Big Bet

Had not heard much about this drama before I started watching it, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hooked! The storyline and subject matter is something that I have never seen before on television. This is an entertaining story about the nature of the human condition.

The beginning of the drama was a bit confusing and slow, but because I had faith in K-dramas, I stuck with it. What I found was a group of unsavoury characters whom I would never go anywhere them in real life, but found that they all had some redeeming qualities that made them appear very humanistic and sympathetic. It's a marvel that so many actors on the cast were able to portray their characters so realistically without a single one over-acting.

The wait for Son Seok-Gu's character to appear was well worth it. I am so thankful that they did not turn him into some drug addict like any other American TV show would have. That flaw is so over-used that it's a become a horrible trope.

I've read that many viewers did not like the ending, but this is what a good story ending is supposed to be like.

• All loose ends are tied up
• Not everyone deserves their "end" the way it ends
• Very realistic portrayal of the human condition

What else I liked:

• respectful portrayal of non-Korean characters
• NKC's were not portrayed as dimwits to make the Korean characters appear more appealing
• story was focused and maintained a level of complexity that kept me guessing
• no excessive and meaningless sexual content (in fact there was very little at all)

What would have made it better:

• a good soundtrack with more instrumental music
• at least one likeable and strong female character (secretary had potential, but was neglected by the director)
• understand that that line of work and the times would have made this challenging
• good storytelling dictates that there should be a foil for Kim So-Jung & Ko Young-Hee

It deserves all of the awards it's won and more.

Pretty good I think this is one of the best k dramas out there - especially for guys, but girls would love it too Unpredictable and great acting by the casts such as Choi Minsik and the detective.

Great storyline, and getting to see two different countries : South Korea and the Philippines and from the 70s up until the 2000s.

Had they aired this from netflix it would have drawn much more attention for sure, quite sad that people dont expect much from disney anymore apart from star wars, marvel, and disney animations I am at episode sechs of season two Cant wait to see the rest it's killing me.

OK, to be honest, most of Korean drama that Disney created so far was so brutally bad. But this one is different. We can only see 3 episodes of 16 episodes now. However, all 3 episodes are pretty good and the story is inserting and fast enough. None of them were boring. All the actors are doing great job on their acting. It's great to see so many great actors again that couldn't see these days often. And you know Choi min sik. He is the main charter in this series. He is from the old boy movie. He is killing it in this series. He is doing some actions too. I'm looking forward to see more episodes. I can't wait to see all 16 episodes. First season is finished on Jan 25th and the 2nd season is coming from Feb 1 5th.

I really hate what streaming services do with dropping projects in batches. Either drop the entire thing or make it serializing. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment after a decent first season (more like the first half of a 16-episodes drama!). The plot ended up being all over the place, with twists that felt more like they were forcing us into paying attention than actually adding anything interesting to the story. Some side plots were only there to buy time. I wasn't a fan of the ending either, they should've just ended it in a normal fashion. The characters were fine but I wish there were more interactions between Moo Sik and Seung Hoon. I'm not sure why the drama had 18+ rating considering it wasn't that violent, although it had one tiny quick intimate scene and some smoking? The opening theme was cool.

This is an interesting and watchable drama that stars one of the best character actors in Korea (Choi Min Sik). It has a well-crafted script, engaging dialogues, and unpredictable plotlines. As a result, I kept watching to see how it developed. There are a few missteps, however, that make this drama not one of my favorites. 1) the story jumps back and forth with no particular purpose and leaves many loose ends behind.; 2) The show becomes disorganized, especially in the second half, with a ridiculous ending that seems unintended by the writer's initial plotline; 2) There are many unrealistic storylines that are inconsistent with the character of Choi Moo Sik. For example, he is too often unprepared for predictable attacks, and also, he is very gullible and naive-- unbecoming of a successful mob boss (although he thinks he is a businessman, not a mob boss). I think the writer tried to depict him as a mob boss with a heart of gold--unsuccessfully. 3) The last few episodes are very disjointed, showcasing thoughtless plots. Acting is terrific in general, especially that of the leading actor. For all these reasons, I give a 7 for this drama.