We saw Moo Sik’s rise from a poor orphan in Korea to a casino manager in the Philippines in “Big Bet” Season 1. He became an influential person in the Philippines and made both friends and enemies. Moo Sik cared about the people close to him, but not more than money. He knew the importance of money, and that was the reason he made it to the top. He lived for a decade in the Philippines, and there was no one who could stop him. However, given the increase in crimes against Koreans, the embassy assigned a dedicated police officer, Oh Seung Hoon, who began digging into Moo Sik’s crimes.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Big Bet’ Season 1: Recap
Season 1 began with Moo Sik getting arrested for Min Seok Jun’s murder and took us back to his past to unravel his journey of becoming the most powerful Korean in the Philippines. He grew up in a poor family and had to struggle to make money. However, he was smart and grew up to become a businessman. He used to run a legal business, but he took a risk by running an illegal gambling den and got caught. He had to flee to the Philippines to avoid getting sentenced in Korea. He started working at Min Seok Jun’s casino and later became a casino manager thanks to his skills. Moo Sik has been unstoppable since then and has made connections with high-ranking officials and politicians who helped him run the business smoothly.
Moo Sik had it easy in the Philippines to deal with his enemies until Major Oh Seung Hoon arrived from Korea as a special officer. He started digging into crimes related to Koreans in the Philippines, and most of them pointed toward Moo Sik. Many people started becoming enemies of Moo Sik, including consul Jo Yoon Gi and Seok Jun’s hitman, Seo Tae Seok. Seung Hoon had been investigating Sojung and Philip’s murder case, which no one dared to talk about. On Moo Sik’s order, they were killed, and the money was taken from Sojung’s car. The money was initially stolen by Sojung from Ms. Ko, and no one had any idea that Moo Sik took the money after Sojung was killed. Unknowingly, Moo Sik has made many enemies, and one of them, Seo Tae Seok, dared to barge into his house and point a gun at him. Moo Sik’s sins kept piling up, and season 2 might be his downfall after his crimes were revealed one by one.
What Happens To Tae Seok?
Tae Seok is no match for Moo Sik, and he fails to kill him. Moo Sik beats him up instead and gives him three days to leave the country. On the other hand, Jo Yoon Gi complains to Moo Sik’s friend, Sungil, about him threatening him and his family, and Sungil meets Moo Sik at his casino. He tells Moo Sik to be careful around the public officials and that he should apologize to him if he doesn’t want to worsen the situation. Moo Sik meets Yoon Gi with the president of the Korean association and Seung Hoon, who just happens to be there. Though Moo Sik apologizes to him, Yoon Gi doesn’t leave his rude attitude, which makes Moo Sik insult Yoon Gi. Moo Sik won’t back down, and he messes with Seung Hoon later as well. He gains yet another enemy as he threatens Choi, a businessman, on Min’s order and forces him to return to Korea as soon as he arrives.
Seo Tae Seok doesn’t leave the country and, instead, starts working for Sungil. Jung Pal introduced Sungil to Tae Seok because Sungil needed a strong man to keep troublemakers away from his casino. Though Moo Sik warned Tae Seok to leave the country, he didn’t really mean any harm to him. He just wanted him to learn a lesson and humble himself. Tae Seok starts working at Sungil’s casino and runs into Ms. Ko on his very first day. Both of them hate Moo Sik, and hence, Ko offers Tae Seok a deal to kill Moo Sik. However, Tae Seok suggests she hire hitmen from Korea, as no one in the Philippines will dare go against Moo Sik. Tae Seok still goes to meet Moo Sik at the Bolton casino, but Moo Sik is busy with an important meeting. He meets the police commissioner and the gambling lord, Daniel’s brother, to discuss business. However, he gets a call from Sang Gu in the middle, saying that Tae Seok and a Chinese gang have gotten into a fight and have pulled out guns.
Jung Pal calls the police by the time everyone escapes the casino, and Moo Sik meddles in the fight. However, neither party is ready to back down. Only when the police arrive do they fire shots. The Filipino police are sidelining Seung Hoon for his reckless behavior, so he arrives late at the casino. By that time, the police have arrested Tae Seok, and Seung Hoon joins them on their way back. However, Mark, the Filipino policeman, changes the direction of his car after getting a call. He takes Tae Seok to Moo Sik and leaves him there in exchange for a bribe. Seung Hoon used to be on good terms with Mark, and he doesn’t like his changed behavior. Mark only tells him that he has a family to protect and cannot risk their safety. As they leave, Moo Sik also hands over Tae Seok to gangsters to finish him off, and he leaves.
Who Saves Moo Sik From Dying?
Ms. Ko takes Tae Seok’s suggestion and hires hitmen from Korea. The ex-member of the gang, Woo, who now works as a travel guide in the Philippines, agrees to only push Moo Sik into their trap and won’t touch him. He knows Moo Sik’s power and doesn’t want to get on his bad side. Woo calls Moo Sik and asks to meet him, and when Moo Sik reaches the location, he gets attacked by the gangsters. They demand Ko’s money back, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t comply. Moo Sik promises to transfer their money, and just when they are ready to let him go, Tae Seok comes and takes Moo Sik with him. He puts him in his car trunk and pushes the car into the river. Tae Seok calls Sang Chul as soon as he reaches home to inform him about Moo Sik, but before he can say anything, Sang Chul tells him not to mess with him because he has saved Tae Seok’s face a lot of times even if he doesn’t know it. Tae Seok is confused by his statement, but he just goes to sleep instead of thinking.
While Tae Seok is asleep, the Chinese gang members release a bunch of venomous snakes in his apartment. Unaware of it, Tae Seok gets bitten by the snakes and dies. The Chinese gang members held a grudge against Tae Seok and had been following him to get a chance to kill him. They also saved Moo Sik by pulling the car out of the river. Moo Sik finds the gangsters who tortured him and forgave them this one time. Later, Moo Sik attends Daniel’s granddaughter’s birthday party, but Daniel’s brother isn’t fond of Moo Sik. Daniel favors Moo Sik more than him, which he doesn’t like. Daniel’s assistant, Johnny, drops Moo Sik at the hotel, and Sang Gu sees them. He finds it extremely suspicious because he saw Johnny take the money bag from Sojung’s car after she was killed. On the other hand, Choi returns to the Philippines and visits Min with Yoon Gi. They have an argument over Choi’s alleged investment in Min’s hotel, which Min denies. He calls it borrowed money and not an investment. Choi, Yoon Gi, and their restaurant owner friend, Jin, are all agitated because of Moo Sik and Min, but for different reasons. Jin jokes that they should ask her mafia boyfriend to help them. However, Choi and Yoon Gi are serious about it and make a deal with Jin’s boyfriend.
What Proof Does Seung Hoon Find Against Moo Sik?
Jung Pal has been working with Moo Sik since the beginning, but now he wants to start working on his own instead of just being Moo Sik’s assistant. He recently got an offer from a Chinese casino, and he told Moo Sik about it. Moo Sik’s reaction is not what he expected. Moo Sik tells Jung Pal that he is crazy to even think about getting involved with the Chinese. He clearly declares that he can’t let him work for the Chinese if he cares even a little about his life. However, Jung Pal does not accept this easily. He gets drunk and loses money gambling. Moreover, he also gets into debt, only to lose all that money gambling as well. Moo Sik tries to understand him, but he has had enough. He wants Jung Pal to get back to his senses, so he sends him back to Korea. Moo Sik still doesn’t know that he is indebted to the same Chinese people who offered him work. Jung Pal requests that Sang Gu keep it a secret from Moo Sik because he doesn’t want to provoke him more.
The Filipino police have stopped supporting Seung Hoon because of his irresponsible behavior, but Seung Hoon still trusts Mark. He tells Mark that he is going to investigate Cha Moo Sik and he is going to keep him updated about the investigation in case anything is to happen to him. Mark agrees to it because he doesn’t want Seung Hoon to get hurt due to the lack of help. Seung Hoon tries to get information from the guy at the money exchange office, but he denies ever seeing Sojung and refuses to let Seung Hoon search his office without a warrant. Seung Hoon has no choice but to ask Mark for help. He doesn’t really expect Mark to help, but Mark arrives with a search warrant and gets CCTV recordings. Seung Hoon confirms that Sojung indeed visited the money exchange office, and right after she left, the man received a call from someone. Seung Hoon checks his call logs and finds out that it was Cha Moo Sik who called him. He tries to get some information from Sang Gu, but Sang Gu only tells him to be careful while framing Moo Sik for any crime. Previously, Seung Hoon also tried to get clues from Jung Pal when he was drunk, and Sang Gu was aware of it.
‘Big Bet’ Season 2 Episode 3: Ending
Moo Sik talks to the Chinese gangsters and assures them that Jung Pal will pay off their debt. Moo Sik knows that they will torture Jung Pal until he pays off the debt, so he puts in a word to keep him safe. He brings him back to Korea to let him start working again, but he is not happy with Jung Pal’s behavior. Jung Pal thinks that Moo Sik has resolved all the issues and doesn’t need to pay back his debts. Moo Sik cares about Jung Pal like his little brother, so he scolds him to get back to his senses. He wants Jung Pal to live a respectful life, not a lowly life like a thug.
“Big Bet,” Season 2, Episode 3, ends where Season 1 began. Choi and Yoon Gi hired hitmen from Jin’s mafia boyfriend to kill Min Seok Jun and not Moo Sik. With this move, they must have planned to get rid of both Min and Moo Sik. We know that Moo Sik will get arrested for the murder of Min, but we will have to see how the mighty Moo Sik will be framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
