Big Bet – K-Drama Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Kidnapping

Episode 8 of Big Bet begins with Moo-sik showing up to see a prostitute named Vianna. He invites her into his pad where she heads off for a shower. Moo-sik seizes his opportunity and grabs her phone. He searches through her social media feed, where he finds the target he’s looking for – Rose Van Ginkel.

All of this is, of course, connected to the shocking shooting that ended proceedings last episode. Moo-sik and Jungpal are left reeling, as they piece together snippets of what occurred. They learn the gun had a silencer attached and whoever this cop was, they knew exactly what was inside their car and when to strike.

Sang-gu relays to Moo-sik the exact sequence of events, believing it was all planned from the start. Moo-sik decides to take control of the situation, telling his lackeys to keep quiet and not give any details out to anyone.

Who tips off Seung-joon?

At the same time, Seung-hoon continues to explore Charlie’s death. At Interpol in Korea, Seung-hoon phones through to try and speed up the process of getting the information he needs. He suspects Moo-sik is the ringleader but he doesn’t have enough evidence to get the guy behind bars.

Seung-hoon is distracted by news reaching the station that more Koreans have been gunned down in Manila. Specifically that of Philip and So-jung. Seung-hoon only met the girl once but it was at Moo-sik’s casino, which is another nail in Moo-sik’s coffin as Seung-hoon grows closer to connecting everything together.

That night, Seung-hoon receives a letter outside his apartment. Within this note, Seung-hoon receives an address for Heaven Resort in Pampanga. Given we saw Moo-sik earlier checking out Rose’s social media, with the same resort name on the napkin, it’s clear who’s feeding him information.

Seung-hoon, in turn, gives this intel to the CIDG who show up to search the place. They learn that the intel was good but their target checked out a day before.

Does Deokbae pay back his debt?

Moo-sik is doing his own investigative work and after hearing word from Deokbae about the operation, decides to kidnap him under the guise of being his chauffeur heading to the airport. He forces Deokbae to keep his mouth shut about the slush-fund and everything that has been going on.

Of course, he also owes a good deal of money too and despite his promises to pay Moo-sik back, Deokbae’s pleas are not working on Moo-sik anymore. He opes up the plastic bag and has his goons deal with him. Moo-sik returns in the morning after keeping him chained up this whole time.

Deokbae promises to wire the money and but he’s given a choice of either transferring the money to Moo-sik or ratting him out to the authorities. It’s a trap, of course, given Moo-sik is in collusion with the police so Deokbae des the smart thing and begins phoning around, asking for favours so he can collect up enough money to pay off his debt.

Meanwhile, Seung-hoon shows up to see Sang-chul, asking him questions again about Charlie. He also questions him about Phiip and So-jung’s murders. He doesn’t say anything though, shrugging it off and claiming that Moo-sik is just super nosy. It’s unlikely that Seung-hoon is going to fall for that though!

Does Tae-seok learn some manners?

Seo Tae-seok is not happy about Moo-sik being the head honcho, believing he’s being overshadowed given all the work he’s been doing. Moo-sik is not best pleased but Mr Min quells his doubts, pointing out that Tae-seok has the right look for the casino and keeps the “pests” away.

Moo-sik eventually takes Tae-seok aside and questions him over beating Jungpal up earlier in the episode. Tae-seok claims it’s because his lackeys have no respect but that’s not going to fly with Moo-sik. In fact, he decides to put the guy in his place.

Moo-sik gives Tae-seok a final warning, telling him he’s easily replaced like a lightbulb and if he makes another boneheaded move like this again then he’s going to be exiled from the country.

Seung-hoon heads to the gun store, trying to figure out what the weapon was used against Philip and So-jung, while news of Deokbae staying at the Bolton Hotel reaches the authorities. In fact the kidnapping news hits Seung-hoon’s ears right as he’s eating lunch with Mark, who invites him over to his place for dinner.

Is Charlie captured?

When Seung-hoon learns about the Bolton Casino being connected, Seung-hoon immediately makes the connection to Moo-sik. Yoongi rings through to Moo-sik atfer and asks him outright about the kidnapping. He feigns ignorance and claims he’s staying on his own volition. Moo-sik kicks of at Yoongi, eventually hanging up on him.

That night, Vianna happens to walk past the same bar Moo-sik is at. She knows he took her phone but he pays her off to keep quiet, admitting that he really wants to know about Rose. Now, Rose happens to be staying at the Heaven Resort that Seung-hoon and Mark are currently raiding, where they uncover “Charlie” and chase him through the streets. Eventually they get their man and arrest him, although it’s definitely touch and go for a while.

How does Big Bet season 1 end?

Following the Charlie coup, Yoongi receives a call from Moo-sik who threatens his daughter after learning that there’s an arrest warrant out for him. Yoongi is spooked and tries to get hold of his wide, scrambling out to make sure his kid isn’t hurt.

At the same time, Seung-hoon makes a shady backroom deal for a gun that could be in connection to all of this, while Tae-seok of all peope shows up that night at Moo-sik’s place and holds a gun up to him. “Is that you, Tae-seok?” He says. A couple of gunshots sound, before we fade to black.

The Episode Review

Big Bet season 1 comes to a suitably intriguing finish, as we see that Moo-sik has more than a few enemies against him. The most obvious comes from those inside the Embassy and the officials who are about to turn on him, especially with Charlie now in custody. If that wasn’t enough, we also have the Taeseok situation which looks like it’s about to fly off the handle.

Having said that, we know Moo-sik survives because 1) there’s a second season coming next month and 2) the flashbacks at the beginning of episode 1 confirm that he survived and is properly arrested by the authorities. The cliffhanger is a bit of a bait move in that respect, although there’s plenty still to be unraveled here.

On the whole though, this crime drama has been a decent watch albeit one without much fanfare and very little in the way of a unique hook beyond its main cast. Despite that, the cliffhanger should be enough to entice people into watching the second season next month.