Choi Min-sik Returns in Gripping Season 2 of MBC’s 'Big Bet'
Jul 27, 2025
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MBC's special series 'Casino' (directed by Kang Yoon-sung) will return for season 2. Season 2, which will premiere on the 27th, will visit the small screen with a more intense and intense story, focusing on the fall of the casino empire and the ultimate winning move.
Season 1 of 'Casino' debuted on MBC at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday after the release of Disney+, and achieved the highest ratings of 4.8% (based on metropolitan households, Nielsen Korea) as well as No. 1 in the Middle East. After being introduced to the small screen, it was noted as an example of providing a viewing experience that transcends the platform boundaries that encompass both OTT and terrestrial viewers following 'Moving'.
'Casino' is a crime action noir centered on the last match between Cha Moo-sik (Choi Min-sik), a legend who dominated the Philippine casino world, and the story of Oh Seung-hoon (Son Seok-gu), a detective who pursues him. If season 1 depicts an upward narrative of a man's ambition, season 2 will present a more condensed emotional line and dense development with a story of survival and choice facing at the end.
The film, which received attention for its `Korean premium series' on Disney+, was highly anticipated in that it was Choi Min-sik's return to the drama and Kang Yoon-sung's first production of the drama. In particular, the hard-boiled sensibility, which combines the desires, betrayal, and realistic directing of the characters, caused a heated repercussion by delivering the essence of the noir genre to the small screen.
Season 2 depicts Cha Moo-shik's 'Last Match', which led the casino empire. Amid the rift inside the organization, the external pressure of power and capital, and the pursuit of detective Oh Seung-hoon, Cha Moo-sik goes on a final gamble for survival. If season 1 was the story of a man running toward the peak of his ambition, season 2 will capture the inner and choices of Cha Moo-sik, who is depicted in the trajectory of falling, more compressed and fierce.
In addition, the interests of the characters surrounding Cha Moo-sik are at their peak. The character composition of Season 2 is expected to become more complex as the departure of Yang Jeong-pal, the persistent investigation of Korean Desk Lee Seung-hoon, and the political and economic interests of people surrounding the casino are intertwined.
In a relationship that no one can trust, choices and conflicts for each person's survival will lead to an unexpected development, maximizing Noir's unique heartless world view.
The direction of 'Casino' is more faithful to 'the sense of reality' than any other drama. In fact, location filming in the Philippines brings the movement of the character and the reality of the event to life, and each scene gives a documentary-like realism.
In a recent interview, director Kang Yoon-sung expressed the directing philosophy of 'Casino', saying, `We wanted the background to be part of the narrative, not just a device.' Season 2 will present a more advanced Korean-style noir drama by increasing the immersion of the play with more restrained dialogue, screen composition using space, and intense sound design.
The center of 'Casino' is definitely Cha Moo-sik and Choi Min-sik, who played him. Actor Choi Min-sik leads the narrative of the play by freely crossing the amplitude of emotions such as anger, vanity, emptiness, and ambition. As the fact that it is his first return to the drama in more than 20 years is overshadowed, he is praised for completing 'overwhelming return' with his unique mid-low tone, heavy eyes, and living detailed performance.
MBC's special series 'Casino' Season 2 premieres at 10 p.m. tonight (27th), and visits viewers every Sunday at 10 p.m. It is expected to be recorded as a successful case of MBC's programming strategy beyond platform boundaries and genre experiments that combine blockbuster narratives, actor Choi Min-sik's heavy acting, and realistic directing.
lunamoon@sportschosun.com
