It all comes down to this in the Tokyo Vice season 2 finale: can Jake (Ansel Elgort) and Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) bring down Tozawa (Ayumia Tandia)? And will anyone get caught in the wake of their pursuit?
After two seasons on this mission, it's no surprise that Tokyo Vice season 2 episode 10, "Endgame," is stuffed with key plot details and reveals (even more so than usual). So we're not going to waste any more of your time with the prelude, though be sure to catch up with the rest of our Tokyo Vice season 2 recaps if you need any refresher on how we got here.
OK, let's dive right into everything that happens in the season finale of Tokyo Vice.
Putting the pieces in place
Katagiri gets Ngata (Miki Maya) to help with the planned raids of Tozawa's hotel safe and his yacht to look for the FBI agreement. She wonders what Katagiri plans to do if they find the agreement. Confident Tozawa would find a way to kill any story Jake tries to publish, she suggests they let the other yakuza gangs deal with Tozawa in their own way. But Katagiri wants to give Jake the chance to do it properly first.
However, Jake finds out there are roadblocks to his story. He gets in touch with Eimi, who tells him about Tin Tin (Kosuke Tanaka) and the threat against the paper if they publish the story. She tells him to stay safe while she works to find another place to publish the story.
Tozawa also learns about some setbacks. Hagino (Yohei Matsukado) informs him Yabuki has been arrested and they still haven't found Misaki (Ayumi Ito). He wants Shigematsu to get Yabuki out of jail that day and to find Misaki faster than that. He does all this in the waiting room of the Suzaku conference room, where he is then invited to become a board member, giving him more power.
Jake regrets what his pursuit of Tozawa has done to others, but Sato (Sho Kasamatsu) tells him he just did his job. Like him, when they do their job properly there are consequences. Sato has his own regrets, as he is confident Tozawa will soon find them. Jake then comes up with a way out. He calls Katagiri and fills him in on the situation. Katagiri tells Jake it's time for a new plan. But Katagiri is part of Tozawa's plan too, as one of the gangster's men is tailing him.
Meanwhile, Eimi attempts to fulfill her promise to Jake, taking his story to Shingo (Soji Arai) to print in his magazine. But when he learns Tozawa is threatening reporters, he can't take the risk.
When Katagiri arrives at the Chihara-kai safehouse, he gets Misaki to sign a search warrant of the yacht, since Tozawa put it in her name to avoid legal issues (oh the irony). Then he talks with Sato. With Jake's story now shelved, Katagiri tells Sato if they get the proof that Tozawa is an FBI informant, he'll give it to him to use however he sees fit.
With that settled, Katagiri and Jake head off for the raid. Meanwhile, Sato leaves to prepare, so Sam and Misaki are left with just a few guards.
The raids
Ngata bursts into Tozawa's hotel with a warrant to search his safe. Tozawa is not intimidated, even opening the safe for her, where she finds nothing. However, he realizes the police are also going after his yacht.
Almost simultaneously, Katagiri, Jake and other officers raid the boat. However, one of the crew members spots them as they approach and is able to grab the files before they can and runs. Katagiri and his men chase after him, while Jake stays behind and finds the room where Polina was murdered, taking a moment to reflect.
The crew member calls Tozawa and tells him the papers are safe. It's a trick though, as Katagiri caught and forced him to make that call to give Tozawa a false sense of security. Jake looks over the documents and finds the FBI agreement. He also finds receipts for donations Tozawa made to Shigematsu, a new story for Jake to pursue.
While Katagiri and the police were making their raids, so were Tozawa's men who tracked down Misaki and Samantha. Fortunately, the ladies narrowly escape.
A different kind of justice
Jake reveals the receipts he found during the raid to Eimi, who is confident these donations weren't reported, which would force Shigematsu to resign. She gets permission from Baku (Kosuke Toyohara) to write the story, further proving he was not the Tozawa stooge she previously thought. However, her other boss, Ozaki (Bokuzo Masana), reveals he is the problem.
He destroyed the Shigematsu tape and now wants to sit on this story so the paper isn't frozen out by the government. This leads Eimi to refuse his offers of promotion and take the story to Shingo, who is happy to print it if Eimi comes and works for his magazine. She agrees (they'll work on their personal relationship later).
After escaping the Chihara-kai hideout, Samanatha takes Misaki to her club. But they're not safe yet. Tozawa calls Misaki, revealing he is holding her mother hostage and demanding Jake. Samantha calls Sato to fill him in on the situation, including that they have set a place to meet Tozawa and hand over Jake, so whatever Sato has planned he needs to get a move on.
Thankfully, Sato is doing just that. He meets with the other yakuza heads and reveals Tozawa is an FBI informant, insisting that they deal with him together. Before they can, though, Ichikawa (Shoken Kunimoto) says they need one other person to help.
Jake catches back up with Katagiri, curious when the police are going to arrest Tozawa. Katagiri reveals they aren't. He gave the agreement to Sato to administer "a different kind of justice," adding sometimes the right choice is not the moral one. Jake is disappointed but seems to understand. He then gets a call from Misaki, asking him to meet her at a restaurant.
Tozawa gets to the restaurant before Jake, with Misaki leading him to a private room. It's a trap, as Sato and the other yakuza are all there ready to confront Tozawa. Tozawa tries to play the FBI agreement off, but they all say he violated their code and cost them hundreds of millions. Tozawa is confident his plans will make them even more money, so they must choose if they are going to side with him or Sato? That doesn't work either, so he offers to pay them back, using his wife's money as a guarantee. The problem is, Mrs. Tozawa (Makiko Watanabe) arrives and says she will do no such thing, turning against her husband. She says there is only one acceptable punishment for him, laying a knife down on the table for him to take his own life.
Jake, Katagiri and Samantha wait outside the restaurant when everyone leaves. Mrs. Tozawa comes up to Jake, disappointed it came to this after she previously gave him what he needed to stop Tozawa, revealing she sent him the videotape of Shigematsu and Polina. She warns she will not forget Jake let that slip through his fingers.
Once everyone is clear, Jake and Katagiri go in and find Tozawa's dead body. Jake pulls out his camera, but Katagiri tells him to stop; he says there is a difference between the version of the story he lives and the version he is going to write.
The aftermath
Jake visits Tin Tin at the hospital, who wakes up for the first time. That's the good news. The bad news is Jake is also confronted by Trendy (Takaki Uda), who reveals Jason (Aoi Takeya) is being sent home as punishment for being their source. Jake tries to deny giving Jason up, but ultimately says it was the only way to get the story. Trendy tells Jake to stay away from him.
That's not the only relationship Jake loses. Walking with Misaki, she tells him she wants to have a life away from the yakuza and police — "a boring life" — and that's something Jake would not be able to do, so she ends their relationship.
Things are better for Samantha and Sato. Samantha meets with Mrs. Tozawa and makes a deal for 10 million yen for the mixed-use development plan she and Masa were going to give to Ishida. Sato, meanwhile, officially replaces Ishida as the leader of Chihara-kai. The only hitch for the two is Samantha later visits Sato and tells him she needs to head out of town for a little bit to do some thinking, but promises she'll be in touch.
The season concludes with Jake and a newly retired Katagiri sharing a drink. Jake doesn't think Katagiri can do nothing for too long, teasing he'll be back on the beat in two weeks. Katagiri believes it's Jake who can't stop, challenging Jake to try a meditation exercise, confident he can't get to 10 without his thoughts intruding. Jake tries but very quickly breaks, claiming he has to go to the bathroom. He asks if Katagiri can do any better? The police detective gives it a try, closing his eyes. But he only takes a few breaths before he opens his eyes too. He smiles and laughs.
All episodes of Tokyo Vice are now streaming on Max.
