Recap Korean Drama "Big Bet Season 1" Episode 3

Jan 6, 2023

With Moo-sik left completely broke, Seok-jun approaches him with the proposal to join him as his business partner. Having worked alone all this time, Seok-jun sees through the way Moo-sik carries himself and believes that they can get along well together.

big bet episode 3 A still from the episode.

Money makes the world go around, and the same applies for Dong-eok as well. His personality changes shades as he speaks lowly of Moo-sik in front of Sang-gu. Moreover, when Moo-sik asks him for some money to go back to Korea, Dong-eok strays away from the topic by claiming that he doesn’t have any money. His lies surface, but barely, and its enough for Moo-sik to get a grip of the situation.

Jong-hyun welcomes Moo-sik back to Korea and advises him to not fight with the officials and rather plead his case with them so that they let him off easy. He gets a message from his wife after his father passes away.

Back in 1983, teen Moo-sik struggles to keep things under control with his father as he gives in to his drug addiction, and continues to make things worse for his mother. His teacher encourages him to study hard and make it to college despite everything.

Also read: The Interest of Love Episode 1 Recap and Review: Chaotic, Desperate Love

big bet episode 3 A still from the episode.

Finally sitting down with the National Tax Service officials, he discusses the amount he needs to pay off – 8 billion won. He asks for a reduction and, Min-jung offers him an 80% reduction but he explains his desperate situation. He gets the hint that they don’t have enough data on him to win a possible lawsuit in the future against him, and let him off eventually.

Moo-sik pays off his debt to Sang-gu and talks business with him. Sang-gu guides him to distance himself from Dong-eok, and opens up about what he said earlier, but Moo-sik isn’t willing to accept it. Yet, he can’t stop thinking about it either and decides to meet his friend. Thanking for his help for having gotten him to Manila, Moo-sik claims that he won’t need any more of his assistance moving forward and things get messy between them as he cuts tie with Dong-eok.

Big Bet Episode 3 Ending

He starts working with Seok-jun and his first test requires him to go back to Korea and collect decade-old debts from his debtors. Out on the mission, he starts leaving behind a bloody trail in his own quirky way. Later, he gets in touch with his mother again.

big bet episode 3 A still from the episode.

Switching back to the past during his teenage, Moo-sik’s supportive teacher quits his position due to his worsening health and his alternative is not as motivating as him. Following his guidance, he enrols at a low-grade college, when he could’ve studied at any college in Korea owing to his soaring test results. Thereafter, he starts picking up misfit jobs along the way.

His fellow classmates instigate a protest against the dictator at the time and Moo-sik ends up being at the “wrong place at the wrong time” and gets pulled into the chaos. Armed forces start attacking the students and he steps in to save a girl, which eventually lands him up in prison. He’s brokenhearted to see his mother visit him in prison as well just like she did for his father.

On the day of his release, the same batch of students greets him with a warm welcome. He ends up becoming a symbol for democracy regardless of what he actually wanted, and is appointed as one of the members of the National Council of Student Representatives.

Big Bet Episod episode 3 A still from the episode.

Big Bet Episode 3 Review

The series is taking it slow in terms of fleshing out its characters, and the process becomes slower, even more so, with the three-fold timeline that is ongoing at the moment – the present, wherein Moo-sik gets arrested for Seok-jun’s murder; the past, wherein he started working alongside Seok-jun; and further down the history, wherein his teenage years are revealed.

The third episode shapes up Moo-sik as the unconventional main character, whose over-the-top aura doesn’t meet the eye, especially since he seems like one among the crowd, which goes in tune with his humble origin story. However, in the process of revealing the various strands of his life, and due to the constant back and forth tumbling of the timeline, we’re not able to connect with any other character on the way forward, at least not yet.

The hard-hitting action sequences that were promised by the trailer haven’t begun yet either, so, we should all give the show some more time to grow and find its fitting, especially since the major characters except Moo-sik haven’t seen the light of the day till now either.