Pachinko Season Two Review

After a two-year hiatus, Pachinko, easily the best series currently airing on AppleTV+, has returned for its second season. And what a season it is. Everything that you loved about the gorgeous and emotionally challenging first season is back, only this time our knowledge of the characters and their histories – both personally and with one another – make season two an even richer and more complex viewing experience. And, for those wondering, there’s a new opening credits sequence and it’s just as glorious as the first season’s (in fact, I prefer season two’s credits a bit more).

So, what’s in store for season two? Well, the story continues to be bifurcated into the tale of Kim Sunja (still portrayed by Kim Min-Ha in the past and Youn Yuh-jung in the “present” 1989 timeframe) in her “past” and “present” day. The “past” includes a big time jump into 1945, which means Sunja’s sons are a bit older, with Noa (whose father is the complicated Koh Hansu, played once again by the great Lee Min-Ho, however Noa doesn’t know this crucial fact) in his late teens and Mozasu is now a precocious kid (as an adult in the 1989 timeline, he’s still portrayed by Soji Arai, who I wish got a bit more to do this time around). The impact of World War II on Japan is outlined clearly throughout this portion of the story, and the audience is kept waiting for the inevitable dropping of the atomic bombs. In fact, as soon a character mentions that another character is currently living in Nagasaki, well, you don’t need to be Chekhov to understand that something horrific is about to happen.

But the oppressive nature of the war on Sunja and her immediate family is lessened a bit once Hansu convinces her to take the boys – and her sister-in-law, Kyunghee (Jung Eun-chae, asked to tackle some truly complex storytelling this season) – to the country in an attempt to avoid the frequent bombing in Osaka. Yes, there are troubles and worries to be had, but it’s an incredible sequence within the season watching the boys live out a life similar to Sunja’s during her childhood in Busan. It also allows the adult characters an opportunity to breathe, no longer concerned with the day-to-day concerns of life in the city and allowed the chance to be freer with their actions – for good and for ill. The war of course ends, and life returns to a new normal, and we continue moving forward in time to yet another tumultuous moment in East Asian history that will likely flow into a third season.

As was the case with season one, the “past” portion of the story is the more emotionally complex and fulfilling of the show’s two halves. Hardly a shock, seeing as that section of the series contains the bulk of the story’s characters and is richer in terms of the stories it is telling. However, the 1989 storyline is much more focused in season two, following only Sunja and Solomon (Jin Ha, who has matured in his performance this time around to great impact) on their singular journeys. Sunja’s arc is less compelling from a story perspective, however it has a much stronger emotional hook than Solomon’s piece of the story. With Sunja, we get a story that meshes nicely with the war arc from the past, highlighting the nature of forgiveness, the pain that continues to linger even after decades, and how the relationship between Korean and Japanese individuals is still strained with so much of the past hurt and racial tensions.

With Solomon, it’s a tale of an ambitious young man desperately trying to achieve his piece of the pie through whatever means necessary. While it doesn’t seem to have a direct link to the past (in season one, Solomon represented the young, assimilated Japanese of Korean heritage who didn’t understand the past and thus chaffed at reminders that they aren’t truly Japanese, certainly still true in season two, but not the main focal point), Solomon’s self-centered focus on revenge and a desire to prove his worth after his failures from season one can track a bit with Koh Hansu and his own desires to be seen as more than his Korean heritage. But, in the overall arc of the series, Solomon’s story feels a bit out of place this time around, hitting on several story beats from season one and turning him into a selfish and short-sighted character with very little in the way of true checks from others within the story. I’m not entirely sure just where this story will go in a third season, but it’s the one place where we need a bit more in the way of character development to really get an insight into Solomon’s motives – beyond the basic outline we’ve been presented in season one.

However, despite that minor quibble with Solomon’s arc, season two of Pachinko is a stunning success across the board. The writing conveys the story beautifully throughout the Korean, Japanese, and occasional English languages. The performances continue to be some of the best on television. And the story being told is novel enough to continue to enchant but with enough meat on its bones to feel like a truly complex tale being woven throughout the decades of time being traversed. And, as a bonus, Anna Sawai – who is having a hell of a year with Monarch and Shogun – even pops in for a handful of episodes, reprising her role from season one. So, it’s also got that going for it. But if you were a fan of season one, you’re going to love season two. If you never got around to season one, please give this series a chance and watch it. If you were able to survive Shogun and its subtitles, you’ll be just fine here as well. AppleTV+ has been more misses than hits of late, but Pachinko remains one of its absolute gems.

Pachinko’s second season premieres on August 23. All eight episodes of season two were provided for review.