Thoughts on ‘Daebak (The Royal Gambler)’ Episode 5

WARNING: If you haven’t watched this episode, please be aware of spoiler from reading this article. If you do not want to see, please do not click the link “Read rest of this entry”. We welcome all the comments and please share your thoughts too about ‘Daebak’. Thanks.

Author: Farina from ECI
Photo credits: SBS
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Firstly I would like to express my extreme gratitude to Pam LupeLuny for agreeing to switch the episode reviews with me. During the planning stage I requested Kaori to slot me for episode 6, thinking I would see Daegil-the-Rascal. I was totally unprepared for the speed of the drama and what it has in store for the viewers.

When I saw the various articles and pictures of Daegil eating the snake everywhere on Facebook and the websites on Monday, I still thought that scene would be shown in episode 5. I was thinking what a close call that was and expressed my glee in ECI just minutes before episode 5 was on air. I began to panic as episode 5 approached the last 10 minutes with no sight of the snake. When it ended and it dawned upon me that the snake scene will take place in episode 6, I was frantic! I am terrified of anything long and wriggly; be it a worm or an anaconda. I wasted no time requesting for the change in episode reviews with Pam, even though she mentioned she is pretty scared of snakes herself lol. Till now, I still do not have the nerve to watch the snake scene and I doubt I ever will. The Mean Girls in ECI (you know who you are) though had some fun trying to make me overcome/ face my fear, to no avail…

Alright, let’s start with my thoughts on this episode. There are so many good reviews about Sukkie’s fantastic performance I’m afraid I can’t do much justice with this insignificant effort.
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In episode 5, Daegil just wanted to avenge his father’s senseless death. After finding out that Lee In Jwa was the murderer, he confronted him only to learn from Dam Seo how ill-prepared and unskilled he was. The only weapon he had was anger and clearly that alone was insufficient to fulfill his revenge. That first confrontation only had him leave with his tail tucked between his legs.

Lee In Jwa only had two main purposes in life. To avenge the loss of his family and to take over the throne. He somehow had this warped belief that he will be a better ruler. He was ruthless, manipulative, cunning and would not let anyone be in his way to achieve those goals. He nurtured Dam Seo to ease his path to penetrate the palace; he planned to have Daegil as his hidden card, him being the Prince thought dead; he killed Baek Man Geum in cold blood to incite Daegil’s anger – all which will serve his own selfish cause.

Dam Seo was brought up brain-washed by Lee In Jwa to believe that the King caused her father’s death and together, they will seek revenge for their losses. However, she began to question her trust in Lee In Jwa when she saw him kill Baek Geum Man without just cause. Lee In Jwa justified his actions by explaining he killed Baek Man Geum to force Daegil to face extreme sufferings in order to build strength in his character. He then revealed who Daegil was and that he planned to use Daegil as the ace to overthrow the King.

Prince Yeoning grew up to be a just and extremely smart young man. Knowing the history of Lee In Jwas’s family, he expected him to get even with the monarch. Lee In Jwa, however was not fazed by the Prince’s suspicions and believed the Prince would not be able to do much damage.

Later, when Daegil came again to Lee In Jwa’s house, armed with a bow and arrow, he was no better prepared this time too. He did not even have the skill to shoot at a target properly. All he had was a fierce determination to either kill or be killed. Lee In Jwa lost no time feeding on Daegil’s anger and challenged him to kill him. He knew it will be to his advantage; the more enraged Daegil was, the stronger the character. Therefore, he kept pushing Daegil’s limits. He broke every bone there was to break and even stabbed Daegil with the arrow.

At the scene of the cliff, Lee In Jwa tried to test if Daegil’s luck still lasted since he was a baby and shot the arrow. Indeed Daegil was born with incredible luck when he was saved by the coin.

Daegil upped the ante by betting on his own life. If he survived from jumping off the cliff, all he wanted was for Lee In Jwa to seek forgiveness from his father and then only he too will be able to forgive him and find closure. Daegil must have won every single bet in his life to believe he will survive yet another stab and also the jump… and so he did, at the end of the episode.

Episode 5 stuns us with the character development of Daegil. Gae Ddong had to practically grow-up overnight with the death of his father. I only wish the director had not made Sukkie go through so much sufferings my eel-heart wanted to just grab him off the screen and hug him in bed!

That aside, JKS rose to the occasion to bring us such amazing deliverance of Daegil’s character who had to go through all that and more. To date, Daegil is the most challenging act for JKS and his best performance. The way he expressed his grief, his anger, his determination were incredible. His eye-expressions and especially his cold, sinister laughters were so SEXY & HOT I practically salivate lol!

Jeon Kwang-ryeol as Lee In-Jwa is another actor worth all the credit. I simply could not reconcile the sweet old man who had amnesia in Remember: War of the Son, with this psychotic, evil, manipulative man!

At present, Prince Yeoning and Dam Seo are still hovering in the background. In this episode, we see the first stirrings of romance between the two. I hope to see their characters be more developed in equal measures as they are both crucial in Daegil’s life; Yeoning as the brother and Dam Seo the love interest.

Last but not least, I’m just glad I don’t have to do episode 6! [END]