Episode 2, “Be My Number One,” continues up a few months after the Tokyo Vice season 2 premiere, answering a lot of the questions we had about the first season. All of our key characters are adjusting to their new positions at this point in the story.
Samantha’s (Rachel Keller) club is up and running; Sato (Sho Kasamatsu) is adjusting to a new boss; and Katagiri (Ken Watanabe) has been sent to a less glamorous position in the police department.
Jake (Ansel Elgort) is delving into new, non-yakuza stories at the paper. But old habits die hard, as they say. A motorcycle is taken off the roadway by someone.
When the cops catch them in the act, the thief starts the engine and flees. One of the two stories Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi) presents Jake is about the most recent motorbike theft; the other is about a murder with yakuza connections.
Jake chooses the motorcycle narrative, keeping to Katagiri’s suggestion to focus on non-yakuza stories. Eimi does appear to be a little let down by his choice, though.
Recap
Jake walks into the police station to speak with Katagiri, who is now in charge of the station’s complaint desk. Jake updates him on his latest tale, but their conversation soon turns to Tozawa, who hasn’t been heard from or seen in three months.
Katagiri just knows that Tozawa attempted to enter the US. While Katagiri speculates that Tozawa might be deceased, Jake queries why Katagiri’s family would still reside outside of Tokyo in such a scenario.
Jake consults Samantha, his second main source, after speaking with Katagiri. She directs him to Otsuka, a mechanic when he asks whether she knows anyone who might have information about the motorbike thefts.
Jake finds out from Otsuka that the theft of motorcycles doesn’t involve the bikes themselves, but rather their parts, since individual pieces are more valuable than the bikes themselves.
Jake queries Otsuka about anyone he knows who sells the parts. Club Polina, Samantha’s club, is doing well after two months of operation. Her hostess Claudine, who is highly well-liked by their clientele, is a major factor in that. But Claudine is taking advantage of Samantha.
When Samantha confronts her about it, Claudine is unyielding, telling the Chihara-kai that Samantha is unfit to run the club and that she is taking what she believes to be her rightful portion.
If Samantha attempts to stop her, she will quit and take her clients. Samantha nevertheless chooses to fire her right away.
We learn later that Claudine wasn’t joking around. When Samantha informs Ohno (Takayuki Suzuki), the club’s high-rolling patron, that Claudine is no longer employed there, he decides to depart.
The fact that Claudine is moving out worries the Chihara-kai as well. For the first time since his stabbing, Sato sees Samantha. Even though they still share a strong connection and are delighted to see one another, their professional dealings are more convoluted.
Samantha declines Sato’s demand that she rehire Claudine, pointing out that she can manage the club any way she pleases as long as she pays them their fair share. In addition, she has a scheme to partially offset Claudine’s departure.
