Spoilers are ahead for Pachinko season 2, episode 1, “Chapter 9.”
Summary
Apple TV+’s critically acclaimedPachinkois back for a second season. Bolstered byPachinko’s cast of characters,the first episode is already a great reminder of just how compelling the intergenerational story of love and sacrifice can be. In season 1, the younger Sunja (Minha Kim) settles into life in Osaka, Japan, with Isak (Steve Sang-Hyun Noh), the minister who offered to marry her after she became pregnant with the dashing-yet-already-married Hansu’s (Lee Min-ho) child. Meanwhile, in the 1980s, Solomon (Jin Ha), Sunja’s grandson, eagerly awaits a promotion at his bank.
InPachinkoseason 1’s ending, Isak is arrested by Japanese officials for committing a political crime. Isak’s brother, Yoseb (Han Jun-woo), loses his job for being affiliated with his sibling, whichonly strengthens Sunja’s determination to provide for her sons, Noa (Kim Kang-hoon) and Mozasu (Eunseong Kwon), as well as her in-laws, Yoseb and Kyunghee (Jung Eun-chae). To do so, Sunja decides to sell kimchi at the market. Meanwhile, inPachinko’s other timeline, Solomon ruins his deal by telling the client, who reminds him of his grandmother (Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung), to refuse the offer.
8World War II Defines Pachinko Season 2’s 1945 Timeline
Sunja Continues To Sell Kimchi To Support Her Family
If anything, season 2’s World War II-era Japan setting is a harrowing reminder thatPachinkois based on real history. Picking up where the first installment left off,Sunja continues to sell kimchi at the market near the train station in order to provide for her family. Ever-determined, she even tells a frequent customer, Mr. Kim (Kim Sungkyu) about her passion to ensure a better life for her sons and their future families. As they talk, American planes fly low over the market, dropping leaflets. But that scene is far fromPachinko’s only reminder of its wartime setting.
Sunja and her sons participate in government-mandated military drills, stabbing dummies with weapons to prepare for invaders.
While the leaflets encourage Japanese citizens to ask their government for an end to the war, the friction within everyday communities and households is reaching a boiling point of its own. In one scene, Sunja and her sons participate in government-mandated military drills, stabbing dummies with weapons to prepare for invaders. All the while, Sunja faces anti-Korean discrimination — something that seems even more commonplace as people look for a way to vent their wartime frustrations.It’s certainly a bleak reminder of the real-life prejudices Korean people faced while living in Japan during the 1940s.
7Mozasu & Noa Handle Their Classmates’ Bigotry Differently
The Real-Life Discrimination Korean People Living In Japan Faced Is Captured In Pachinko Season 2
The discrimination seeps into Noa and Mozasu’s lives at school as well, thoughSunja’s sons handle the anti-Korean bigotry very differently. Noa, who’s a teenager, allows his classmates to sling racist insults at him, believing that ignoring their bullying is a better (and safer) path. When the younger Mozasu’s classmates mock his Korean food, Mozasu stands on his desk, shouting about how much he loves the meal. Although he’s reprimanded by the teacher, Mozasu seems to shake off his bullies. Later, one of Noa’s teachers, who’s hiding his own Korean identity to avoid persecution, suggests Noa pursue higher education.
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6Jiyun Convinces Sunja To Sell Rice Wine On The Black Market
Both Women Are Desperate To Help Their Families At Any Cost
In a tragic twist, Sunja’s friend, Jiyun (Jeong Sori), is being beaten by her husband — a sad truth she tries to shield her children from.Pachinkoseason 2 suggests that the abuse is just one of many examples of wartime aggression unfolding at home. Even so, Jiyun, like Sunja, is determined to provide for her family no matter what. Jiyun suggests that she and Sunja share illegal rice wine on the black market to earn extra money to feed their families. At first,Sunja is hesitant, but Kyunghee later reminds her that the boys have been eating worm-riddled rice rations.
Pachinkoseason 2, episode 1 reveals that Sunja hasn’t heard from her mother in three months, and Isak has been away for 7 years.
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5Sunja Is Arrested For Selling Rice Wine
Hansu Ensures Sunja Doesn’t Go To Prison
After stopping by Jiyun’s home to collect their wares, Sunja goes to the black market on her own to sell the rice wine. Jiyun laments the fact that she can’t join her friend, but Sunja insists that her experience selling kimchi near the train station will equate to success in the black market too. Sunja’s tense walk to the black market is a reminder of whyPachinkois one of TV’s best shows, especially since the sequence is intercut with Solomon’s 1989-set story.The parallels between Sunja and Solomon’s stories continue to be some of the strongest moments.
…the women didn’t think their worst fears would come to pass on the first night of Sunja’s business.
Suddenly, Jiyun bursts into Kyunghee’s house to alert her and the boys that Sunja has been arrested for selling the rice wine at the black market. It was always a risky endeavor, but clearly the women didn’t think their worst fears would come to pass on the first night of Sunja’s business. While waiting for her sentence, Sunja listens to other arrested women receive their own punishments. Although everyone else receives weeks or months in prison,Sunja is released without any sentence. Outside, Sunja finds Mr. Kim waiting for her, insisting that she get into his car.
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4Hansu Offers Sunja Refuge From The Imminent Bombing Of Japan
Hansu Has Been Supplying Japanese Troops With Tungsten
Mr. Kim and Sunja arrive at a mansion — one that belongs to none other than Hansu, who reveals that he’s kept an eye on her and Noa, his biological son, for years. Memorably, inPachinkoseason 1, Sunja refused Hansu’s help because he wouldn’t marry her, though she did use his watch to pay off some debts. Mr. Kim, Sunja’s long-time friendly customer, was actually hired by Hansu to keep tabs on Sunja.Hansu goes on to explain that he’s been supplying the Japanese troops with tungsten, a precious resource used in the creation of planes and weaponry.
Sunja refuses Hansu’s generous offer, claiming that she loves her husband too much to leave.
More importantly, Hansu’s position as a tungsten-supplier made him aware of some crucial details of warfare. He tells Sunja that he overheard a conversation suggesting that it was only a matter of time until the Americans bomb Japan. Armed with his insider knowledge,Hansu knows that Sunja — that no one — will be safe in Japan’s big cities. He offers Sunja a refuge in the countryside, saying that she, the boys, and Kyunghee can all live safely there. Sunja refuses Hansu’s generous offer, claiming that she loves her husband too much to leave.
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3Solomon Is Trying To Salvage His Career After His Actions In The Finale
The 1989 Timeline Is Set In Tokyo During Pachinko Season 2
InPachinko’s 1989-set timeline,Solomon struggles to get funding for his latest business venture after completely tanking his careerat the end ofPachinkoseason 1. Several investors, including a friend, turn Solomon down, citing his emotional state as a dangerous variable. When he meets up with Tetsuya (Ryotaro Sugimoto), a childhood friend, things take a positive turn. Although Tetsuya is wary about his own reputation, he’s willing to invest some money in Solomon’s endeavors, based solely on the fact that Solomon was a good person years ago.
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2Older Mozasu Opens A Pachinko Parlor
Monzasu Also Invests In Solomon’s Next Venture
The grand opening of older Mozasu’s (Soji Arai) pachinko parlor is an exciting moment for the whole family, including Solomon. Eager to spread his opening-day happiness,Monzasu invests in Solomon’s business, providing him with a check for $700,000. Although it’s partially from the mortgage Monzasu took out against his new business, the money is also from Sunja, Solomon’s grandmother. Solomon is hesitant to accept his family’s money — until Tetsuya calls to say he’s pulling his investment. Word on the street is that Solomon is conning investors.
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1Solomon Calls Out A Man Who’s Racist To His Grandmother
Sunja Becomes The Target Of Solomon’s Anger
Already furious about Tetsuya’s change of heart — something that was instigated by Katsu Abe (Yoshio Maki), a client of Solomon’s former employer — Solomon is on the verge of an outburst. Wanting to distract her grandson, Sunja asks him to come pick up a cake she ordered for the pachinko parlor’s grand opening. When Sunja lets the baker know that her order is wrong, he makes racist remarks about her and, in his mind, her inability to speak Japanese. Furious,Solomon screams at the man despite his grandmother’s protests.
Solomon turns his anger on Sunja, seething, “I can’t live always feeling sorry for you.”
After they leave the bakery, Solomon rips up Mozasu’s check. In one of the episode’s most heartbreaking moments, Solomon turns his anger on Sunja. “I can’t live always feeling sorry for you,” he seethes, completely ignorant of just how much his grandmother sacrificed for him.The episode ends with Solomon turning up at an award ceremony to threateningly glare at Abe.While Solomon is hitting a low point and refusing his family’s help, it will be interesting to see how younger Sunja’s story parallels her grandson’s inPachinkoseason 2, episode 2.
New episodes ofPachinkoseason 2 air on Apple TV+ on Fridays through June 03, 2025.
Pachinko
Created by Soo Hugh, Pachinko is a Drama series created for Apple TV that was released in 2022. The series stars Soji Arai, Jun-woo Han, and Jin Ha. The series follows multiple characters as they attempt to navigate their lives in New York, Japan, and Korea.
