IR TV Review: TOKYO VICE - EPISODES 4 & 5 [HBO Max]
The essence of "Tokyo Vice" is about choice and what people will do in the essence of both their life completion or their life contention. With Episodes 4 & 5 (after the first 3, the episodes come out in pairs on the same day each week). These two episodes are meant to show the temptation in a way and consequence of what the characters are going through. Jake (played by Ansel Elgort) is still a lamb in a way to the slaughter who believes he can exist a bit like a wolf, especially around 1 or 2 characters but he might be deluding himself in the fact of what is happening and his ability to handle it. Elgort plays Jake with the best intentions. This is a grand adventure for the character (and likely for Elgort in Tokyo) but he is also running from something. The two other characters he is dancing with in Samantha (Rachel Keller) and Akiro (Shô Kasamatsu) are going through their own existential elements as well. We see more of Sam's backstory which definitely paints it a little better especially with her decisions and how her approach to the life intertwines. The same with Hiro in a way.
An aspect of music (which interestingly enough makes one think of a similar coda in a way in "Ambulance" which just came out in theaters) connects certain characters in an early scene because of context. Michael Mann knows how to use music ("Miami Vice" did it groundbreakingly) and, in a different approach in this series, this bridges cultures (although it is unsure how involved Mann is in the macro elements of this series). These two episodes are directed by Hikari (a woman) and one is trying to affect and discern the different choices she makes as a director (there are some love scenes here which we haven't quite seen in the film before but it is interesting in their context). There is also a brutality that counter balances it that hasn't been seen as much in earlier episodes.
The higher forms of power in the leaders of certain arenas come more to play here with Jake seemingly not a pawn but a form of currency in a way to not affect the game but simply move it around a little. Of course it will come to a head as the first scene of the entire series demonstrates but it is sometimes the subtlety of the language. One scene that shifts in language with Elgort and Watanabe is quite intrinsic or even with Elmi (Rinko Kikuchi of "Babel" fame) which uses different languages within Asia to interesting effect...the movement of language is definitely quite telling. The intent of the eventual throttle point is still happening but the characters don't sit around but certain moves are less or more impulsive than others. B+
By Tim Wassberg
