Recap Korean Drama "Big Bet Season 1" Episode 2

Picking up from 2001 in Daejeon again, Il-ho wins big at Chi-young and Moo-sik’s casino bar. He speaks highly of the place’s professionalism on all fronts. As he’s leaving after getting his prize, the National Tax Service team busts in and asks for the owner. Sang-chul tries his best to flee with the ledger keeping tabs of all the money going in and out, but is eventually caught by Il-ho, who was undercover all along.

Moo-sik gets a call from Jjang-dol while Sang-chul is taken in for questioning. He relays all that had transpired at the casino earlier, which alerts him about Chi-young’s money situation. Asking him about how much money he has with him at the moment, Moo-sik’s tension rises up as most of it is still in the bank and would be blocked by the officials.

A still from the episode.

Handing Chi-young a burner phone to contact no one else but him, he tells him to leave for Seoul. Meanwhile at the tax office, the team leader asks Sang-chul about all the co-owners of the casino bar. Chi-young doesn’t heed to Moo-sik’s advice and meets up with his wife regarding a property matter. Thereafter, he heads out for negotiations with the officials and is followed by the tax officers and is brought in as well.

Also read: When is The Fabulous Releasing? All About Choi Min-ho and Chae Soo-bin’s Upcoming Netflix Drama

Once there, the leader asks him about Moo-sik’s role in the establishment of the casino, at the same time he receives a call from him and the team leader, Min-jung, intervenes by taking away Chi-young’s phone. She asks Moo-sik about his whereabouts and why he hasn’t paid his taxes, but he keeps mum on the other end of the call and hangs up eventually.

Reaching out to Jong-hyun, who works with the police, Moo-sik asks for his contacts with the tax office. He asks for his help with Chi-young and informs him that he’ll be leaving South Korea soon to avert the present situation.

Taking us back to Daejeon of 1982 when Moo-sik was a mere teen boy in high school, the story further digs into his past by shedding light on his ‘big shot’ image back then as well. He gets into an argument with his upperclassmen, which ends with him having the upper hand.

A still from the episode.

Back at the restaurant, the old lady who hired Moo-sik’s mother comes to visit her, and it seems like his mother has now taken over as the new owner. Sung-il, the upperclassmen who got beat up, and his uncle reach out to Moo-sik’s mother about his behaviour. She scolds Moo-sik about turning into his father and asks him to apologise, but the situation goes south within seconds as the impetuous uncle picks on a fight with Moo-sik, only to be pushed off by Moo-sik’s father, who scares off the man instantly.

Sung-il and Moo-sik meet up later and mend their bond after the scuffle, realising they’re actually on the same page with their families. Jumping ahead to Manila in 2001, grown-up Sung-il and Moo-sik meet again, and reminisce over their past embarrassments. Later, the former reveals that he’s working as a sales agent for a casino in Manila, and they decide to hit the casino scene together.

While the tax officials go through Moo-sik’s history and try to join the dots of his contacts to near in on him, he heads to Sung-il’s casino at the hotel. He’s completely taken over by the visions of the place. Sung-il takes him in to the VIP arena where he meets Sung-il’s friend, Min Seok-jun, who also appears to be a fellow sales agent.

A still from the episode.

Min-jung approaches Moo-sik’s wife, who is unaware of the gambling business as well as Chi-young. Moo-sik, on the other hand, keeps playing at the casino and soon heads out to look for a new residence in Manila. His friend, Dong-eok helps him find a place, but as he seems to be struggling in fulfilling his son’s dream of moving abroad, Moo-sik hands out the bag of money to him.

Moo-sik keeps going in and winning big at the casino. However, with time, his winning streak gets overshadowed by a series of huge losses. He asks Seok-jun to loan out some money to him, who reminds him of his previous debts. This is where Jung-pal enters the scene, as Seok-jun asks him to hand out a million pesos to Moo-sik.

Seok-jun gets caught up with yet another opportunist walking in to ask for a loan. As he tries to turn him away in the politest manner possible, Moo-sik comes to his aid and rescues him from the scene, leaving Seok-jun filled with gratitude for his doing. Later, Sung-il offers Moo-sik an opportunity to partner up with him in his business, but he has his hands tied up with the whole gambling situation.

A still from the episode.

Addicted to the game, Moo-sik sees through his twisted actions after having lost 18 billion won in the mere time frame of three months. Through the act of getting his loans, he meets Lee Sang-gu, the man with many gangster acquaintances. He gives him the money he needs. On the other hand, things seemed to have taken off for Dong-eok, but he too is entangled in the mess with Sang-gu and want to make the most of everything in his way.

Min-jung tries her luck by calling Moo-sik and reminding him of his family left behind in Korea. She warns him about all the strict measures that will taken up against him if he doesn’t pay off his taxes soon. Reaching out to his wife, he insists on the idea of her and their son moving to the Philippines as well, but he still doesn’t open up about his actual predicament, and goes on to ponder over slipping further into the depths of this debt due to his addiction.

Big Bet Episode 2 Ending

In Korea, Chi-young’s trial ends and sentences him to five years in prison along with a fine of 500 million won and other punishments. Min-jung once again tries her hand at getting information through Chi-young about how he and Moo-sik run things together. Another flashback tunes in as Chi-young starts spilling the beans and reveals the nature of the casino bar and how Moo-sik barred gangsters from entering the place initially and reserved it for fancy ‘nerds’.

A still from the episode.

Dealers stayed in the upstairs apartment and they made them work 12-hour shifts a day, which led them to earn 10 billion won in six months. Yet, eventually, Moo-sik gained the trust of some gangsters too and built his image as the man who would never cheat his friends. Chi-young also divulges that he made around 15-20 billion won from it all.

In Manila, Moo-sik can’t stop splurging the money away, which eventually leaves him with no choice but to renounce his apartment in Daejeon, the last property in his possession as well. At the same time, his father’s health plummets and his wife urges him to come meet him. Jong-hyun gives him a call and notifies him that he’s not going to be prosecuted, and since his worries are only tax-related, he can just call the National Tax Service and resolve them.

As Moo-sik’s hope of returning to Korea safely is reignited, he gives it a second thought, but is interrupted by Sang-gu in the middle of the night. Moo-sik gathers it beforehand that he must’ve been concerned about him retreating and not paying off his debt, and so begins the face off against the two.

A still from the episode.

Big Bet Episode 2 Review

Sucking us into the story, the second episode covers more ground than the first one, but still fell short in some portrayals. Numerous familiar faces from the kdrama world join the show but what felt the most off-putting was the depiction of the main lead, Moo-sik himself.

His aura and image is built up as the intimidating ‘big shot’ persona, but those words don’t get translated well into action and presentation. Everyone seems to fear him but the reason for the same hasn’t been spelled out yet for us to accept the same and view him with a similar sense of fear and trepidation.

Hopefully, this issue gets resolved as we head into more episodes along the way, but as of now, the build-up has been quite underwhelming for me personally.