“Tokyo Vice” (season 2) episode 9 is arguably the best episode throughout the season, and even the series if one is so inclined to state. The aptly titled episode “Consequences” is one of the most action-packed episodes of the show to date, with the stakes being as astronomically high as they could be. Still, with all of the disparate plotlines either converging or closing off in a neat little bow before finally giving way to an actual explosive finale, we sincerely hope.
Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 9 “Consequences” Recap:
What did Tozawa blackmail Funaki with, and how did he return the favor?
The episode opens with Katagiri reuniting with his old boss, Detective Nagata, who had been reassigned in the previous episode to Misawa. While Katagiri wants to fight the deliberate dismissal, Nagata remarks that she has done everything she had wanted to accomplish. But before she bows, she gifts Katagiri with information Nagata had obtained from Internal Affairs—photographic evidence linking Detective Funaki to an affair with a minor, a transgression Tozawa used to blackmail him with.
Katagiri uses the photos as an excuse to interrogate Funaki, and Funaki finally reveals what Katagiri had long suspected: that Funaki had been the one to reveal the location of the witness and his eventual transport. But Funaki rebuts the accusation of being unscrupulous, stating that he protected the identity and location of Katagiri’s family. Upon hearing that, Katagiri hatches a plan.
How do Sato and Tozawa handle their respective gumis?
With the events of the last episode, Sato effectively takes the lead of the Chihara-Kai, but he comes in to take the reins at a very turbulent period. The changes and violence force the membership within the Chihara-Kai to dwindle, and with Tozawa now riding high and making sure to get into a legitimate high ground, Sato decides to meet with the Ichikawa-gumi to propose an alliance. However, Ichikawa informs Sato that they have already struck a deal with Tozawa. Still, the unceremonious exit of Hayama and Sato’s ascension into leadership provides an opportunity—a much more amenable proposition for the Chihara-Kai—to work with Tozawa rather than risk getting trampled.
Meanwhile, Tozawa is now on an upswing. His plan to install a puppet Prime Minister is slowly coming to fruition, and soon, this “thug from Kansai” will elevate himself beyond the scope of the law or even beyond the scope of petty Yakuza politics. He says it with so much infused sarcasm to his wife, who had so far dangled her fortune as the carrot for Tozawa’s ascension. But Tozawa’s moves seem to be calculated towards not only pushing his gumi to the forefront but also working towards getting out of his wife’s shadow.
To attain that goal, he attends a golf club meeting with corporate executives, whereby he negotiates a deal to get a 5% share of profits as well as a board seat in exchange for revealing all his books, presumably now whitewashed. As the deal is hands-on, one of his fellow players reveals that he had seen Tozawa’s girl, a journalist, at a party at the American Embassy with a tall gaijin. Tozawa had been ready to dismiss the claims until he heard of the tall gaijin, which incensed him. It’s an effective mirror of how Misaki is feeling at the moment, even though she enjoys watching her mother be impressed by the house gifted to her by Tozawa. But Misaki tries her hardest to contact Jake and inform him that Tozawa knows. However, Jake, at that exact moment, is unavailable.
What do Jake and the rest of the Meicho find about Tozawa?
Jake, Maruyama, Trendy, and Tintin tried to understand how Tozawa had managed to install a puppet Prime Minister into the halls of the administration, and there is nothing to connect him with all these crimes, not even managing to escape to the USA for a liver transplant. However, Tintin has a brainwave—what if Tozawa is an FBI informant? That would explain the Hawaii bust that opened last week’s episode. It would also explain why FBI head Lynn Oberfeld had tried to obfuscate the truth. But again, it is all theory, and they need concrete evidence.
The first piece of evidence that comes into their lap is from Trendy’s friend and sometimes fling, Jason, who works as a liaison in Oberfeld’s office. He informs Trendy, much to his trepidation regarding what their relationship means, that the FBI had precedence in cutting deals with Yakuzas. He later confirms, however, through one of his colleagues that Tozawa had been an FBI informant for over a year and a half, and Jason’s friend had seen the paperwork, but Jason wouldn’t agree to go on the record. Thus, Jake agrees to question Oberfeld for a comment or a confirmation, and Maruyama decides to take Jake’s phone because she can’t risk his phone being tapped.
Jake goes to Oberfeld and surprises her with a gift before asking her about a follow-up to the Stanley Tanaka identity of being an English teacher. Before breaking that ruse, Jake asks how an English teacher could afford a half-million-dollar watch. He also reminds her of another gangster-turned-informant named Harada, of whom he had been informed by Katagiri, whom he had met previously before coming here to question Oberfeld.
He then informs Oberfeld that they have proof and paperwork that puts Tozawa as an informant for the FBI, and publishing the truth on paper wouldn’t be helpful for the FBI. Jake also informs Oberfeld that he can easily invoke the First Amendment when questioned and threatened with being sued. Oberfeld, though, is adamant that she can confirm his suspicions if Jake can confirm who his source is.
We don’t know whether Jake reveals his source’s identity, but considering Jake informs Maruyama that Oberfeld confirms Tozawa’s identity as an FBI agent, one can surmise that is exactly what happened. He had called Maruyama from a payphone, and Maruyama cautioned him to stay safe because this only put a huge target on his back, but Jake reassured her that he knew where to hide out.
This is the moment when the plot threads finally start to converge. We see that Jake has come to meet Sato at the Chihara-Kai headquarters and effectively asks for asylum until he can write and publish the story. Sato agrees, not just because of his friendship with Jake but also because a story effectively spelling Tozawa’s fall aligns with both Sato’s and Jake’s interests.
However, Tin Tin doesn’t share Jake’s luck or friends in “lower places.” Tintin is successful in managing to ask and force the doctor to reveal that they had coordinated with the doctors in Minneapolis to ensure Tozawa’s liver transplant operation could be executed. However, as he is returning to the Meicho, he is dragged by presumably Tozawa’s goons and stabbed multiple times, leaving him to die in the street.
How does Maruyama deal with her family and workplace issues?
Meanwhile, Maruyama’s brother, to prove to his sister his unproven belief in the impropriety of her boyfriend, attempts to kidnap Shinzo’s son from his school. That attempt is foiled, and he luckily arrives a couple of moments immediately after that attempt and manages to chase him around the school until he extricates his son. Maruyama confronts her brother and realizes that he is never going to accept their relationship. However, unlike his earlier open-minded attempts, Shinzo isn’t ready to resume this relationship unless Maruyama decides what to do about it—whether to remain her brother’s keeper or take charge of her own life. Maruyama’s apology, which signals their breakup, also reaffirms Maruyama’s resigning herself to remain her brother’s keeper.
It is also at this moment that Trendy calls her to inform her that Tintin has been stabbed and is currently admitted to intensive care. As she goes to meet Trendy in the hospital, she is met by her boss, Baku, who informs her of having received an anonymous call to kill the story; otherwise, more reporters would be killed. Baku wonders which story it is, considering that he didn’t authorize it. To which Maruyama reveals that it is about Tozawa. Baku orders Maruyama to kill the story. She refuses, accusing him of working with Tozawa and having burned the tape. Baku despondently responds that he is disappointed, and Maruyama wonders if he is corrupted.
Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 9 “Consequences” Ending Explained:
How do all the characters converge?
As Tozawa’s tendrils begin to converge, the Chihara-Kai headquarters are attacked by gun-toting Tozawa thugs. Sato and one of his more loyal brothers escort Jake out of the headquarters, while the men are killed by Tozawa’s soldiers and shot in return. Sato and Jake sneak out and manage to drive away to another safe house, where they will remain until Jake manages to finish his story.
Jake tries to ask for a phone to inform his editor, but Sato refuses vehemently (for protection). Sato’s angry gesticulation falls flat when he receives a call from Samantha, who we later learn has asked Sato for protection. As it turns out, Misaki visited Samantha in her club, where she was looking for Jake. Her identity as Tozawa’s moll puts her in danger. As the two of them visit Jake’s apartment and find it locked, they notice a car drive up to Jake’s house. They realize in horror that the man in the car is Tozawa. Fortunately, before Tozawa can react, the two women drive off and finally reach Sato’s safe house, much to Jake and Misaki’s surprise, when they reunite.
Meanwhile, Katagiri had asked Funaki to inform Tozawa about Katagiri’s family. That turns out to be bait, as Tozawa’s right-hand man, Yabuki, is caught red-handed by Katagiri. Yabuki tries to shoot Katagiri with a gun placed on the hotel bed, only to find it empty, and the gun is placed to have Yabuki’s fingerprints imprinted on it, such that he would be incriminated in a legitimate crime. Nagata finally gets a legitimate excuse to arrest Yabuki for the shooting at Club Polina, with that gun having been present at the shootout being the proof to put him away. While Yabuki could be bailed out due to Tozawa indirectly coming to power, Katagiri threatens that if Yabuki comes out and tries to go after his family, he will put Yabuki down without prejudice.
The episode ends with Katagiri being visited by Kazuko, Tozawa’s wife, who informs him that she has proof of her husband’s transgressions and his contract with the FBI. She informs him that it might be available at the Yoshino yacht, which would require special access that only she could provide. It is perhaps not a coincidence that Yoshino becomes an important location similar to the first season, but the episode is teasing a final explosive showdown between all the characters and Tozawa, hopefully climaxing towards the “end” that this show has been teasing since episode 8.
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