnect with his family. That includes his sister Jess (Sarah Sawyer), who meets him at the airport. Their connection had been teased throughout the first season, as had her depression. Jake does check up on that while they are driving back to their place, while she tries to check up on his work as well as his relationship (or lack thereof). She admits that she has had ups and downs.
As Jake arrives home, we are introduced to his doting mother and his father, Eddie Adelstein, whose birthday party he had actually come to attend. We get a hint of awkwardness between father and son, which slowly dissipates as the day progresses. We see Jake regaling the party guests with stories about the unique peculiarities of Japan.
In the middle of the party, Jake also has a conversation with the editor of the St. Louis Dispatch, a newspaper that Jake credits as having ignited his love for journalism (along with the poster of “All the President’s Men,” we can safely assume). Dean, the editor, surprises Jake by informing them that he does follow Jake’s work and offers him a job should he ever return, though he strongly suspects that he might not.
One thing that really strikes you as you watch is what the show has been teasing regarding the rift with Jake’s family, compared to the intensity that is actually depicted. The heartfelt speech that Jake gives about his father at the end of the party communicates that Jake is deeply indebted to his father for igniting his curiosity about the profession and about asking the right questions. One can also surmise that a similar love is reciprocated by the father when he learns, albeit vaguely, about his son’s problems back “home.” One can also clearly surmise that the rift between the family is due to Jake not opening himself up to his family or having any proclivity to return to the small American town he had grown up in.
Which family does Sato choose?
Sato’s arc in this whole episode was spelled out in the opening itself, where he is telling Samantha about Kaito and how he is worried about his brother now that he has joined Hayama. In Ishida’s funeral, we see that all the gumis have deigned to attend, but through interpersonal dialogues, we learn that the yakuza are all at tenterhooks, worried about how long it will be before they fall the same way that Ishida has, considering that Tozawa is now consolidating forces.
There is a swagger to Tozawa’s step, and he is under no compunction to hide it, even threatening Hayama not to make any rash decisions in this time of mourning. It clearly doesn’t go well because Hayama goes on a tirade in front of the entire Chihara-Kai, choosing to attack Tozawa as retaliation. When Sato advises restraint, Hayama belittles Sato by calling out Kaito and asking for his opinion. Understandably, Kaito is scared and voices his support for Hayama’s decisions.
It’s only later, when Sato and Kaito are cutting up vegetables in the kitchen, that Sato takes Kaito out of earshot of the rest of the Chihara-Kai and informs him of Hayama’s subterfuge—how Sato had never been in danger and it was a ploy to kill Tozawa using an expendable asset. He implores Kaito to take the deal once Sato hatches one up to get Kaito out of the Chihara-Kai, reminding him that Hayama is a man without honor.
As it turns out, Sato trying to convince Kaito secretly is all for naught because he is later ambushed on the terrace by Hayama and the Chihara-Kai. Hayama attacks him and manages to get a few licks in before Sato begins to counter when Hayama whispers that he is going to kill Kaito if Sato attacks him. Realizing that he is stuck between a rock and a hard place, Sato accepts Hayama’s proposal of banishment from the Chihara-Kai and walks away, choosing his brother’s safety over his own.
What are Samantha’s plans to get back on her feet?
Samantha is visited by Detectives Katagiri and Nagata. They try to corner her by asking why she didn’t choose to inform them directly about the tattoos and her close relationship with Ohno. Samnatha rebuts by asking whether she is under investigation. Katagiri answers in the negative but also advises her not to leave the city until this investigation is over.
To get back on her feet, Samantha calls up an insurance investigator to understand the valuation she might receive as a result of the damages incurred. However, the investigator informs her that the money might take a bit longer for her to receive than she had anticipated. We see her pulling out a hidden suitcase from her office, presumably a financial backup for a rainy day. And right now this is a rainy day, whereby she contacts one of the ex-hostesses of Onyx, Luna, and proposes to her to convince the owner of Onyx to take Samnatha’s hostesses in.
Luna flatly refuses, conceding that the event at the club had rendered Samantha radioactive. Anyone associated with her will have a hard time getting employment. All the while, Samantha is hounded by the press. However, we see her that night watching television and see a former male host conversing in an interview about how he had become a television personality. This might be the new path Samantha chooses.
The plot thickens
Katagiri, meanwhile, tackles the shooter, who had sneaked into his house the previous night and asked for protection. Now, in the interrogation room, the shooter wants immunity in exchange for information on who hired him and the location of the murder weapon. Katagiri laughs wryly before informing him that there is no immunity and no plea bargain in Japan.
The most he can do is slap the case down from the death penalty and have him serve time for 20 years, which would at least make him protected against Tozawa. Considering that the shooter revealed that Tozawa had hired him to kill Ishida, the shooter is worried that Tozawa would want to tie up loose ends. Katagiri checks the location, finds the missing murdered weapon, and informs Nagata. Confirmed, they decide to transport the shooter to the courthouse in secret for the testimony.
On the way, however, their police vehicle is attacked by a gun-toting assailant on a bike, who manages to fire and kill the shooter. Katagiri tries to shoot back, but to no avail, and he wouldn’t want to risk shooting civilians in the middle of the street. This entire shootout sequence feels very much inspired by the shootout sequence of “Heat” (which makes sense considering Michael Mann, the director of “Heat,” is the executive producer).
However, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. As Katagiri ultimately goes back to the phone taps in Tozawa’s organization, he comes across one such recorded conversation of a follow-up call from a Minnesota hospital asking for the remainder of the payment for the surgery. This excites Nagata and Katagiri because they now have proof that Tozawa has managed to actually reach America. Meanwhile, at the Meicho, Maruyama takes Shingo’s advice and appoints Tin-Tin to the case of discreetly investigating Baku’s financials (it is never directly shown whose financials, but it is easy to infer).
How does Jake’s work connect to his trip home?
Back home, Jake is bonding with his family. His mother finally acquiesces and starts calling him Jake instead of Josh, acknowledging that he had been away long enough that he had grown into the name for her. He agrees to attend Jess’ high school exhibition, where she would ask him journalistic questions. As she preps him, she asks what he likes about the job, to which he reveals that he loves the unpredictability of the job, a sharp contrast to the monotony back home.
However, he asks his sister a tactless question regarding her plan for the future. Her response that she is trying to survive high school, unable to think beyond that, is a sobering response. As if acknowledging Jake’s statement, the phone at Jake’s home rings. It’s Katagiri who informs him of that phone call that had come from the St. Mary’s Medical Center, Minnesota. Katagiri suspects that Tozawa had his liver surgery there. He requests Jake to check it out, considering that Minnesota is 90 minutes away by flight from St. Louis, and Katagiri doesn’t know who to trust.
Jake agrees and decides to undertake the trip, promising his parents he would return home the next day and especially not miss Jess’ function. His father, meanwhile, promises Jake to contact his friend, who can grant him access to the head of the Department of Hepatology. At SMMC, Jake begins his investigation with the HOD, whereby he learns that foreign nationals are treated in this hospital and that the waiting list is extensively long, with most Americans having had to wait for almost five years.
However, Jake notices the HOD wearing a Constantin Vacheron watch, a highly expensive watch, which Jake correctly deduces is way above the pay grade of a doctor’s salary. He calmly threatens that he could write a puff piece about the innovation done in the US and in SMMC led by the doctor, or he could write an expose revealing how a Japanese gangster had bribed the Head of Hepatology in order to conduct expensive liver surgery.
Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 7 “The War at Home” Ending Explained:
What does Jake find out about Tozawa’s trip to America?
Katagiri receives a call from Jake, where Jake reveals that not only had Tozawa traveled to America and to SMMC under an alias but that he had also managed to have liver surgery the very next day. He had admitted himself under an alias, Spencer Tanaka, and the Head of Hepatology admitted to treating the patient, who had extensive tattoos and wasn’t fluent in the English language.
The question now is how Tozawa managed to bypass the no-fly zone and how much he paid for that. That was a very important story, one Jake is eager to get back to. Katagiri takes advantage of Jake’s eagerness, asking him to return to Tokyo immediately, as there are very few people he could trust to see this investigation through. Eddie Adelstein receives an unwelcome call from his son, and Jake informs his father that he will be cutting his trip short and directly flying back to Tokyo.
Understandably upset, Eddie reminds Jake that there would be such impromptu moments in his work, but he could always make a choice instead of letting his work dictate his time with his family. However, Jake has made his choice. This sequence, while inevitable, was saddening and heartbreaking, especially considering how much Jake’s relationship with his family had been on the verge of repair, but Jake had chosen work over his family.
The episode opens with two masked yakuza gunmen attacking a club, with one of the shooters hesitating before shooting the bouncer in the neck. As the shooters run and climb on a bus to escape, we see one of them removing the mask from his face, revealing Kaito, now fully under the Chihara-Kai thumb, haunted by the action he just took.
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