‘Tokyo Vice’ Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: Publish or Perish

To paraphrase Cosmo Kramer and Elaine Benes, it may well be unbridled enthusiasm that leads to Shinzo Tozawa’s downfall. In this penultimate episode of Tokyo Vice’s bitchin’ second season, the last yakuza boss standing seems to have it all under control, but the more he tightens his grip, the more seems to slip through his fingers. (That was a Princess Leia paraphrase, not a Seinfeld paraphrase.)

Let’s look at it piece by piece. He rejects his wife’s frankly absurd attempt to make nice with him, noting that he doesn’t need her now that he controls the prime minister. She warns him he’s being stupid to make an enemy of her — and promptly runs to Katagiri with incriminating evidence. Maybe next time he won’t be so eager to show off how he’s King Shit of Turd Mountain!

Tozawa also orders his men to make moves on Chihara-kai, now run by Sato, before hearing how his backchannel effort to broker a deal works out. Sato, his right-hand man Gen, and Jake — who’s hiding out with the gang since Tozawa is out for his blood — successfully flee, during a tense action sequence that owes a lot to the Hodor bit from late-season Game of Thrones.

But wait, there’s more! Tozawa also tries to take out Misaki for cheating on him, but instead stumbles across her on Samantha’s motorcycle. The two wanted women speed off and wind up seeking refuge with Sato.

Meanwhile, Tozawa sends his lieutenant, Yabuki, to personally execute Katagiri’s family in retaliation for his continued efforts. In doing so, he sends Yabuki right into a trap. In short, Tozawa has brought all the people with direct evidence of his crimes and direct reason to want to stop him ASAP together. Great job, Tozawa-san!

As exciting as all this is to see play out, I find myself dwelling on a pair of side plots. What are we to make of Funaki (Masaki Miura) and Baku (Kôsuke Toyohara), the cop and editor respectively suspected of working with or for Tozawa? This may seem minor, but to me it speaks to the heart of Tokyo Vice’s political project: showing how a refusal to rock the boat plays right into the hands of the violent and corrupt, inside and outside government. 

Confronted by Katagiri, Funaki admits his guilt in setting up their anti-Tozawa witness for assassination in that traffic jam. However, he insists he never ratted out Katagiri or his family, despite being asked to. Having a killer killed is one thing, but a cop and his totally innocent family? That’s a bridge too far for Funaki, even with Tozawa breathing down his neck. Funaki calls in a false tip to Tozawa, allowing Katagiri and Nagata to nab Yabuki, the boss’s right-hand man. We then learn that he’s confessed his crimes and turned himself in. That seems to resolve that.

Compare it to how the situation with Baku goes down. Emi is distracted this episode by the ongoing strife between her mentally ill brother Keiko and her single-dad boyfriend Shingo, whose adorable son Keiko attempts to abduct. Even as this is going on, she’s spearheading the riskiest investigation of her life, using the three-man team of Jake, Trendy, and Tin Tin as an independent team to track down the truth about Tozawa’s illegal organ transplant back in the States.

But it’s risky for everyone, not just Emi. Tin Tin winds up getting brutally stabbed in an attempt to keep his side of the report under wraps. This, of course, tips Baku off to the existence of the investigation in the first place, forcing Emi to confront her boss with her suspicions. With apparent sincerity, Baku admits to being a flawed man, but not a corrupt one. Considering the way Funaki owned up to his own misdeeds, I believe we’re to take Baku at his word. Which raises the question: If he’s not the inside man at the Meicho, who is? Given that there are very limited number of characters there, I don’t think we’re gonna like the answer.

In the meantime, though, we get all the things that make Tokyo Vice fun. Sato looking sexy with a suit and a cigarette. Samantha looking sexy as a hero rescuing a damsel in distress. Tozawa rude, nude, and tattooed. Abundant ‘90s Tokyo nightlife ambience. And a plot that boils down to one thing: This town ain’t big enough for Tozawa and everyone else. 

Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes about TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will have him, really. He and his family live on Long Island.