Vigilante (2023) Episode 6

Heon forcefully advises Ji-yong to bury the Vigilante identity there and then, and join the police work like a diligent follower so that they can work together. However, Ji-yong believes that the Vole commanded him to follow through with this plan, and also feels that he knows all about Kim Sam-doo and the Vole’s plans concocted together. Compelling Heon to show his absolute sense of justice by exposing them and treating them like criminals, he gives his word that he’ll join him only if he acts on his words.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Jo Heon and the Vole
Jo Heon is Dropped from the Vigilante Investigation

Back at the office, the Vole is about to be transferred and he asks Heon to step down as another case reassignment will follow soon while they put the Vigilante case aside from their table. Heading back to his dishevelled lair, where Heon has been holding Ms Choi’s amateur attacker, aka Mr Bang’s lackey, hostage, he asks the man if the Vole is also involved in these messy schemes.

Ji-yong is admitted to the hospital while Kang-ok looks out for him and gives his word to an unconscious Ji-yong that he’ll kill Heon for what he did to him.

A new REP025h report announces that Choi Mi-ryeo delivered a fake account on air without proof-checking late actor Jae-hak’s connection to Sewool’s illegal website operation. Her resignation is also intimated to the audience through the same broadcast. Ji-yong assigns a new task to Kang-ok to help Choi Mi-ryeo keep reporting on the issue.

Despite them joining forces due to Ji-yong pulling the threads behind the scenes, Ms Choi remains wary of Kang-ok’s connections with Kim Sam-doo. Later, when she goes on air as an independent reporter for V News, she confirms that she’ll continue covering the Vigilante case and that she’ll never attempt suicide, so if she goes missing in action, it’s probably because she’s been murdered.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Lee Joon-hyuk and Nam Joo-hyuk

On getting discharged, Ji-yong recovers the ledger stating Sam-doo’s business, and traces his connection to the Miteum Church, and the money transfer between him and the church help him narrow down his next target. At the church, he finds the laptop keeping record of all these ins and outs of the money exchanges, but he spots Kang-ok tailing him as the Vigilante.

He chases him down and they again get to talking about working together and this time Ji-yong gives in. He hands over the USB drive with all proof of this money laundering case to Kang-ok for him to pass it on to Choi Mi-ryeo for it to be revealed later.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Lee Joon-hyuk and Nam Joo-hyuk Alliance
Ji-yong also connects this money to be filling up the pockets of powerful politicians, but doesn’t have any evidence to prove this claim yet. He still intends to get Kim Sam-doo eventually.

A New Regional Leader is Appointed

Nam Yeon-gil, a new leader on the Vigilante case is appointed. He visits Professor Lee Jun-yeop at the police academy, where later, Ji-yong is put off the app-making process by his professor. It’s not made clear if his professor suspects him of anything or not, but an uneasy tension can be sensed in the way he gazes at Ji-yong after he leaves. The Vole, also the university president, addresses the students at the academy, while they question his presence there considering he was still under suspicion for his connection with Sewool.

As promised, Ji-yong comes back as the Vigilante to get the Pastor at the church as he’s being handed the new phones with crypto wallets on them by his men. After the Pastor’s murder is plastered all over the news, the Vole and Sam-doo get to talking and already sense that they’ll be the next targets. Kim Sam-doo orders the Vole to stay out of the mess for five days and gives his word that he will kill Choi Mi-ryeo, Jo Heon and the Vigilante on his own.

Vigilante Episode 6 Ending
After Kang-ok hands over the intel passed on by Ji-yong to Mi-ryeo, she suspects him of knowing the Vigilante. Then, she gets to reporting the issue at hand and addresses the three major suspicions surrounding Sewool – online gambling overseas, drugs and the murder of a reporter.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Kim So-jin
Jo Heon catches on and realises that this news will get her in trouble with Mr Bang yet again, so he drops by during the broadcast and stops her from reporting further. He inquires her about the source of the intel she was sharing and warns her about the Vigilante being around her. Heon is sure of it that the Vigilante provided her with the drive, and Mi-ryeo’s reports were only glorifying his actions.

Mr Bang catches on to Jo Heon later in the parking lot and he and his right-hand man attack him relentlessly, while Heon responds back on an equally ruthless note, but not without severely getting injured in the process. Finally, as one would’ve hoped, Ji-yong jumps in to help his wounded senior. However, before they can ensue any action, police sirens heard in the distance push them back and they retreat, leaving Ji-yong alone with Heon.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Kim So-jin and Lee Joon-hyuk
Vigilante Episode 6 Review
Ji-yong and Kang-ok’s back and forth dynamic lights up the mood, while Kang-ok and Ms Choi being brought together by Ji-yong is an intriguing mix. Yet unfortunately, despite this being the penultimate week of the show’s schedule, these characters largely stick to their respective turfs and don’t necessarily engage with each other on the same plane.

Plus at this point, you’ll be forced to address the picture and how most of its characters and their motivations stay in the dark. It’s only Ji-yong whose backstory had been made known to us right off the bat, but as for Heon, Mi-ryeo and Kang-ok, we barely know anything about them. Even if Heon’s character staying a mystery to us feeds into the narrative and does it a favours, Choi Mi-ryeo’s actions and her steadfast conviction to report the Vigilante case merely come off as a single-minded obsession that lead you to question her source of inspiration.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Kim So-jin and Yoo Ji-tae
In that sense, all of these main characters from the webtoon merely come up as exaggerated caricatures and archetypal representations lacking any profound and affecting depth. Considering that all these discussions have been left open for the last two episodes, this calls for an extremely delayed plan of action.

Moreover, it was also a bummer to see how in episodes 5 and 6 Seon-wook’s character was excluded from the major plot even after the previous episodes specifically hinting at something profound brewing in the silent friendship shared between him and Ji-yong. Now that link seems to have been initially set up as a mere ruse to mislead us from the image of Kang-ok being the other Vigilante.

Vigilante Episode 6 Recap - Ending
But even with all that amiss, this episode made for a straightforward fast-paced entertainment blast that again converged the solo paths of Ji-yong and Jo Heon on to the same spot, in addition to bringing all four main characters together in one way or the other – something we can all revel in. 2023 has largely accorded a big platform for the rom-com genre re-emergence in the K-drama spectrum. Therefore, the year’s initial releases have mostly dealt with this predictable outlet of stories.

While in itself, as I’ve mentioned before, Vigilante isn’t essentially something out of the ordinary, but when viewing from top of the K-drama table of releases for this year, it particularly comes up as a spectacular, adrenaline-driven and powerful premiere that willingly puts aside the melodramatic perception of romance and the typical drama genres imbibed in Korean series. Looking at it from that broad viewpoint, it goes both ways. It may float your boat appeasingly, but it may also not be enough for others, especially who’re widely familiar with this genre of content.