Pachinko Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Survival comes at a cost

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0

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The mood darkens in Pachinko Season 2 Episode 2 as the Sunja family suffers another loss and air raids approach.

A dreamlike shift in tone can’t hide that this is the second bridge episode this season, keeping us tied to the unresolved narrative threads of Season 1 of the Apple TV+ series.

The good news is that we may now be at the point where Season 2 can finally begin.

It was hard to tell at first if the first scene of the episode, with its deserted streets and smoky skies, was real.

Our expectations were turned upside down when the ominous figure wearing a gas mask turned out to be a human friend, not a ghostly specter.

Those expectations were again undermined when we learned that the real messenger of Death arrives on a bicycle.

No gift, no power

This episode spends a lot of time in the realm between the dead and the living.

But its overriding theme is mercy: who gives it, who withholds it, who asks for it, and who deserves it.

Isak’s (Noh Sang-hyun) unexpected homecoming is otherworldly at first, but he quickly re-establishes his position as the spiritual core of the household, even when he’s coughing.

It was a good reminder of his importance to the family and why Sunja (Kim Min-ha) is so devoted to him.

They’ve existed in limbo without him for so long that it’s painful to see them together in a moment that’s about love, not just survival.

Unfortunately, it was also a reminder of the self-destructive idealistic streak that Isak and Sunja share.

Sunja is brutally pragmatic, except when it comes to Isak.

This vulnerability and her refusal to leave Osaka without him kept her family in potential danger from air raids.

She was right to suspect that Koh Hansu (Lee Min-ho) was responsible for Isak’s release and that he could have done much sooner – like, years earlier.

Koh’s excuse that he could only bribe a guard now, on the eve of the bombings, made some kind of sense, and could very well have been the truth for all we know.

But it seems he could have done more for Isak in some capacity much earlier and may have spared his health.

The family’s last night together

Isak’s scene with Mozasu was funny and touching, and damn, there’s got to be a tissue around here somewhere.

Much less funny was Isak’s conversation with Pastor Hu (Junyoung Choi), who confessed that he turned him in to the authorities years ago.

This exchange took place in front of a shocked Noah, who will probably leave the church for good now.

If that happens, at least Noah’s teacher, who wants him to go to college, will be happy!

Isak’s immediate forgiveness of Pastor Hu was completely in character, but also maddening.

If one has reason to be angry with the world in general and Pastor Hu in particularit’s Isak.

While his noble act is indeed nobleit also reminds us of his inflexibility of principle it cost him his family.

He left Sunja with the burden of pragmatism when he was imprisoned, but it seems the purity of his heart is enough for her and everyone else in the family to overlook this fact.

Of course, Sunja loves him.

After all, he took Noa in as his own child and gave her a legitimate home.

He loves her as fiercely as her father, and that level of devotion was rare in her world.

Isak’s death was the most merciful gift he could have given his family, as Sunja would not have left Osaka if he had been alive and in need of recovery.

However, Sunja allows her sentimentality to get the best of her one last time when she has to be dragged from Isak’s cremation to the bomb shelter as the air raid sirens finally sound, almost sacrificing herself for his memory one more time.

Disturbing the dead

Solomon’s plea for Abe-san’s mercy did not go well.

His former boss said, “You remind me too much of me, so I intend to absolutely crush you.”

This clarified a few things for Solomon.

One, he will no longer be on Abe-san’s payroll, and two, he will never be able to do business in Tokyo.

Well, at least now he knows.

Solomon’s visit to Halmoni’s dark, graffitied home had horror movie undertones.

This was reinforced when she let it slip that her land was so cheap because the military used to dump bodies on it years ago.

WHAT.

This raised the question of how much we owe the dead.

I had just seen Solomon confess his sins to Halmoni (Park Hye-jin) and admit that he didn’t deserve her mercy.

That no one of his generation really deserves that kind of pity when they are so far removed from the horrors they had to survive to give them the world they all now enjoy.

But here’s Solomon, who asks one more favor from both Halmoni and the dead: permission to sell his land and spread rumors of a secret wartime cemetery beneath Abe-san’s hotel, if he tries to build it.

If we’re being honest, this threat doesn’t seem big enough to bankrupt Abe-san.

Sure, some investors might pull out, but it looks like Japan’s businessman of the year could easily be bought or cowed.

Still, it’s a glimmer of hope for Solomon. It also offers the chance for his redemption with Halmoni, giving him enough money to improve his living situation.

Unfortunately, Solomon sidesteps all of that and goes straight to “Tell her it was me!!”

This business is about nothing but revenge for him now.

Just when we, like Halmoni, thought Solomon had finally learned to recognize and avoid manipulation.

A clear way forward

This was another slow episode that kept its eyes in the rearview mirror, though it set a course of action for Solomon this season.

Now that Isak’s story has been (literally) put to rest, Sunja and her family have nothing holding them back in Osaka and can fully move forward with their lives.

Koh Hansu will no doubt continue to play a big role in securing them, although Sunja may now be a bit better at recognizing his various versions of help when they appear.

Pastor Hu’s betrayal seems to set Noa up for a lot of character development this season.

Noa has been so quiet for so long that I have a feeling this will change very soon.

Solomon began to play a very dangerous game with a powerful man who intends to destroy him. Let’s hope Halmoni stays safely on the sidelines.

What do you think of this episode?

Do you think the pace of the show will pick up now that Isak’s storyline has been resolved? Tell us in the comments!