Scams Season 1 Episode 4 Recap

Kanbe meets with some men over dinner. One man points the finger at him and calls him a good-for-nothing scam artist. The boss says that the type of youth the Yakuza need are men who can fight for them and men who can make them money. “We need to take care of people like Kanbe,” the boss says. When asked, Kanbe says he runs three stores as of now. His boss asks him to add six more within half a year. “I’ll consult with my store managers, then,” Kanbe says. The boss gets up from his seat and pushes another man’s face on a plate of food. “Can you add another six or not?” the boss asks. Kanbe has no other choice but to say he can. 

Kanbe tells the plan to Dokugawa. But Dokugawa says they don’t have enough players or managers. Kanbe asks him to take over the new stores. It’s okay with Dokugawa, but he’s worried about their current store. The next day, Dokugawa tells Makoto he will be the new manager. Makoto looks nervous. He says he doesn’t have enough experience yet. “There are no offers here. Only orders. You have no choice,” Dokugawa says. Dokugawa shows them a cd and some lists. He calls it a “virgin register.” It means they contain new data that scammers have never used. “Your profits for the month need to reach at least 120 million yen,” he says.

After work, Seimiya asks Makoto to drink with him. He congratulates him for getting the position as the new manager. Seimiya asks him to exchange numbers. But Makoto says they shouldn’t do it and shouldn’t even be drinking together. Seimiya says that if Kanbe has Dokugawa, then he will be Makoto’s partner. “If something happens, I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” he says. 

Yamada calls Makoto after hearing he is now a manager. He asks Makoto to talk about the payment issue. But Makoto says he has to consult Kanbe or Dokugawa first. “Let me talk to my superiors,” Makoto says. Yamada gets irritated whenever Makoto brings up talking to his superiors. Yamada insists that the problem is between him and Makoto and not other people. Makoto ends the call. He thinks, “I’m a member of the criminal world now. These kinds of exchanges don’t bother me anymore.”

Makoto hands a new script to his team. He tells them he wrote it himself. He says the setting is a son who lost important papers from his job and needs money to cover the loss. He plans to go after weak targets a couple of times and have them pay as much as possible. The five of them get to work, and their new script works on their targets. But instead of asking for the usual two million, they ask for three million. 

A young man meets with the target to get the money that was discussed over the phone. Then he goes to the park and sits on a bench. Another man walks near the bench, looks at the man then leaves. Then, a woman pushing a stroller sits beside the young man, grabs the bag then walks away. The woman puts the bag of money in a locker. Not long after, another man comes and takes the bag. Before he can leave, a group of men attacks him.

“There was an attack yesterday,” Dokugawa says. “The collector was ambushed,” he adds. Dokugawa says it’s someone on the inside who leaked the information. Later that night, Makoto calls Seimiya and asks him to meet at a restaurant. While Makoto is on his way there, a man blocks his way and asks him something. Then a van drives up behind him, and a man gets out of the van and hits him with a bat. Makoto falls to the ground and gets beaten up. They carry him into the van and put a plastic bag over his head. Seimiya sees Makoto being carried into the van, but he can’t do anything but watch. 

Our Thoughts

We think that even if Kanbe wanted to stop, they wouldn’t allow him. He looked so scared when he was talking to his boss. So he had no choice but to just follow. If in the beginning Makoto just joined this scam so he could get money for his father’s operation, now he looks like he’s enjoying it. He likes the idea of being the manager. The smile he gives when someone mentions that he’s the new manager. But the thing is, he wants to earn money for his father. Now that he’s earning, he doesn’t have time to visit or look after his father. He has also become irritable.

When Makoto sees his parents or other old people he knows, we wonder what comes to his mind. Does he get angry with them because of Kanbe’s speech? And we are also wondering if the person who leaked information to outsiders came from Makoto’s team. Because there are only five of them, there is not a lot to choose from. What will happen to Makoto after being kidnapped? We know he’s not going to die. But how did he make enemies quickly when he’s only new to the job?