Tokyo Vice provides a fascinating insight into the Japanese yakuza through the lens of journalist Jake Adelstein, who chronicles the police beat in 1999. While Jake starts off with minor murder cases and loan scams, the focal point of the show soon becomes finding Samantha’s missing friend, Polina.
So, how does it all go down in the finale?
In the Tokyo Vice S1 finale, Jake receives a tape depicting Polina’s murder and he immediately implores Katagiri to help him once again. During the course of these events, both Miyamota and Sato are attacked and left to die.
As much as I pride myself on that succinct summary, there are a lot of bases to cover in the Tokyo Vice finale. So, without further ado, here’s everything you need to know:
1. Is Miyamota dead?
I love the bad-boy vibes from Miyamota as much as the next person. But what I liked even better was how Katagiri busted him, proving who was the more seasoned cop among the two.
The finale then tries to patch up their relationship by having Katagiri give Miyamota a second chance to prove his alliance. He has to do this by double-crossing Tozawa and getting actual information that will help the police raid the incoming shipment.
Miyamota goes off to win over Tozawa. While the encounter goes smoothly, it’s nothing but a red herring for the fact that Tozawa was aware of Miyamota’s double-crossing and had him killed off-screen. So no, we won’t be seeing any more of him in S2.
Tozawa is planning on a getaway, but he has a list of people he needs to induce fear into before he leaves. This includes roughing up Jake, blackmailing Katagiri about the safety of his family, and even tormenting poor Misaki.
2. Samantha’s Club Is Now in Yakuza’s Hands
Samantha may have gotten rid of Matsuo and her Mormon father’s threats in the earlier episodes (thanks to Sato), but it seems like her dreams of having her own club will forever be out of her reach.
Polina’s boyfriend, Akira, cons Samantha into giving him all of her savings saying that he needs the money to pay off Polina’s kidnappers. With no money left to buy her club now and the clock on the deal ticking, she has to resort to getting a loan.
Ishida is impressed by Samantha’s plans for the club, but more so because it can become a more lucrative front for him if he plays his cards right. So, he loans her the money to get the club deal done and dusted. Sadly, it means that Samantha just went from being under one bad guy’s thumb to another.
3. Why was Sato stabbed?
Sato (followed by Maruyama) is one of my favorite Tokyo Vice characters, who arguably has had the most character development as well. In the final episode, his tale starts with how he deals with the newly recruited Koji who has already incurred Ishida’s scorn.
Sato’s own ambitions have grown weary, and so he is conflicted when he finds that Koji has tried to cut off his finger as a form of self-punishment. Thankfully, it can all be medically salvaged. Sato lets Koji out of the yakuza, giving him a “second chance” that he himself craves for but will never receive.
After reluctantly being a mediator between Ishida and Samantha for the club’s loan, he tries to rekindle his relationship with her, but that doesn’t go too well.
As if Sato’s arc wasn’t gloomy enough for the finale, he is then stabbed by his own clan member and left to bleed. We don’t know why the person did this, or who ordered him to do so. While I don’t think he’ll die, it’s definitely not a good day to be Sato.
4. Jake Finds Polina’s Evidence
Earlier in the episode, Jake and Samantha team up to keep looking for Polina, going to their newest source, Haruki, a yakuza fan-magazine writer. They believe his ties with the yakuza will give them some clues about Polina.
They’re definitely right about that—Haruki has vital information; they just have to smoke meth with him to get the scoop.
Turns out, Tozawa lets women pay off their debts by performing sex work aboard his boat Yoshino. This is where Polina could be trapped. Along these lines, Jake even asks Maruyama to get her Missing Persons contact to check on Polina’s case.
While Samantha goes on to deal with her club problems, Tozawa’s men pay Jake an unwelcomed surprise visit, trashing him and destroying all his work. This shakes him up and makes him question his whole purpose in Japan. During a heart-to-heart with his father, Jake even considers leaving and going back home.
As he’s still trying to make the decision, he decides to go to his office but finds a package outside his apartment. It turns out to be video footage of Polina’s death. Cancel all plans of absconding Japan now!
He speeds to Katagiri’s house and begs him to team up again. There’s also what may seem like an oddball comment on how the rest of Katagiri’s family is not home, but it’s common sense that he’s sent them packing to safety after Tozawa’s threats.
Throughout the season, the internal conflicts of the yakuza world have constantly beaten Jake and Katagiri at their game. So although it’s a big risk for both of them, the new evidence (and the possibility of an ally) lights up a new flame for them—the sparks of which we will see in the confirmed S2.
5. About Tokyo Vice
Tokyo Vice is an HBO crime drama series created by J.T. Rogers based on Jake Alderstein’s 2009 book of the same name.
It follows a fictionalized Alderstein, who becomes the first Western-born journalist to work at a renowned Japanese newspaper. Here, he teams up with a veteran detective to uncover the crimes of the yakuza.
The cast includes Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller, Show Kasamatsu, among others.
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