Dear gambling addicts, please rise because we ought to catch up with Pachinko (파친코 in Korean) since the multigenerational family drama returns with its second season after a long, gruelling wait, as the series continues to adapt Min Jin Lee's novel of the same name after wrapping up the pre-World War II portion previously.
We jump to Osaka in 1945 where our main character Sunja (Minha Kim), now in her 20s, is living with her two sons, older brother Noa (unknown actors) and younger brother Mozasu (unknown actors), brother-in-law Yoseb (Junwoo Han) and his wife Kyunghee (Eunchae Jung). Sunja's husband (Steve Sang-hyun Noh) is in prison while Noa's biological dad Hansu (Lee Minho), a well-connected gangster, has been keeping tabs on the family. The highly dangerous final days of the war require Sunja to accept help from Hansu in order to keep everyone safe, and he relocates the family to the countryside before we also skip to the 1950s.
In 1989's Tokyo, elderly Sunja's (Yuh-jung Youn) grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) is continuing his business adventures after sabotaging a lucrative deal earlier and reconnects romantically with his former colleague Naomi (Anna Sawai). Meanwhile, Sunja begins to hang out with a Japanese man named Kato (Jun Kunimura), which leads Mozasu (Soji Arai) to look into the guy's past and motives regarding Sunja and the family's wealth.
The first season of the show was rightfully praised for its adaptation of the ambitious storylines in different decades, as well as the rich essence the writing was able to pull from all the juxtapositions and cultural aspects of those specific periods in time, and the good news is that the second season is no different in that regard. Showrunner Soo Hugh and other writers invoke an indisputable sense of time and place during these eight episodes, whilst continuing to dig deeper into the core where we come upon generational trauma, colonialism, racism, assimilation, class and search for one's own identity. More than two years between seasons is rather unforgivable so that does affect the way you experience the story and character arcs overall, but the thematic resonance is right there throughout.
And even though it's been a while, the first two episodes (directed by Leanne Welham) do remind you of the first season, although exclusively of its flaws as it turns out. Despite serving up the themes elegantly, the series struggled to find momentum in this medium due to dreadful pacing and monotonous intonation, with scenes that were dragged out for minutes on end before getting drowned by the exhausting gloom. The creatives seemed to rely on the capital I importance of the story too much so it often restricted Pachinko from becoming a fantastic TV show with a proper flow.
Here we have all those same problems, underlined by one scene after another where characters are instructed by the direction and writing to either cry or look dismayed, but there are no actual tears or scenes that would offer other notes for the actors to play. Therefore it just becomes disingenuous, and at worst, pure misery porn, which is disappointing. It also doesn't help that composer Nico Muhly's score is both manipulative and overbearing, especially in the second episode where it's wall-to-wall, making you want to reach for that mute button. I imagine a lot of viewers won't make it any further, which is a shame, but you can't really blame them, to be fair.
Said shame is exponential since Pachinko starts to hit the right balance with episode three (directed by Arvin Chen) as the different timelines complement each other, the scenes have real dynamism and the strongest acting showcases in the show take the spotlight. Youn is really the one performer who steers the ship here, portraying Sunja's emotional growth, humility and genuine love beautifully as Sunja weighs her loneliness and limits of compassion against this new potential companion who history has likely deemed as her and her family's oppressor. Youn's layered expressions elevate Ha's other lead performance as well when their characters interact because that's when the contrast between past and present is really evident.
When your counterpart is this exceptional, it further underscores how unfortunately frustrating Kim's depiction of Sunja is still. One part of that is a limited range of emotions that the writing gives her—Kim is often tasked with that nonstop crying and frowning even when she clearly isn't feeling any of it—and another is how different it seems when compared to elderly Sunja. It'd be wonderful to see the actor be given a proper chance to convey different shades of the character. You would've expected it by now but it's actually the two young actors playing Noa who get those moments and arc in the earlier timeline, and both of them are tremendous finds, showing Noa's hesitation and pressures as the new ''man in the house'' before secrets get revealed and the character looks for different ways to pave his own path.
In terms of craft, the series remains as one of the most impressive projects around. Ruth Ammon's production design not only conceives small towns or villages where you feel the sense of community, but also creates posher spaces in 1989, as well as homes that feel lived in. Kyunghwa Chae's costume design and all the VFX extensions (supervised by Ashley Bernes) of those sets complete that puzzle neatly. Episodes three and seven stand out the most while five provides some surprising, and admirable, left turns stylistically. The season finale (directed by Sang-il Lee, written by Chang-rae Lee) is a bit simpler on the surface but the dramatic tension is extremely high and makes sure that all the crucial character arcs have satisfying endpoints.
The series has definitely improved and gets closer to the level it wants to be at, as Yuh-jung Youn, rich character arcs and excellent technical prowess are the highlights of season two. It still has problems to solve as an episodic TV show so it can finally reach its full potential, but that's a small issue considering that there's a recognisable voice behind the words and themes it has delved into. I doubt that it attracts many new fans but for those who have already been on this journey into the past, it is very much worth your time.
Smileys: Yuh-jung Youn, production design, story, structure
Frowneys: Some issues with score and tone
After securing that deal, it's stylised as $olomon.
4.0/5
Where to watch:
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