A Próxima Aposta 2 (2023)

To Roll a Dice Without Pulling Right Cards

First and foremost, I might get canceled for giving my final perspective on this drama, which I literally understood where it all comes from (mayhaps the guys who watched this know the story better than mine), so I give some cons aside from good acting performances and great choices of music as OST tracks. (I include the overall, which also includes S1 as well that I didn't make a review of)

Plotwise... is what scarred me. This drama really focuses on the protagonist and his surroundings (connections between him and side roles). It loses some of the narratives with the little basic thing: how (origin on some side roles)? There's one scene (back from S1) that pretty much cringes, but basically the beginning of this trajectory of his journey that led into the climax. Speaking of the climax... leaves me a scar that I'd rather not disclose (see for yourself)

Since this pretty much summarises how to build a casino empire and the fall of his lifetime journey, feels that it's missing something (thus, should be shortened to either 12eps or 8eps). Also, the director should build up some developments of roles that are essential (but cutting midway that I'm speechless). I agree with some viewers, it's lacking story, more action-packed ones; which of course, again, the enjoyment of guys

I appreciate the realistic sentiment that has been invested in this, however, to me, it would be alright to turn back in time just to fix things altogether. In other words: the analogy of gambling is almost right in this story, but a little adjustment will bring exactly what viewers want

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Great acting and cast BUT....

The synopsis looked great. It tells the story of a casino owner from youth till present day. We have seen many other dramas on mafia and gangsters, but none about a casino owner so that's a fresh angle. Are there mafia, gambling, prostitution, drinking. and crooked cops? Of course, it's inevitable that such vices would be entangled with the casino scene. These unsavoury elements become the backdrop for the drama but are not the main plot. Interestingly, the main character (Hoon) only appears around episode 5 or 6. That's very late in the show.

The production value was also very high as it's set (and filmed) in the Philippines with local actors. The Korean cast too are top notch stalwarts. Honestly, this show seemed to have everything going for it.

So where did it all go wrong? The first mistake was creating two parts, which seems to be the new trend in cable TV Kdramaland. That only works if the story is so enticing (like Glory) that you'd want to wait for the next instalment. Firstly, if this show wasn't on Disney, which I'm already subscribed to, and secondly, both parts had already dropped by the time I decided to watch it, I would NEVER have bothered. It seemed like the only reason why it had 16 episodes was to make its Philippine sojourn worthwhile. There was a lot of exposition and side characters, but I wonder if they really added to the plot. In fact, a faster-paced 8 to 12 episodes would probably have been enough.

At the end of the day, he was a likeable rogue. So the main question was - did he really commit all those crimes? Should we sympathise with him? I don't think I had a clear answer at the end.

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