Big Bet – K-Drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

Tax Bomb

Episode 2 of Big Bet starts in 2001 with Moo-Sik’s casino up and running. The place is booming. They’re open 24/7, the food is great and they’re making a good chunk of cash. So naturally, everything goes wrong. Investigators show up from the National Tax Service and immediately demand to see Chi-Young.

As a result of this, Moo-Sik has the whole place cleared out. He’s with Chi-Young and, realizing the jig is up, decides to run. Moo-Sik tasks Chi-Young with hiding out in Seoul while he tries to deal with this himself.

Over at Daejeon’s Regional Tax Office, Sang-Chul is questioned over his involvement in opening the casino. He tries to make a point for himself, claiming he’s just a two-bit player…despite having a 20% share of the business. The thing is, if he doesn’t play ball with the authorities then he’s going to take the blame for everything.

So of course, Chi-Young is found and brought in. He rings Moo-Sik and tips him off, realizing he needs to run. Before he does, Moo-Sik tasks Jong-Hyun with keeping an eye on Chi-Young and helping him out if need be.

We then cut back to Daejeon in 1982. Moo-Sik and his friends are cornered by a couple of classmates in the year above, led by a guy called Sun-Gil. Moo-Sik more than holds his own. Unfortunately, it goes badly when the bully gets his dad involved. He pushes Sukja over that night and confronts Moo-Sik, brandishing a knife in the process. That is, until Kyung-Duk shows up, having seemingly escaped from prison. He encouraged Sun-Gil to stab him but after cutting his own chest, the man turns and rushes away.

Funnily enough, this encounter brings Moo-Sik and Sun-Gil closer together. It’s an important relationship, especially when we jump back to 2001. Moo-Sik heads in to see Sun-Gil, flying over to Manila. It’s certainly a fruitful trip, given he’s shown the casino, which happens to hold a myriad of different machines, and is run by Seok-Jun.

The thing is, the tax office are sniffing around and the officials are dead-set on finding him and bringing him in. Moo-Sik is lying low, hiding out at a motel. He hands over a whole stack of cash for his friend, deciding to help his son out given he has dreams of becoming a big time football player.

Unfortunately, Moo-Sik’s luck begins to turn, as he gambles all of it away, losing more than he’s bringing in. The House always wins of course, and even though he’s borrowed 10 million pesos, Moo-Sik is offered another 1 million by Seok-Jun. In less than 3 months, he loses 18 billion won… including the million that he borrows. Ouch!

Down in the dumps, Moo-Sik’s luck turns even worse when Kang Min-Jung – the woman overseeing his case at the tax office – gives him a ring. She brings up the unpaid taxes and wants him to come back and pay up. She threatens to have him prosecuted and even promises to bring Interpol into this as well. Moo-Sik hangs up in frustration, hurriedly phoning his wife and attempting to move her out to the Philippines. However, his gambling addiction ends up becoming his downfall, as he puts his apartment up as collateral.

With Moo-Sik not playing ball, Chi-Young is thrown in prison. Whilst there, he reveals that Moo-Sik cut a deal with the other workers, deciding to let them have a share of the profits in exchange for coughing up 50 million won each. However, it’s on the basis of not letting gangsters in and keeping them out of the casino. It works to sweeten up the staff and keep them working harder. He also reveals how Moo-Sik had a good reputation across the nation and with 7 or 8 billion won made from the machines alone.

As for Moo-Sik, he’s in hot water after gambling away all his money and although he promises to pay the gangsters back, led by Sang-Gu things don’t look good.

The Episode Review

Moo-Sik is in big trouble now and his gambling addiction has ultimately become his downfall. For anyone who has seen how destructive this addiction can be, Big Bet does a good job of encapsulating how widespread this can become and how much it can completely destroy one’s livelihood and life.

How on earth Moo-Sik is going to pay back all that money is anyone’s guess. However, with another episode released today, we thankfully don’t have to wait too long to find out how he’s going to do it!