Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
Fellow fans, we finally have liftoff!
Pachinko Season 2 Episode 3 starts a new chapter for the characters as they leave war-torn Osaka behind for a countryside idyll.
Well, as idyllic as being wartime evacuees in a kitchenless barn can be.
Their narrow escape from the Osaka air raid, as witnessed by Noa from the rear window of Koh Hansu’s car, was a lurid panorama of smoky skies and muffled bomb blasts that formed a fiery line on the horizon.
It would have been a powerful last shot for Pachinko Season 1.
However, it still serves its purpose here as a definitive visual break between Sunja’s family’s precarious existence in the city and their new life of relative comfort and safety in the country.
It’s a new life that’s entirely dependent on Koh Hansu, though.
What Desperate People Can Do
Sunja worked hard to convince her family that they could trust Koh (Lee Min-ho) to get them out of the city, but now she’s finding it difficult to do so herself.
Sunja (Kim Min-ha) is mostly scared that Noa will figure out his true parentage by being around Koh so often.
But it also might help matters if she stopped asking Noa (Kim Kang-hoon) out of the blue to not forget about his father Isak, where Noa’s like:
Um… sure, but why would I ever forget him?
Sunja’s cryptic request doesn’t seem to make Noa wonder about anything specific, so perhaps Koh is right about him never discovering their genetic connection.
Koh is not being very subtle, either, by giving Noa reading assignments to groom him for a place in the family business.
A Change Of Scenery
It has finally sunk in for Sunja that she is now a widow and not just a woman who is alone because her husband is in jail, the way she’s lived for so long.
She is also back in the country for the first time in fourteen years, with all the feelings that brings up of the person she was back then compared to who she is now.
Thanks to Koh, the family is relatively comfortable, but they still work on a farm with disgruntled women and freedom-seeking chickens.
The scene with Noa and Moz chasing an escaped hen is fun on its own, but it also shows the boys’ different attitudes toward their new living situation.
Moz (Eunseong Kwon) is the same optimist he was in Osaka, only now with a sunny backdrop that better reflects his cheerful disposition.
He is delighted to chase chickens in the summer countryside, and can think of nothing he’d rather do with his life.
Even the typically dour Noa is powerless against his little brother’s joie de vivre, but his good humor evaporates when Moz wishes they could live in the country forever.
Noa of course has a lot on his emotional plate, but you’d think being out in the sun and away from his Osaka school bullies would foster a slightly better outlook.
Speaking of Noa’s school bullies…
Keep Your Stolen Eggs In One Basket
The big nighttime stakeout to discover the egg thieves is both harrowing and delightful.
Moz, of course, is beside himself with excitement at the prospect of watching the chicken coop at night: “This place gets better and better!”
Mr. Kim (Kim Sung-kyu) is being paid to be there.
Noa wants to avenge the hens and protect his brother. Kyunghee wants to escape boredom and perhaps spend some quality time with Mr. Kim.
They lie in a row in the dark and learn Mr. Kim’s tragic backstory of the theft of his family’s farm, his father’s suicide, and how he met Koh Hansu.
It’s an astonishing amount of biographical and emotional information that’s delivered in the very gentlest of tones, like a respectful college literature class lecture.
Mr. Kim poetically elides his father’s final act in a way that makes clear what happened while still being entirely appropriate for his young audience.
All but one of the egg thieves escape, and it’s Noa’s bully from school! Mr. Kim gives Noa the choice to either turn the boy in or let him go.
Noa doesn’t hesitate. Echoing the theme of Pachinko Season 2 Episode 2, he channels his father, Isak, and shows mercy, telling Mr. Kim to let the boy go.
Mozasu reveals a surprising vindictive streak — or, more likely, just doesn’t want the evening’s drama to end — at Noa’s waste of an opportunity to get back at his tormentor.
Mr. Kim offers a pragmatic view of mercy by saying it’s better to have your enemies owe you than to punish them in the moment.
Noa seems to crave Mr. Kim’s approval, which is understandable as he’s the only consistent adult male figure around.
It’ll be interesting to see how Noa incorporates Mr. Kim’s undercurrent of danger with Isak’s teachings.
Kyunghee’s Time To Shine
This episode’s theme is equality, which is shown when Noa recognizes his bully as just another evacuee and not someone with power over him. We also see it in Kyunghee’s story arc.
Kyunghee has always worked hard to keep the family’s home as comfortable as possible, but she was often spared the overt dangers that Sunja risked out in the world with her business ventures.
Kyunghee’s prim sense of propriety is woefully out of place in the countryside. Still, while she may concede that the family needs to live with a strange man for protection, her loyalty to her absent husband Yoseb remains unchanged.
Or… does it??
When Kyungheee and the handsome, age-appropriate Mr. Kim met on the night they fled Osaka, it was apparent that they would eventually pair up.
Khyunghee can stress-knit sweaters for Yoseb all she wants, but she seems to recognize this romantic inevitability with Mr. Kim, too.
Kyunghee has taken to country life in a way that stems from being on more equal footing with Sunja now that they are both doing the exact same job in the field.
The flip side is that Sunja is unmoored by this new dynamic with her sister-in-law and also by Koh effectively replacing her as the family’s provider. After so many years of having to be vigilant, it’s hard for Sunja to let her guard down even a little.
Kyunghee, on the other hand, might have just discovered how to be free.
Solomon Makes His Move
Yes, Solomon (Jin Ha) has started setting up his chess pieces, getting Tom on board with the deal, and confirming on his snazzy car phone that Abe-san purchased Halmoni’s house.
Still, Solomon really only needed to be in this episode for that sexual tension-filled elevator ride with Naomi (Anna Sawai), as they not-so-patiently waited, floor by agonizing floor, to be left alone together.
This episode’s theme of equality is present here in the way these two corporate warriors frankly lay out what they want and, if not join forces, then freely choose to not get in each other’s way.
And, just maybe allow for the possibility of a romantic future.
There’s also potential romance in the egg section of the grocery store, as elder Sunja (Youn Yuh-jung) is charmed by a fellow shopper in a natty bow tie and suspenders.
Complimenting her grandson’s bravery is apparently the key to Sunja’s heart at this stage of her life.
The new friends later sit on a park bench for a chat that also features equality as a theme, this time by describing how life is never easy, no matter what time period one is born into.
Visual Treats
The episode’s opening image of orange-toned, firefly-like lantern light bobbing in the darkness of the Osaka evacuation is bookended by the final image of cool, blue-white lightning flashes in dark clouds.
That first image juxtaposed warm, comforting light with the dangerous reality of an air raid, while the closing image of blinding, ear-splitting lighting is a direct, unambiguous portent of doom.
There’s also a gorgeous shot of a cloud of park pigeons being shooed into flight by Mr. Bow Tie, which seamlessly transitions into a soaring shot of a lone crane flying over a country field where young Sunja’s family is flying a kite.
The entire series is a visual feast, but these scenes, in particular, were standouts in this episode.
Looking Ahead
Episode 3 was thrillingly rich in character development and action.
It was heavy on the past but in a more buoyant way than we’ve seen so far this season. It also held a palpable sense of hope, even in the 1989 timeline.
There was a true sense of the series shifting gears and moving into the future without forgetting that the war is never far away.
What did you think of this episode’s move to the countryside? Let us know in the comments!