Today is the season finale of the Max Original crime drama series, Tokyo Vice. This series is loosely inspired by the American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand story of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. This season of Tokyo Vice consists of 8 episodes. It includes a cast of Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, Hideaki Ito, Show Kasamatsu, and Tomohisa Yamashita.

Tokyo Vice is written and created by Tony Award-winning playwright J.T. Rogers. It does a great job at pacing. One that at times could frustrate a viewer but with a purpose. This is because what we know of journalism based on media or experience is not how it went down in Japan in the late 90s. We closely follow Jake’s journey as he learns the ropes of what it takes to be a reporter. While we do that we also get to know many of the other players in the area whether they are reporters, gangsters, or the authorities. Investing audiences into each of these characters and causing us to care when dangerous situations start to develop.

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To talk with us about Tokyo Vice, LRM Online‘s Emmanuel Gomez spoke with Emmy winner Alan Poul. He serves on the series as executive producer. As well as the director for the season finale. We didn’t want to spoil the series for readers that haven’t seen it yet so we kept away from spoilers. But we talked about the progression of characters and how that pays off in the finale. He also shares with us the value of having Jake Adelstein on board as an executive producer to add more authenticity to the performance. It was a great conversation that you can check out down below!

Here is the synopsis for HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice

Loosely inspired by American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat, the crime drama series, filmed on location in Tokyo, captures Adelstein’s (played by Ansel Elgort) daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo in the late ‘90s, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem.

Tokyo Vice‘s full season can be seen now on HBO Max.