Tokyo Vice Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail)

Tokyo Vice Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail)

Throughout the finale, Adelstein is seen trying to contact Watanabe’s Katagiri over the course of a month after betraying his trust over the drug shipment tip, but the detective ignores every call. For all his good intentions, Adelstein can’t get beyond his desire to succeed and ends up learning one of the most important lessons of his young career; don’t burn your contacts. Adelstein blames Sato over the supposed tip-gone-wrong, but fails to face the fact that it was his own arrogance and impatience that ruined his contacts with the police (not to mention that Miyamoto set him up). After being beaten and threatened by Tozawa’s men and then getting the tape of Polina’s murder, Adelstein comes to the realization that he needs to put away his pride and make another attempt to win Katagiri’s trust again. Katagiri, now faced with his own struggles after Tozawa threatened the lives of his family and warned him to stay away, is now at a place where he will need help to rebuild his case. With the stakes now much higher, his family in jeopardy and in desperate need of allies, it appears that Adelstein and Katagiri will mend their fences, as they ultimately need each other’s help, not only to make a case against Tozawa, but to find redemption for their failures.
Did Tozawa Have Detective Miyamoto Killed And His Threat To Katagiri

Once Katagiri discovers that Miyamoto is Tozawa’s inside man, the two collaborate to set Tozawa up, but it all goes wrong when their ruse is revealed to have been discovered by Tozawa, who instead sets up Katagiri in order to finally meet with him at the warehouse where the meth shipment was supposed to take place. When Katagiri is unable to contact Miyamoto, as planned, he goes inside only to find Tozawa waiting for him. Tozawa threatens Katagiri’s family and says that Miyamoto is “somewhere his conscience will no longer be an issue to him” or a “liability” to Tozawa. The Yakuza boss says that he doesn’t want to make two detectives disappear in one night, which suggests that Miyamoto is, in fact, dead, but it could also mean that he’s simply being held up somewhere or has been threatened enough that he’d disappear on his own and never return. It’s unlikely that Tozawa and Miyamoto are working together at this point, as a means to trick Katagiri, as there’s simply no way that Miyamoto could return to the force after this. Either way, a cop is now missing or dead, which complicates everything for Katagiri even more.
What Happened To Polina And What Is Yoshino?

Polina is Samantha’s best friend and a supporting player in Tokyo Vice, a fellow expat living in Tokyo and working at the same club. She is also good friends with another club owner, Akira, who acts as a boyfriend, but uses her in all other ways. It becomes apparent that he has little care for her, especially when Samantha comes looking for her after she disappears, eventually finding out that Polina had run up a massive tab at Akira’s club and couldn’t pay it off. This led to her disappearance, which was instigated by Tozawa’s men, who have a stake in the club. Polina, it turns out, was taken to a “sex cruise” ship called Yoshino, where she is meant to work off her debt in trade by “servicing” wealthy Japanese businessmen aboard the cruise. Adelstein discovers this later in the episode when a mysterious tape is left for him at his home. The tape shows Polina being accidentally killed in a cruise ship bedroom by a member of the clan when she fought back against a rough client. Ultimately, what this scene reveals is the human trafficking aspect of Tozawa’s dealings, which is a sad reality and also a means to rebuild a criminal case against him now that Adelstein and Katagiri have the tape. Who supplied the tape to Adelstein (and why) remains a mystery, but for the time being, it appears Polina’s death is substituting for the real life death of Lucie Blackman from the Tokyo Vice book, though the circumstances of their deaths are markedly different.
Samantha Loses Everything – What Her Partnership With The Yakuza Means

After the mysterious disappearance of Polina, Samantha attempts to track her down, eventually enlisting Adelstein to help her. In the midst of this investigation, Samantha is tricked by Polina’s boyfriend, Akira, who scams her of all her savings to buy her club when he tells her Polina was kidnapped and could only be saved with a ransom. Left with no money and a nearly-finished club, Samantha takes drastic measures and goes to The Yakuza, in particular the Chihara-kai. Samantha meets with Ishida, the oyabun of her boyfriend Sato’s clan, making a good enough impression that has her partnering with them to open her club. Sato warns Ishida against it, mostly out of wanting to protect her, but Ishida instead puts him in charge of overseeing her club. Sato warns Samantha about what she’s done, to which she replies she is aware of the danger. The danger, of course, is that she’s now in bed with the Yakuza, which like any major crime organization could mean life or death, whether her club fails or succeeds. Ultimately, Samantha chose the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” path, which grants her the benefits of their protection, but only so long as she is supplying them with money. Sato knows all too well how his organization will take advantage of her, as Ishida already told him they would if it’s a success, and is heartbroken that he will have to enforce their will upon her, which is likely he felt it best to end their romance, as their relationship was put to the test several times throughout the season, particularly by his fellow Yakuza.
Sato Deals With The Loss Of His Mentor, Samantha, And Possibly His Life

Sato has proven to be one of the most interesting characters on the show, largely due to actor Shô Kasamatsu’s star-making performance, but also due to the complex nature of his Yakuza character. A new recruit to Ishida’s clan, mentored by Masayoshi Haneda’s Kume, who turned out to be a traitor working for Tozawa, Sato has been tested far beyond any of the other character’s in Tokyo Vice season 1, starting with the forced suicide of Kume and his failure to kill him under orders from Ishida. Sato redeems himself when he saves Ishida’s life from assassins sent by Tozawa, putting him in a favorable light, but he still struggles to prove he’s ready for the responsibilities as a leader in the clan, let alone if he has the stomach for it. It doesn’t help that the young man he recruits is a disaster, whom he eventually cuts loose, showing his compassionate side, knowing full well that the recruit would end up worse off if he stayed with the Chihara-kai clan.
Sato’s relationship with Samantha also causes issues, including dealing with the blackmail scheme being run on Samantha by the man hired by her father to track her down for stealing from the Mormon Missionary Fund to stay in Japan. Sato ends up killing the man, who was someone of influence, which is something that could potentially come back to haunt him. His actions also prove to be somewhat futile, as Samantha ends up going behind Sato’s back to get the Yakuza’s backing for her club. It’s Sato’s first big taste of betrayal and heartbreak, which is compounded when he is suddenly stabbed in the street shortly after leaving Samantha, bleeding out and presumed dead. The question now is whether Sato is actually dead and beyond that, who ordered the hit? As Sato made a number of enemies since the start of the season, it could be anyone or it could be random, but either way, it’s unclear if he’ll survive his wounds.
What Happened To Tozawa And Where Did He Fly To?

In Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 7, Tozawa is seen passing out at his birthday party, due to the affliction he’s suffering. Tozawa is shown to be suffering from some type of affliction from the very beginning, with doctors tending to him regularly and warning him not to smoke or drink and to generally take it easy. He tells his mistress, with whom he appears to love, that his days may be numbered, but later gets a mysterious call in which he says is “very good news.” After dealing with Adelstein and Detective Katagiri, Tozawa is last seen at the airport, about to board a private plane. His mistress is brought to him and he tells her that he’s going on a “last minute trip” before telling her that even though she thinks he’ll be dead soon, he’ll actually be around for a very long time. It serves as a threat and a promise, as Tozawa is then seen on the flight, sipping whiskey and smiling to himself.
If Tokyo Vice is following Adelstein’s book, then the obvious answer to what’s happening is that Tozawa is flying to the United States to get a liver transplant, as that’s what essentially went down in real life. Adelstein broke the story of real-life Yakuza boss Tadamasa Goto, who, in exchange for information to the FBI, secured safe passage to the U.S. where he paid UCLA medical doctors to jump the organ donation line and get a new liver. Whether or not this will be exactly how it plays out in Tokyo Vice is yet to be revealed, as the show bills itself as “fictional” but still “loosely based” on Adelstein’s book. It’s likely, however, that this is the course the story will follow and it directly relates back to the opening scene of Tokyo Vice‘s pilot episode, where Adelstein is threatened over publishing a damaging story he has on Tozawa. The answers will be revealed, but only if Tokyo Vice is renewed for a second season, so until then, viewers will have to sit with a cliffhanger ending that leaves everyone but Tozawa in a state of danger.
Tokyo Vice season 1 is streaming all episodes currently on HBO Max.

#Tokyo #Vice #Season #Explained #Detail

Tokyo Vice Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail)

Throughout the finale, Adelstein is seen trying to contact Watanabe’s Katagiri over the course of a month after betraying his trust over the drug shipment tip, but the detective ignores every call. For all his good intentions, Adelstein can’t get beyond his desire to succeed and ends up learning one of the most important lessons of his young career; don’t burn your contacts. Adelstein blames Sato over the supposed tip-gone-wrong, but fails to face the fact that it was his own arrogance and impatience that ruined his contacts with the police (not to mention that Miyamoto set him up). After being beaten and threatened by Tozawa’s men and then getting the tape of Polina’s murder, Adelstein comes to the realization that he needs to put away his pride and make another attempt to win Katagiri’s trust again. Katagiri, now faced with his own struggles after Tozawa threatened the lives of his family and warned him to stay away, is now at a place where he will need help to rebuild his case. With the stakes now much higher, his family in jeopardy and in desperate need of allies, it appears that Adelstein and Katagiri will mend their fences, as they ultimately need each other’s help, not only to make a case against Tozawa, but to find redemption for their failures.
Did Tozawa Have Detective Miyamoto Killed And His Threat To Katagiri

Once Katagiri discovers that Miyamoto is Tozawa’s inside man, the two collaborate to set Tozawa up, but it all goes wrong when their ruse is revealed to have been discovered by Tozawa, who instead sets up Katagiri in order to finally meet with him at the warehouse where the meth shipment was supposed to take place. When Katagiri is unable to contact Miyamoto, as planned, he goes inside only to find Tozawa waiting for him. Tozawa threatens Katagiri’s family and says that Miyamoto is “somewhere his conscience will no longer be an issue to him” or a “liability” to Tozawa. The Yakuza boss says that he doesn’t want to make two detectives disappear in one night, which suggests that Miyamoto is, in fact, dead, but it could also mean that he’s simply being held up somewhere or has been threatened enough that he’d disappear on his own and never return. It’s unlikely that Tozawa and Miyamoto are working together at this point, as a means to trick Katagiri, as there’s simply no way that Miyamoto could return to the force after this. Either way, a cop is now missing or dead, which complicates everything for Katagiri even more.
What Happened To Polina And What Is Yoshino?

Polina is Samantha’s best friend and a supporting player in Tokyo Vice, a fellow expat living in Tokyo and working at the same club. She is also good friends with another club owner, Akira, who acts as a boyfriend, but uses her in all other ways. It becomes apparent that he has little care for her, especially when Samantha comes looking for her after she disappears, eventually finding out that Polina had run up a massive tab at Akira’s club and couldn’t pay it off. This led to her disappearance, which was instigated by Tozawa’s men, who have a stake in the club. Polina, it turns out, was taken to a “sex cruise” ship called Yoshino, where she is meant to work off her debt in trade by “servicing” wealthy Japanese businessmen aboard the cruise. Adelstein discovers this later in the episode when a mysterious tape is left for him at his home. The tape shows Polina being accidentally killed in a cruise ship bedroom by a member of the clan when she fought back against a rough client. Ultimately, what this scene reveals is the human trafficking aspect of Tozawa’s dealings, which is a sad reality and also a means to rebuild a criminal case against him now that Adelstein and Katagiri have the tape. Who supplied the tape to Adelstein (and why) remains a mystery, but for the time being, it appears Polina’s death is substituting for the real life death of Lucie Blackman from the Tokyo Vice book, though the circumstances of their deaths are markedly different.
Samantha Loses Everything – What Her Partnership With The Yakuza Means

After the mysterious disappearance of Polina, Samantha attempts to track her down, eventually enlisting Adelstein to help her. In the midst of this investigation, Samantha is tricked by Polina’s boyfriend, Akira, who scams her of all her savings to buy her club when he tells her Polina was kidnapped and could only be saved with a ransom. Left with no money and a nearly-finished club, Samantha takes drastic measures and goes to The Yakuza, in particular the Chihara-kai. Samantha meets with Ishida, the oyabun of her boyfriend Sato’s clan, making a good enough impression that has her partnering with them to open her club. Sato warns Ishida against it, mostly out of wanting to protect her, but Ishida instead puts him in charge of overseeing her club. Sato warns Samantha about what she’s done, to which she replies she is aware of the danger. The danger, of course, is that she’s now in bed with the Yakuza, which like any major crime organization could mean life or death, whether her club fails or succeeds. Ultimately, Samantha chose the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” path, which grants her the benefits of their protection, but only so long as she is supplying them with money. Sato knows all too well how his organization will take advantage of her, as Ishida already told him they would if it’s a success, and is heartbroken that he will have to enforce their will upon her, which is likely he felt it best to end their romance, as their relationship was put to the test several times throughout the season, particularly by his fellow Yakuza.
Sato Deals With The Loss Of His Mentor, Samantha, And Possibly His Life

Sato has proven to be one of the most interesting characters on the show, largely due to actor Shô Kasamatsu’s star-making performance, but also due to the complex nature of his Yakuza character. A new recruit to Ishida’s clan, mentored by Masayoshi Haneda’s Kume, who turned out to be a traitor working for Tozawa, Sato has been tested far beyond any of the other character’s in Tokyo Vice season 1, starting with the forced suicide of Kume and his failure to kill him under orders from Ishida. Sato redeems himself when he saves Ishida’s life from assassins sent by Tozawa, putting him in a favorable light, but he still struggles to prove he’s ready for the responsibilities as a leader in the clan, let alone if he has the stomach for it. It doesn’t help that the young man he recruits is a disaster, whom he eventually cuts loose, showing his compassionate side, knowing full well that the recruit would end up worse off if he stayed with the Chihara-kai clan.
Sato’s relationship with Samantha also causes issues, including dealing with the blackmail scheme being run on Samantha by the man hired by her father to track her down for stealing from the Mormon Missionary Fund to stay in Japan. Sato ends up killing the man, who was someone of influence, which is something that could potentially come back to haunt him. His actions also prove to be somewhat futile, as Samantha ends up going behind Sato’s back to get the Yakuza’s backing for her club. It’s Sato’s first big taste of betrayal and heartbreak, which is compounded when he is suddenly stabbed in the street shortly after leaving Samantha, bleeding out and presumed dead. The question now is whether Sato is actually dead and beyond that, who ordered the hit? As Sato made a number of enemies since the start of the season, it could be anyone or it could be random, but either way, it’s unclear if he’ll survive his wounds.
What Happened To Tozawa And Where Did He Fly To?

In Tokyo Vice season 1, episode 7, Tozawa is seen passing out at his birthday party, due to the affliction he’s suffering. Tozawa is shown to be suffering from some type of affliction from the very beginning, with doctors tending to him regularly and warning him not to smoke or drink and to generally take it easy. He tells his mistress, with whom he appears to love, that his days may be numbered, but later gets a mysterious call in which he says is “very good news.” After dealing with Adelstein and Detective Katagiri, Tozawa is last seen at the airport, about to board a private plane. His mistress is brought to him and he tells her that he’s going on a “last minute trip” before telling her that even though she thinks he’ll be dead soon, he’ll actually be around for a very long time. It serves as a threat and a promise, as Tozawa is then seen on the flight, sipping whiskey and smiling to himself.
If Tokyo Vice is following Adelstein’s book, then the obvious answer to what’s happening is that Tozawa is flying to the United States to get a liver transplant, as that’s what essentially went down in real life. Adelstein broke the story of real-life Yakuza boss Tadamasa Goto, who, in exchange for information to the FBI, secured safe passage to the U.S. where he paid UCLA medical doctors to jump the organ donation line and get a new liver. Whether or not this will be exactly how it plays out in Tokyo Vice is yet to be revealed, as the show bills itself as “fictional” but still “loosely based” on Adelstein’s book. It’s likely, however, that this is the course the story will follow and it directly relates back to the opening scene of Tokyo Vice‘s pilot episode, where Adelstein is threatened over publishing a damaging story he has on Tozawa. The answers will be revealed, but only if Tokyo Vice is renewed for a second season, so until then, viewers will have to sit with a cliffhanger ending that leaves everyone but Tozawa in a state of danger.
Tokyo Vice season 1 is streaming all episodes currently on HBO Max.

#Tokyo #Vice #Season #Explained #Detail