Big Bet: La grande scommessa

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.

Just finished Kajino (aka Big Bet), the cast and locations are amazing. Same goes for the production, attention to details and continuity. Truly a modern masterpiece. As usual Choi Min-sik is amazing but many other lead actors shine here. The transition between countries and languages is flawless. The majority is actually probably in English with then a lot of Korean and a little Filipino.

The ending might not satisfy every viewers but for me it was perfect otherwise I would have just ended up wanting more and more series.

Can't recommend this enough. I ended bingeing both series after the first episode.

Yes! Big Bet is giving Pablo Escobar a vibe. The Asia version. From the Intro, Location, Screenplay, and Actors. One of the underrated series. It needs a more promotional marketing strategy. The storytelling from season 1 episode 1 up until the end is wonderful. I'm now a big fan of K-dramas mostly RomCom, but, honestly, we need more shows like this. Fictional yet you know that the writer & director made a deep research into how gambling works. Plus, studying the location (Philippines) system adds a natural flavor to the story. The Filipino actors did a good job as well. Kudos to Disney+ and I can't wait for Season 3.

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.

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.