Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
Who would have pegged Sunja as a margarita gal??
That was the first of about a thousand revelations in Pachinko Season 2 Episode 6, which more than made up for the show’s recent five-year time jump.
Things reached a boiling point during this episode in both timelines — yes, even in 1989! Solomon’s storyline needed a terrycloth headband for the aerobic workout it got, but events in the ’50s were just as heart-pounding.
Breaking Points In The Past
Mr. Kim has HAD IT with being the fixer for everyone’s life but his own.
He’s never liked his role as Koh’s “fists” keeping his black market business partners in line. But it was apparent that those beatings were no longer even serving Mr. Kim as some sort of catharsis for the powerlessness of his situation.
It was hard to read his expression at the political rally, especially when he didn’t join in when the crowd raised their fists at the end. However, it seemed that the speaker’s description of Korean brothers fighting each other back home struck a nerve.
Mr. Kim didn’t even allow himself the small pleasures that Kyunghee provided for him at home, such as leaving dinner out for him and washing his clothes.
I forgot YET AGAIN that Yoseb even existed until he was shown watching Mr. Kim and Kyunghee from his attic window. This made me think that his disfigurement wasn’t the only reason he removed himself from the family by staying upstairs.
He was absent from them for so long when he worked in Nagasaki that this role as a recluse might be more comfortable for him, even if it hurt to see how much the family has moved on without him.
It’s like they are a fast-moving train he’s running next to but just can’t get the timing right to jump back on.
Koh was busy making plans for when the Americans would leave Japan. Unfortunately, so was his father-in-law.
Not only would the father-in-law continue to back the ambitious political star Kurogane (and Koh’s nemesis), he also intended to double down on that support by marrying Koh’s daughter off to Kurogane.
Oh, and he added the threat-not-threat of reminding Koh that he’d never harmed Noa and his family in all these years, but that could change at any time.
Koh’s father-in-law may have just overplayed his hand. He should know better than anyone how dangerous it is to have his son-in-law as an enemy.
Back To The Future
It seems I had it all wrong last episode when I thought it was Naomi who should watch out for some double-crossing ahead.
I was seriously floored when Yoshii’s henchman gave Solomon those photos of Naomi with another man. Shocked, I tell you! But I wasn’t all that surprised that Yoshii had commissioned this surveillance.
Like Koh’s father-in-law, Yoshii knew the value of using personal ties as leverage for business.
To guarantee that Solomon wouldn’t back down from manipulating his girlfriend for their business deal, Yoshii obtained evidence to ensure that result.
I honestly couldn’t feel all that sorry for Solomon, knowing that he’d planned to force Naomi’s hand in the Abe-san deal anyway.
It seemed a little convenient for Naomi to have this bombshell just waiting to be found, although the show laid the groundwork for this in the previous episode when Tom mentioned his own affair with her.
Tom correctly surmised that the real attraction for Naomi had been the illicit nature of their affair, considering her parents.
That seems to have been a driving force behind her relationship with Solomon, as well.
I loved it when Solomon confronted Naomi about seeing someone else, and she basically said, “Oh, it’s not like that. We’ve just pretty much been betrothed since birth.”
The best thing that came out of this was that these two have taken the gloves off and are set to unapologetically go to war with each other with absolutely no goodwill left to cloud their vision.
Now we can relax and watch the boardroom bloodshed!
Elsewhere in 1989, Sunja’s friendship with Kato had apparently moved from chatting in the park to day drinking at Mexican restaurants. And I am here for it!
It was bittersweet to watch Sunja being so appreciative as a customer rather than a restaurant worker. Those busy days at the noodle stall happened decades ago, but they didn’t seem far from her mind.
I know that Mozasu was already suspicious of his mother’s lunch date friend. Still, I did not like how he intercepted her thoughtful gift of a wallet for Kato (I hope she put some cash in it) and called in a private investigator (again, like Yoshii!).
It was a bit rich for Mozasu to assume that any man who was interested in Sunja must be a gold digger, especially when we’d just seen Moz open a late notice for his loan payments.
Then again, maybe Moz was thinking that if anyone was going to use his mother’s money to dig themselves out of a hole, it was going to be him!
Noa Chooses His Role
The good news that Noa had passed his entrance exam was dampened when the family learned that there were additional school fees in addition to the tuition they had already budgeted for.
Noa overheard Sunja’s plan to delay opening her restaurant and announced he wasn’t going to attend college. How could he, in good conscience, abandon his responsibilities to the family?
Sunja discussed the situation with Koh, but he basically just told her to FIX THIS.
It was gratifying but perhaps not surprising that Sunja had already figured out that Noa was visiting the tofu stall for more than just tofu.
This supremely sweet scene between mother and son was a welcome reminder of Sunja’s complicated personal history. She also gently emphasized the importance of Noa’s success outside of what it meant for their family.
It was a relief when Noa decided to go to college, but even better was seeing how Sunja made it his decision instead of a demand, which is undoubtedly what Koh would have done in her place.
The sheer number of events in this episode was exhilarating to watch, but because there were so many, they didn’t get enough breathing room to make the individual impact they deserved.
What did you think of this action-packed Pachinko episode, TV Fanatics? Would it have been more effective if it had been spaced out over two hours instead of just one? Let us know in the comments!
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