Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Pachinko Season 2 Episode 2.
Apple TV+’s Pachinko has only premiered two episodes in its second season, but it is already clear that the series is continuing to elevate the genre. With its impressive cinematography and in-depth character development, each aspect of the series works together to tell the moving story of a family that continues to suffer the effects of discrimination even generations later. Every line of dialogue is essential and helps to move the plot forward, and each character feels authentic and heartbreakingly human because of the attention to detail. Sunja (played by both Minha Kim and Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung in her later years) and her grandson, Solomon (Jin Ha) don’t always make the best decisions, but they are clear in their goals.
In the opening episode of Season 2, Sunja works tirelessly to keep her family afloat during World War II. Her husband, Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh), has been imprisoned for seven years, and she makes sacrifice after sacrifice in order to make sure her sons, Noa (Kim Kang-hoon) and Mozasu (Eunseong Kwon) are safe and cared for. The series switches back and forth from Sunja’s story to Solomon’s perspective in 1989 (and the time jumps are more subtle and effective than they were in Episode 1). Solomon is trying to crawl out of the mess he made last season when he blew up a major business deal he had been working on. The two go about their missions with very different approaches: Sunja is quiet in her determination, and Solomon is often brash and impetuous. But they both have the same fire that makes every moment of Pachinko truly captivating.
Isak Finally Returns Home in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2
Episode 2 opens with an eerily peaceful scene in 1945, as a man rides a bicycle through nearly empty streets. Several little boys (including Mozasu) run about, pretending to be soldiers. With the wind whistling through the wintry neighborhood, the man stops at one house. He silently delivers a death notice to a woman who comes to the door (there is one real soldier who won’t be coming home). One of Mozasu’s playmates runs to the woman, and they embrace, illustrating the very real and deadly effects of the war. Noa assures Mozasu that “God is watching over us,” but the little boy is skeptical. Moments later, they are at home when a man enters through the front door and falls to the floor. The man is in disheveled clothes, and only when he says, “I’ve come back… I’m home,” do they realize that Isak has finally returned.
As joyous as the occasion should be, it quickly becomes apparent that Isak is not in good shape. With his sunken cheekbones and bruised skin, it’s obvious that Isak was severely mistreated during his seven years in captivity. Sunja rushes to his side, and assures him that he will get better in no time, but her words ring false. Isak can barely sit up and is having trouble breathing. Sunja has faith that Isak (who has already beaten death once before) will recover, but she still leaves to find a doctor. This is not an easy task since all of the doctors have been sent away to serve in the war. Sunja turns to the one person who can help her: Koh Hansu (Lee Minho). As soon as they begin talking, Sunja realizes that Isak has only been released because Hansu arranged it. She asks the question that is weighing on her heart: “Could you have gotten him out sooner?” Hansu dismisses her query, and informs Sunja that he will provide her with a doctor if they make a deal. She will take her boys and flee to the countryside like he requested in Episode 1, so that they will be out of the city when the bomb drops. Sunja’s love for Isak is greater than her hatred for Hansu, and she agrees to his proposal in order to save Isak’s life.
Back at the house, Isak props himself up, even as weak as he is, and asks Noa to bring Pastor Hu (Junyoung Choi) to meet with him. Noa assumes that he wants Pastor Hu to pray with him; he tells the pastor that he has tried “so hard to be good,” and that he hopes God will heal Isak because of this. While waiting for the pastor, Isak and Mozasu sit side by side and the little boy tells his father (who he has virtually no memory of prior to this moment) what he would do if he was rich. Isak dispenses valuable wisdom to his son, saying that true wealth is to be loved. Mozasu answers with the straightforward honesty that only a child could have: “But why can’t it be both? I want to be both loved and rich.” The next moment, a blackout occurs; Isak looks frightened, and Mozasu adorably hands his father a toy airplane to help ease his anxiety.
A Betrayal Is Revealed in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 2
Pastor Hu arrives at the home; Isak asks to speak with him alone, but suggests that Noa stay with them. Isak has had a lot of time to think about who turned him in. He asks Pastor Hu if he was the one who betrayed him. The man does not deny it, and immediately confesses that he despised the kindhearted Isak. Pastor Hu had been the favored up-and-coming pastor at the time, but was knocked down in the pecking order when Isak came along. He didn’t want to be replaced, so he reported Isak to the police. Noa’s eyes brim with tears, as he realizes that the mentor whom he has confided in over the years is the one who has caused him and his family so much pain. Isak considers this information and states that he forgives Pastor Hu. Noa is shocked, and tells his father that he shouldn’t forgive him, but Isak has made up his mind.
Isak sits with both of his sons and tells them that mercy is an admission, and that survival comes at a cost. He states firmly, even though he is becoming weaker with coughs wracking his body, “No matter what, you are my sons, and I am your father.” At this point, neither of the boys know that Isak is not really Noa’s father, so this declaration of love is even more poignant. The doctor Hansu has arranged for finally arrives. After examining him, the doctor tells Sunja that Isak is in poor condition, with lots of mucus in his lungs. But the real calamity is that he has sepsis, and has, at most, only a few hours left to live. The family has all held onto the belief that they just needed to get Isak home in order to be okay, but now that he is, nothing can be done to save him.
Isak and Sunja lay side by side on the floor. They both know that these are the final words they’ll say to each other. Isak confesses that he wants to live so badly; that, in fact, he is “dying to live.” Sunja reassures him that “our children will lead good lives…they will thrive,” knowing that Isak is holding on because he’s worried about what he’s leaving behind. It is this statement that Sunja will use as a cornerstone for the rest of her life; her dedication to keeping her promise to Isak will allow her to carry on with purpose. The picture fades in and out several times, and Sunja is then seen crying hysterically in the alley outside (in a moment that alone should gain Kim an Emmy nomination). Her beloved Isak is gone for good now.
Solomon Continues To Formulate a Plan in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 2
This chapter of Solomon’s life opens with him sitting next to Abe-san (Yoshio Maki) at a bar after the man accepted his award for Japanese Businessman of the Year. Solomon claims he has come to beg for mercy so that Abe-san won’t continue to try and take him down. At first, it seems like he might acquiesce, as he confesses that Solomon reminds him a lot of himself. In a statement that seems like it could come from many characters in Pachinko, he says that as a young man, he “needed to prove to the world that I was not an inconsequential man.” But then Abe-san confirms he will show no mercy to Solomon, saying, “You mess with me, and I will smite you down.”
In his despair (and lacking anyone else to talk to), Solomon returns to Han Geum-ja (Park Hye-jin), who he calls Halmoni or ‘grandmother.’ He tells her that because he convinced her not to sell her land, he was fired from his job at Shiffley’s, which led to his visa being revoked. He is now stuck in Japan, basically with no future. The bitter young man states that he’s just surprised his life hasn’t led him here sooner, saying that for the Koreans living in Japan, “we all turn on each other for the sake of survival.” Halmoni doesn’t seem to have time for Solomon’s nihilism. She reminds him that she got her land simply because they were practically giving it away after the war. There was a military school with trucks carrying corpses, and no one else would have wanted to live there. But Solomon is struck by something she has said. He immediately has the idea that this is the way that they can save her land, by claiming that there are bodies buried there. He excitedly tells her, “This is how we fight back!” But Halmoni is suspicious of Solomon’s idea, reminding him that she has tried very hard to put the history of the land from her mind. She tells him, “I had to forget… or how could I possibly live here?”
Halmoni feels that Solomon’s idea would be “exploiting the dead,” but Solomon is convinced that this piece of information is the answer to their problems. Investors would no longer be interested in purchasing land that is a burial ground. But at the same time, Solomon understands Halmoni’s reluctance. He admits that he knows he hasn’t endured the same type of suffering that Halmoni and Sunja (and everyone of that generation) experienced. He acknowledges that both Halmoni and his grandmother look at him and his life of privilege and ask themselves, “Did I really live through all of that for this?” It is one moment when Solomon actually displays some self-awareness, but in the next scene, it’s revealed that he ends up getting exactly what he wanted. Halmoni will sell her land for 1.4 billion yen, but the hotel will never be built because Solomon will sink the plans (likely making it public what the land was used for during the war). In a line reminiscent of Game of Thrones, Solomon proudly declares, “Abe-san will know that I’m the one that did this to him.”
The War Brings One Final Heartbreak to Sunja in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 2
The episode ends by switching back and forth between Solomon’s conniving and the family saying goodbye to Isak. The empty streets of the village are shown with the same quiet energy that existed in the very first scene of the episode. Mozasu is seen holding a framed picture of Isak, and the family walks with his wooden coffin. People start to come out into the street to pay their respects, depicting one last look at how Isak’s kindness influenced those around him. They place the coffin in a furnace, and a sudden air raid siren screams through the air. Everyone starts rushing to the bomb shelters, but Sunja is glued to the spot, watching Isak’s coffin being consumed by flames. They try to pull her away as the sirens get louder, but she screams, “I can’t leave my husband.” The last chilling image is Isak’s coffin continuing to burn, and then a fade to black. The most tragic part is that Sunja is robbed of saying one final goodbye to the love of her life.
There are some sharp contrasts between Sunja and Solomon in this episode. Sunja is driven, as always, by doing whatever it takes to save her loved ones. She will compromise with Hansu (like making a deal with the devil) to fight for Isak’s health, and even in those final moments, is willing to sacrifice her safety by staying with Isak through his body’s very last moments on earth. Her selflessness is the opposite of Solomon’s motivation. He is driven by revenge and by wanting to live up to his own ideas of success and wealth. His concept of fighting back is by taking down the powerful people who have wronged him, while Sunja’s is about fighting for a better future for herself and her family. These individuals are very different in how they’ve coped with the discrimination and strife they’ve experienced, but they are both determined to thrive in Japan, no matter what the cost.
New episodes of Pachinko are available to stream every Friday on AppleTV+ in the U.S.
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