Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 8 Recap and Ending Explained – What was the meeting with Yabuki in the pilot episode about?

There is a moment in “Tokyo Vice” (season 2) episode 8 that directly connects to the opening breakneck sequence of the series’ pilot, directed by Michael Mann. It is a testament to the show’s narrative that I didn’t even have an inkling that the story would choose to connect with that episode now. The connection highlights not just a foreshadowing of the event but also gives these incidents added weight without resorting to extraneous moments of violence but focusing on the propulsiveness of the narrative. More importantly, the immediate aftermath of the event emphasizes in triplicate that this needs to end. “Tokyo Vice” is driving towards an endgame. Now the question is: what does it ultimately cohere into?

Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 8 “The Noble Path” Recap:

What happens in Hawaii?

In contrast to previous episodes, episode 8 opens in Hawaii, which was a pretty big culture shock. For a minute, you will wonder whether Jake Adelstein had taken a layover (even if that mightn’t be logically possible) until you see the camera slowly pan down to the swimming pool in a 5-star hotel, and amidst the packed pool, an extensively tattooed man clambers out, walking up to similarly extensively tattooed yakuza. We see them unable to communicate with the cocktail waitress before they are suddenly blindsided by a cadre of FBI-led swat teams ordering them to lie down with their hands up. We also see female agents, disguised as cocktail waitresses, point their guns and secure the scene. A major bust has just occurred, and it isn’t related to the line of questioning Jake is pursuing.

What are the leads Jake begins to pursue?

We see Jake Adelstein waking up bleary-eyed, his suitcase barely unpacked, but woken by a banging on his door. He welcomes Katagiri and Nagata once he realizes they have come calling before getting down to business. Jake believes Tozawa entered the US on a fake passport and has managed to skip the waiting list line for a liver transplant. That puts him responsible for fraud and violating immigration laws, and he could also be argued to have committed manslaughter because Tozawa skipping the line meant one potential patient had died. Now the question is whether the US would want to extradite Tozawa for the crimes committed on American soil, which is what Nagata and Katagiri encourage him to follow up on.

At the Meicho, Maruyama assigns Trendy the Hawaii story while asking Tintin surreptitiously about the story she had assigned him. Before she could ask further, Jake enters the bullpen and apologizes to everyone for the harsh words he had exchanged before he left, gifting a baseball jersey to Trendy, a bottle of maple syrup from Minnesota to Tintin, and, of course, “a major story,” which Jake wants to share with Maruyama. But she instead wants him back out on the street, working with Trendy to follow up on the Hawaii case.

They meet up with Jason, a Japanese-American member of the US Foreign Service stationed in Tokyo, and have a secret relationship with Trendy. Convinced by Trendy, Jason admits that the arrests are part of a larger ongoing investigation, with more arrests about to come down the pipeline. Jake then asks the hypothetical as to what would be the US position on a Japanese national committing crime on American soil before returning to Japan, which Jason advises Jake to ask his boss, Lynn Oberfeld.

The conversation with Lynn, on the other hand, takes a really interesting turn. On the one hand, Lynn is happy to share the details of the Hawaii case. However, his “specific hypothetical” sparks curiosity, leading her to launch a secret investigation. Later, she calls Jake and informs him that the man, whom Jake knew as Spencer Tanaka, is an American citizen, not Tozawa, as he had suspected. Jake is skeptical, and he details his skepticism to Maruyama, reminding her that the doctor had stated that the Japanese man didn’t speak English and had extensive tattoos. Jake now believes that Oberfield might also be under Tozawa’s thumb, and Maruyama allows him to chase the story but also remains careful.

What are the plans of Tozawa and his clan?

It seems that Tozawa is content with the increased police activity and crackdown on the Yakuza. His un-bothered attitude makes Yabuki suspicious, almost as if he has something up his sleeve. As it turns out, that might be the case. The Minister of Transport, Shigematsu, is called to have a meeting with his wife. Tozawa hijacks that meeting and asks Shigematsu to exert his influence on electing a new minister of justice, contrary to his wife’s plan of electing a new finance minister and pulling the strings fiscally.

In the case of Misaki, we learn that Tozawa had asked her to sign a deed to a house for her mother. Misaki is happy at the sudden turn of events, with her relief palpable because of her sudden change of fortunes, until she is brought to a covert meeting with Tozawa’s wife. Tozawa’s wife, in turn, informs her that she is abreast of all the developments in Misaki’s life, including her affair with the “gaijin,” and if she wants to stay alive, Misaki would have to inform her of Tozawa’s movements and his decisions that his wife is unaware of.

Does Sato manage to rescue Kaito?

Sato is met by Taro, the Chihara-Kai gangster who had been spared by Sato in the first episode. He is given paperwork that officially lists him as banned from the Chihar-Kai. While he isn’t concerned about his banishment, his concerns ratchet up when he learns that Hayama had employed Kaito to shoot at soldiers of Tozawa’s clan out in the open.

Sato, having had enough, goes to confront Hayama and the rest of the Chihara-Kai clan at a bathhouse. Hayama, with swagger in every step, orders the rest of the gangsters to kill Sato. The Chihara-Kai are reluctant at first, but as they start to move forward, Kaito shouts that Hayam has taken a life of his own. Sato elaborates that Hayama had killed a Chihara-Kai brother by slitting their throat. Hayama attacks Sato, and there is a brief struggle in which Sato manages to gouge one of Hayama’s eyes out. Hayama, meanwhile, attacks and pushes Sato to the ground, about to choke him out, when he is suddenly attacked by Taro.

Regaining his breath, Sato jumps on Hayama and lets loose a flurry of punches, knocking him out cold. He then drags Hayama’s body into a bathtub and starts to drown him. As Hayama wakes up and starts struggling, the rest of the Chihara-Kai clan start pushing his head downwards inside the tub until Hayama stops struggling and drowns to death.

Sato later takes Kaito to their mother’s home, as he had promised her. Kaito apologizes to Sato for his actions, which Sato accepts, while his mother begrudgingly admits that Sato’s father would have been proud of him for having kept his promise. As an olive branch, his mother asks Sato for tea, but Sato declines, telling her that he has responsibilities, and thus those closest to him might be in danger. He leaves after urging them to remain safe.

What occurs when Samantha finally confronts Akira?

As the episode begins, Samantha asks for a gun from Sato, which Sato, after some trepidation, hands over to her. When asked why he isn’t keeping it for himself, Sato informs her of her banishment to Chihara-Kai, worried that his brother might be stuck there. Sato wonders what else he could do besides being a Yakuza, to which Samantha jokingly states that he could open a tattoo parlor. They are currently adrift and out of work, but they still have each other.

Samantha then goes to Akira’s former club, where she obtains his home address, surmising correctly that Akira might have pending payments, and that would be enough for the club hostess to keep tabs on him. Obtaining his address, Samantha recruits Erika to help her enter Akira’s apartment via subterfuge. Once inside, Samantha threatens to shoot Akira unless he informs her where her money is. Akira disappoints her, stating that he is given clothes and watches to wear for appearances, but he is broke. Frustrated, Samantha hits him before Erika takes her away, leaving a groaning Akira on his apartment floor.

How is Katagiri cut off from his support system in the force?

Meanwhile, Katagiri is busy trying to re-enact the shootout at the highway to understand how the Yakuza managed to shoot their leads. The re-enactment makes Katagiri realize that the lawyer had ducked his head a second before the drive-by shooting occurred, almost like he had known about this attack. Nagata, realizing that they have a promising lead, goes to her superior, urging her to bring in Internal Affairs.

Instead, we see in a later scene that Nagata has been reassigned, and a new head of the NPA has been appointed in her place. The reason for her replacement lay in her culpability for the rise of violence in the streets and the witness’s death while transported secretly. When Katagiri tries to protest, reminding his superior that he had been involved as well, his superior berates him for mentioning it lest Katagiri also be reassigned.

What was the meeting with Yabuki in the pilot episode about?

We see Yabuki calling Jake on his cell phone, asking for a meeting. This leads to that propulsive moment in the pilot episode, where Katagiri accompanies Jake as a friend to the meeting. There, Yabuki explains that he knows which story Jake is pursuing and urges him to stop. Otherwise, they would start going after Jake’s family and making everyone dependent on him. Jake takes a long drag of his cigarette to understand his options, while Yabuki taunts Katagiri about how he loses friends in this line of work, like Detective Miyamoto. Jake accepts Yabuki’s proposal to drop the story.

As Katagiri and Jake enter the elevator, which would take them downstairs, Katagiri answers Jake’s question by emphatically urging him to continue writing the story because everyone is now dependent on him. This has to end. But even as Katagiri urges Jake, he is also covering his bases, shifting his family to a nondescript hotel for their safety. When Katagiri’s wife asks how it had come down to this, Katagiri accepts that he couldn’t stay out of it, and this is his fault. His wife just asks him to promise that this is the end. It is quite telling that the two main characters of the show are both asked to end this, almost as if the show is racing toward an endgame.

Tokyo Vice (Season 2) Episode 8 “The Noble Path” Ending Explained:

What was Tozawa’s plan all along?

We see Jake calling his father back in St. Louis and asking for his advice. While his father is understandably worried and flabbergasted about how he finds himself in this position, he has the same advice as Katagiri: continue and finish writing this story; publish it if that is the only way this man could be sent back to prison—and hopefully, not die in the process.

But as it stands, things are starting to get progressively worse. The news reports that the Prime Minister is resigning from his position on account of a mysterious illness, and Shigematsu is stepping up to the position in the interim. As they both watch the news on their televisions, both Maruyama and Jake know what this truly means: Tozawa holds the strings now. This had been his plan all along.

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Tokyo Vice (Season 2), Episode 8 Link: IMDb
Tokyo Vice (Season 2), Episode 8 Cast: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller

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