Recap Korean Drama "Big Bet Season 1" Episode 5

Jan 8, 2023

Episode 5 of Big Bet starts with Moo-sik arriving at Bolton Casino, marveling at the size of it. He speaks to Mr Jeon and admits that he’s gong to put a bid into this place. He’s going to make it happen, despite the concerns. He tasks Jeon with heading off to speak to his superiors, while offering up 100 million pesos as a deposit.

After dropping off the bags, he leaves for a nearby restaurant, awaiting their reply. While the intiial response is still no, Moo-sik is determined to follow this through and get what he wants.

Jung-pal manages to blag his way into arriving as Casabee Hotel, claiming to be ill because of the rain outside. So-jung helps him out and manages to get him a room. But as soon as they enter together, Jung-pal begins kissing her and the pair have an eventful morning in bed.

When Jung-pal returns, he finds Moo-sik on the sofa. Jung-pal wants his new love interest to come work at their hotel but Moo-sik refuses. Eventually he ends up meeting Professor Na and Suk-woo, who talk shop and discuss the Philippines. Moo-sik starts buttering them up, but it’s all part of the plan. Moo-sik sinks his claws into Suk-woo, a wealthy financier and figures out his net-worth. From there, he figures out the guy’s likes and hobbies.

Heading out and playing golf together, Moo-sik cleverly convinces Suk-woo to come and gamble at the casino. While his wife and daughter are off shopping together, Suk-woo begins to play. Moo-sik’s plan works a charm, and the guy wins 10 million pesos before the pair eventually leave together. There, Moo-sik upgrades the man’s flights to Business Class rather than economy, which only further solidifies their bond together.

While this is going on, news spreads of 2 Korean found dead, murdered by Filipino gang members. With an investigation underway, the fact this occurred in broad daylight causes a big headache for the authorities. It’s affecting tourism and they need a solution.

Back with Moo-sik and Suk-woo though, and the latter is well and truly in the zone. He asks his new friend to borrow 100 million pesos, wanting to gamble. Eventually Moo-sik agrees but all of this is a clever ploy from our protagonist to have him squander his money. And it’s working a treat.

In the midst of this, Jung-pal rings his beloved, So-jung. He’s outside her apartment and has seen everything. Now, earlier in the episode Philip and So-jung joined high-roller Ms Ko for dinner and eventually went back to the latter’s apartment, where they had sex. Jung-pal throws his flowers away, feeling betrayed, and walks off down the street.

The Episode Review

Big Bet returns this week with another intriguing dose of drama. However, there’s still not much in the way of plot or character development here. Sure, we see Moo-sik buttering up Suk-woo and the situation with Jung-pal but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot else going on. The show is still interesting but it’s also crying out for an extra dose of drama that’s missing here.

Having said that though, it’s good to see more of the supporting characters, which is something the earlier episodes lacked. Poor Jung-pal though, he’s been betrayed by So-jung and that’s not likely to go over well in the episodes ahead!

Big Bet certainly looks like it’s going to step it up a gear though and next week’s episode should be a good one.