Jackpot #review

The Royal Gambler / Daebak / 대박

Writer -  Kwon Soon gyu

Genre -  Sageug

Network -   SBS

Episodes -  24

Released -  2016, Mar - Jun

CAST

SYNOPSIS

The story of an unfortunate prince named Yeong soo (Dae gil), who is born of royalty but lives a peasants' life. Dae gil is the best gambler in the Joseon era. He holds deep resentment inside, but is also cool on the outside. (DramaWiki w/edits)
Lee In jwa, a deposed man of entitlement, burns with the desire to avenge his family and sets out to infiltrate the palace, raise Dae gil to be the next King, and overthrow the reigning monarch as vengeance. (me)

REVIEW

The first part of this 24-episode historical drama (based on actual events that are then embellished to the point of being fictional) was a thriller to say the least.

Lee In jwa is a ruthless, cunning, conniving man who is determined to depose the reigning king as part of a plot to avenge his massacred family in an earlier uprising when he was a boy.

He's intelligent and stealth, carefully selecting and depositing people within the palace to pose as spies for his dastardly deeds.

One of his victims is Dae gil's mother, who is sent to the palace on In jwa's instruction, and when the king takes her as his cheob, the plan bears the much anticipated fruit.

However, Dae gil arrives six months later, causing the king to be suspicious and orders the infant destroyed.

Dae gil is spared and sent, instead, to the gambling man the woman had once lived with, and it is there that Dae gil grows into a young man filled with high spirits, gambling savvy, and a thirst for justice.

The second part shows us Dae gil's desire to avenge the death of his gambling father as he embarks on the second journey of his life.

He meets with a former palace guard and spends a few years with the skilled master learning everything he needs to know about martial arts, sword play, and how to win at the game known as right vs. wrong.

Then, in the last part, we're made to suffer through a lot of intrigue, murder, and foiled attempts by both the bad and good factions surrounding the plot.

Personally, I became swept away by every gambling scene in the first few episodes and had hoped that the two, estranged brothers would remain as staunch allies in their inevitable fight for justice.

Alas, things changed -- the gambling routines stopped, the madness ensued, and I was left to wonder why it was ever important that Dae gil came from the king's loins.

And, like all great Sageuk stories, the bad guy continued to gain power, prestige, and influence despite the countless number of times someone, anyone, could have cacked his sorry ass and ended the pitiful reign of one so small-minded and blind to his own misdeeds.

It was great to see Jang Geun suk again, but he never managed to blend in with the scenery or disguise of his being a character and remained the baby-face, pretty grin Rocker that he is in reality.

Sad, too, that Kim Sung oh's Gae Jak doo was bit and that he had to die so soon.

He did a marvelous job portraying the hardened mountain man on the wrong side of the royal family who was trained as an assassin to murder the king.

Lim Ji yeon as Dam seo (Tom Sawyer, as she became known each time her name rang out in a scene) did a fine job as well, portraying the young woman who's father is loyal to the wrong side, working closely with Lee In jwa, who eventually kills him and takes Dam seo in as his own daughter.

Of course, Dam seo eventually learns the truth and has to re-examine her entire life, but the predictable occurs when she goes against everything she's come to believe as a show of . . . uh, well 

. . . I honestly don't know.

She just did a really stupid thing that is entirely expected to occur in a Sageuk.

Yeo Jin goo is pretty, and my daughter fell in love with the handsome Prince Yeong jo as soon as he appeared on screen.

Her mother spent most of the time trying to decide who had the deeper, more sexy voice, him or Dae bak.

The prince won, but only by a fraction.

Yeo Jin goo

She also thought that Dam Seo was pretty, but her mother thought otherwise and chose this woman instead:

Jeon Soo jin

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Yeppeun Namja

Bel Ami, Pretty Man

2013 16-episode KBS drama that starred Jang Geun suk as Dok Go Ma Te (coolest, baddest name to date, I might add). Ma te is super fine and knows it, but he's stuck with a plain omanee living in a run-down part of Korea and yearns for something more. Something substantial and with meaning: $$, Fame, etc.

His omanee is friends with Kim Bo tong's (IU) omanee and that's how the two opposed leads end up meeting, the one-way love affair ensues, and so this story begins.

Bo tong actually first met the long haired charmer on a bus, but that's neither here nor there and I am not about to post any spoilers, so watch it yourself if you want the juicy bits.

Bo tong also ends up meeting another really handsome guy - Lee Jang woo as Choi David.  Da-beed is a show-stopping scene stealer throughout Bel Ami, but not by too much (in my opinion at least).

Lee Jang woo as Choi David

Despite what most people anticipated, expected, or hoped to see with this drama and went away sorely disappointed, disillusioned, and ANTI Jang Geun suk, Pretty Man is about a guy in search of his past, and along the way to self discovery he meets some interesting characters who steer him toward that goal, but in a bizarre, round-about kind of way, which is necessary if the PD is expected to make a movie-length story into a 16 episode drama.

The main nemesis (of sorts) is a stunning woman

Han Chae young as Hong Yoo ra

Another of those rare TRUE beauties that grace the K-do screens now and again. Absolutely stunning is this woman and a good actress as well.

See, Yoo ra is or was married to a Pillsbury Dough (rich) Boy who's step-mom was it? somehow ends up dominating even his father - the Chaebol king of some big Home Shopping Network.

HSN must be THE DEAL over there, eh? Its reference as the new bling career made its appearance in other dramas, so I have to wonder. Over here, I think it's safe to say that HSN is still an embarrassment and only those over age 60 dare admit to watching, much less actually buying anything that way.

Whatever

LOVED, loved, LOVED this guys laugh.
So our lovely Yoo ra meets our Adonis-like Dok Go Ma Te and the fun begins. She sets him off on this strange chase by introducing him to different types of powerful women so that he can learn as much as possible about what it takes to make it in Chaebol land.

Mat te becomes convinced of his princely lineage by assuming he is the illegitimate heir to this HSN empire and proceeds to worm his way into that circle of omnipotence with the help of Yoo ra and the women he is forced to have to deal with along the way.

Meanwhile our mousy Bo tong drags her pathetic ass along for the ride, still clinging to Ma te and dutifully abiding by his every whim while maintaining the lofty goal of one day becoming his true love.

I'm sure by now everyone knows how I feel about Cinderella plots, the unattractive yet doggedly determined mouse who sets her sights on someone far above her station in life only to get what she wishes for due to that unflinching and long-suffering determination.

Brainwashing hogwash at its ultimate finest imho.

Still, Yeppeun Namja was different in that the basic premise wasn't dopey, sappy, sugar-laden, sophomoric mentality bullshit.

The writers actually pushed this by making us watch as Bo tong struggled with the rejection while explaining her reasons for continuing to cling to Ma te. Believable in a ~meh~ kind of way but still unique for the otherwise predictable K-Do la-la land run-of-the-mill formula.

Yeppeun Namja was a cut above in that the theme leaned more toward the mature and mysterious side rather than concentrating solely on high school angst stupidity that has saturated the K-Drama world of late.

Which brings me back to my earlier remark about those who watched this (or didn't) and left their harsh comments at aznv.tv - and before I go any further, please don't ask me to post those remarks here on my blog. I don't plagiarize and would rather have permission to put someone else's quotes in my own work, but that would take forever to accomplish. If you are that curious to discover my integrity then go to the website, click on the drama in question, and read them there.

Anyhow - the comments posted were in the [down] category a majority of the time and had me wondering what was so wrong with Jang Geun suk working over in Japan when ... um ... well ... So Ji sub did his army stint there, and most every KPop band performs there because the fan base is ten-thousand times bigger?

Most of the argument stemmed from the simple fact that after having just come down from his lofty role in Heirs, the die-hards wanted to see Lee Min ho in the leading role instead of Geun suk.

A lot of the girls argued that Geun suk isn't 'pretty' at all ... or handsome, gorgeous, sexy, hot, whatever compared with the star they believed to be the best instead.

I really don't know why I even bother getting upset about people like this to be perfectly honest. Narrow-minded people are as annoying to me as that pesky bug in the heat of summer that refuses to leave you alone as often as it refuses to let you kill it with a fly swatter or rolled up newspaper.

And, I'm sorry, but Heirs wasn't exactly the Boys Over Flowers of 2013 in my opinion, and if you read my blog on that drama, I didn't care for Min ho's role or his acting. Dude dragged his uninterested ass through the whole show and no one caught on to that little fact but me?

I'm not saying Min ho is no good, either. I love him. I look forward to everything he stars in, believe me! He's handsome in a tall, hunky kind of way, and he's a good actor (when he wants to be), but unlike Faith, his work in The Heirs just wasn't one of his better moments and Pretty Man has ZERO to do with looks. You would know that, too, if you had actually bothered to watch the drama and didn't turn away because your personal favorite didn't make the leading man cut.

I will say, though, that if you were to take that word - PRETTY - quite literally then yes, they are right and Jang Geun suk isn't the right man for the role. I said it before, and in this instance it bears repeating. Jang Geun suk is too much of a MAN to be labeled as ~pretty~

You're welcome, darling.

What he is, people, is a guy who carries on like he's delicate when in reality he's a seething god of manly sensuality with snake-like charm.

In other words, he's not stupid and anyone who expects him to be is ... well ... stupid.

Geun suk is juuust this side of boyish, and he can pull off that wide-eyed innocence ~ and get away with it ~ for all of thirty seconds before he hits you with his true, underlying sex appeal that screams MALE DOMINANCE right down to the very core of his being. He's multi-talented, his style range is incredibly diverse, and I've never seen him in any scene where he doesn't manage to drag me away from whoever else is lurking about at the time.

He is like the Korean version of Kamenashi Kazuya. You can't, quite say the

guy is effeminate any more than you can say he's capable of pulling off the role of Superman yet DAMN is he fine, convincingly manly, sexually appealing, and unquestionably deep.

Both guys can act, convince, portray, and lead unsuspecting females down just about any garden path they choose without much effort.

Few can argue, then, that looking and dressing a certain way is a leading indicator of ones inner sanctum or true personality. It's always about what ends up being revealed through actions that define a person and never, really, about what is painted on canvas.

Still, I've always maintained that Korean men have it over the Japanese star in the hunk-man-tough-badass category.
Japanese male actors are more capable of exuding effem than their K-Do brethren, but I couldn't begin to explain why other than it just looks that way to me. Korean men have more meat on their bones, a stronger jawline, and are simply more rugged even if they ARE blatantly kae.

If there were a Korean equivalent to, say, Haruma Miura, then yeah, I'd rather see that guy in the lead of this drama. Unfortunately, I can't quite think of any Korean actors who are truly 'pretty' for the simple sake of that word. No one, really, other than our darling Jang-sshi.

So, for those of you who haven't watched this because of the negative rap it received, or didn't watch it because you were biased, or passed because you are angry at Geun suk for whatever silly reason, I urge you to set aside your pre-conceived notions just this once and sit through all sixteen episodes. THEN go right ahead and spout off about how horrible it DIDN'T turn out to be.

There wasn't a single moment that could be considered bad, boring, tedious or lame. The subs are and will always be a bone of contention, however, and there are few OSTs that make me want to mention it in these blogs, too. That aside, here are the rest of my images.

By the way ... I hated the hair transformations our Dok Go Ma Te went through, so there is at least one down-side to this drama, but it isn't why I gave the story 4 out of 5. 5's will always be reserved for those select few and far between stories that managed to lift me out of my seat and take me far, far away from my mundane life which is reality and completely drag me along for the duration.

this will always be my favorite version

 

this makes me think of the 80's

 

but it isn't that bad - he's still gorgeous

yes ... yes, I do!

when things took a very wrong turn

VERY wrong

then might I suggest you find a new line of business associates?

Yes, thanks to me you will soon have that glorious head of hair again!

isn't he, though?

I see the medical AMA badge on his chest (LOL)

love it when he gets embarrassed in public

B-8? Really? Can't kiss, touch, or show emotion, but this is a-okay with the censors!

I do adore this woman! She's awesome

poor, sweet Dabeed

I hope, too, that the dyed fad fades REAL soon over there

yes, Ajumma, but, unless you're a hooker, how easy can it be to get naked with a man you don't ...

the real yeppeun

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Full House Take 2

풀하우스TAKE2

2012 SBS Plus 16 episodes in 32 parts KDo that starred Hwang Jung eum as Jang Man ok / Michelle Jang (the Cinderella girl), No Min woo as Lee Tae ik, the caustic rich chap and lead lip syncer in Take 2, and Park Ki woong as Won Kang hwi, the lovable sidekick with dyed blond hair and a cute smile.

Compared to the original Full House, I liked this version better - but not by a whole lot.

Different house, different characters, same premise.

Bratty rich kid loses his parents and their house and is forced (forced, mind you) to become a mega pop star in order to try and win said house back.

We're led to believe that Tae ik never wanted to become a pop idol and that is why he remains so acerbic throughout the show. Just like our Young jae in the first version. There are other reasons, too, though, for Tae ik's antagonistic behavior. In the original version, Young jae blamed his father for the death of his younger sister. In the second version, Tae ik blames his sidekick for a lost love.

I honestly wasn't, ever sure why Park Ki woong's Won Kang hwi behaved so goofy, inept, and lackadaisical about his career other than he was purposeful just to get a rise out of his uptight buddy, Tae ik.

I love both guys, though.

Min woo shocked the hell out of me coming from 9-Tail Fox to this. Night and day if you ask me. It was like he shed about 50 pounds of lean muscle for this part, and I continue to ask myself why?

I liked the chemistry between everyone, from the two leads, the two feuding buds, and even the animosity in the office. It all worked so well and lent itself to a ton of credibility I so appreciate any time I watch a Korean drama. I'm always anticipating the usual, and when that doesn't occur on a regular basis, I'm happy.

I really, REALLY, hontou ni hate gossip, but there is this thing about Min woo having had plastic surgery on his nose. Personally, I liked his big kid nose and I think he simply insists on air brushing and photoshop techniques while maintaining his own sense of dignity. I don't see a huge (no pun intended) difference between his kawaii baby boy images and what he exudes on screen.

Like all gossip, and why I can't stand it, it simply shows a lack of character on the part of the spewer and a sense of jealousy or dislike for whatever reason. Find something more meaningful to do with your time, eh?

In Full House 2, a cute girl who was once a princess loses her parents and ends up with her Taekwondo grandfather. He is invited to the open house of Tae ik's parents, and that is when the two leads first meet (as kids).

She grows up adoring fashion while also helping out at the dojo, and then her grandpa has to leave for awhile, and she gets mixed up with her good friend in this online fashion thing. Man ok and her goofy pal, Kim Do yun as Han Ga ryun are unlikely friends in that Man ok is cautious, sweet, and steady while Ga ryun is haphazard, flighty, and single-minded.

Still, the two fight through their friendship and stick to their own ideals while managing to put together this fashion website and start selling the things that Man ok has designed from scraps and not having any formal training.

I appreciated her sense of style, and I'm sorry, but I loved her curly hairstyle regardless of what the rest of the world (esp Korea) thinks about it.

She went from having a sense of style and uniqueness to being a mushroom head, and if her hair were at her shoulders then, yes, I'd say go with the straight style ON OCCASION, but do keep the beautiful, curly locks!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with curly hair. Straight is becoming boring, so it's always refreshing to see something out of the ordinary on occasion. The curls suited her face and accented her smile.

Ga ryun is super-duper big-time in love with Kang hwi and stalks him both on and offline, messing up Man ok's plans to sell a lot of her designs because Ga ryun is in charge of the online business, but she is too preoccupied with searching everything Kang hwi online instead of doing her job.

She attends fan meetings, holds up signs, and screams like an idiot outside the studio where Kang hwi and Tae ik work.

I got, too, both times I watched this drama, when it first aired and recently for this blog, that Ga ryun was over-doing the fan girly thing (or not) - and I was a bit startled and somewhat disturbed by the fact that these twits are actually labeled. Respectable fans, fanatics, and life and death - the worst, scariest kind of fan.

There's zero wrong with adoring someone bigger and better than you are, cutting out and pasting his/her images on your bedroom wall, day and night dreaming about romantic encounters, etc. Human nature kind of stuff we all deal and live with until we're too old to care anymore. But, when we take it to the next level and start acting out those fantasies, believing that we are somehow in control of their destiny, and have a say in how they live their lives, then it gets stupid.

Yeesh.

Aside from the original Young jae and the second version's Tae ik having the same attitude and inability to express themselves properly, the rest of Take 2 is pretty original. Tae ik and Kang hwi are the leads in a 'boy band' of sorts who just dance and lip sync to the same song throughout all 16 episodes. It made me wonder if either lead has any musical talent, and if Min woo can actually play the piano or if Ki woong can actually play the guitar.

I was awestruck by Min woo's drumming in one episode, and I believe he played them for another boy band (Trax) or something like that. It was pretty intense and cool.

I also much prefer to see our cutie-pie Ki woong with black versus yellow hair, too.

And, I know I keep saying this, and it may get annoying, but I can't help it when some of these stars remind me of people I know. In this case, Ki woong totally reminds me of my friend from childhood, Terri. Yes, she was a she and he is a he, but whatever. It is uncanny how much he resembles her in every way, though her eyes were blue, but they were the same shape, she had the same, oval face, the same mouth, and even the same smile. He is nearly identical to my old friend - mianhae.

Tae ik has phobias to include being allergic to pet hair, synthetics, and chemicals (like me!) and when he wears a scarf on stage that isn't pure, he has anaphylactic symptoms that are remedied with a simple kiss.

The way that Ki woong's Kang hwi handles the situation was both thrilling and hilarious. The fact that he eyed the audience just prior was sublime.

Brave, bold move on the part of the censors at SBS, I must say!

Is that what the plus means, I wonder? lol

Okay, so, like, a few years back Tae ik was madly in love with this bitchy female star who didn't care for him or anyone else but herself (you know the type, c'mon). And she does something stupid bitch in order to further her career (yeah, right, whatever) and breaks Tae ik's heart while driving this wedge between him and Kang hwi. Tae ik saw what happened, and Kang hwi has no idea that's the case. Kang hwi is the glue in this troupe, but despite his best efforts, Tae ik grows more caustic and abusive until Kang hwi (I think) starts to act deliberate just to piss off Tae ik, but I don't know if that's for sure.

Then Kang hwi bumps into our mousy but still cute Man ok, who helps the defenseless Kang hwi escape a bunch of deranged fans.

I so don't want to believe that people like them exist, and that it is just the overly stimulated imaginations of ratings writers, nothing more.

Anyway, Kang hwi is a fan of Man ok's website, but he doesn't know that she is the owner, only that he likes her style both garment and behavior-wise.

They become fast friends, and he ends up helping her to get the stylist position at his agency, where she ends up having to dress both Kang hwi and Tae ik.

Tae ik treats Man ok the same way he does everyone else:  with disdain.

It's funny.

I think it was funny because I'm such a huge fan of Min woo and he can get away with acting naughty on account of his being so cool.

There is one drawback to his androgynous side, though.

He leans more toward the gay than the bi, which makes it nearly impossible for me to believe he could fall for ANY woman.

Kind a like the exact opposite of the way I view Jang Geun suk for the same reason: different kind of femme projection.

Which means Min woo's kae is a lot more believable than Geun suk's. When Geun suk goes after a woman in diamonds, fur, make-up, and sporting a better hair style than her, I still believe he's gonna get some action cause he's all man underneath the façade. 
Min woo, not so much.

Whatever. I'll bet most everyone's kaedar is on the blink anymore since that line is now so blurred it's barely, even recognizable. Who knows!

So, for 16 (32, but) episodes we are taken on a bizarre journey of vindication, sorrow, humiliation, and uphill battle. Will Tae ik get his house back? Will Kang hwi triumph over evil? Will Man ok remember that she wanted to be a designer and not the love interest of two pop stars? Will the bad guys get crap dumped on them at the right time?

I, for one, wanted to find out BOTH times that I watched this one, and as predictable and (dare I say it) corny as the script was written, I enjoyed this a lot more than I did the first round - but not by much.

The repetition, the same song (even at different tempos), the constant angst, and the forgotten things annoyed me too much to give this any more than it deserved.

Strong cast, though, I will admit. I loved these guys together, and that was what made this one better than the original.

I've also come to the realization that these things aren't written nor cast to placate the ajumma crowd anymore. Although I'm sure they are still the largest audience since they are able to watch on a daily basis, but with things like DVR anyone can watch anything at any time now. So, that means the crowd has not only grown but the demographics have shifted. Well, let me say that while the demographics are BLENDED now, the writers are catering to a new audience, and that isn't fair.

Just because the actors are getting younger every year doesn't mean - like fashion - that anyone over the age of 25 should be excluded from all the fun.

Here are the rest of my screen captures

speaking of photoshop ...

love his smile

his lips SO aren't prepared!

david bowie pose

cutie pie

yeppeun

awesome subs (as usual)

thanks to these guys (as usual)

two, adorable smiles

yeppeun

yeppeun

yeppeun

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