Pachinko episode 2 is a sad believably arresting chapter that builds up the show’s emotional resonance. Being set in both the 1930s when wars were ravaging the world and the 1980s, the episode depicts a number of sad and emotional scenes that are characteristic to the series’ theme of family, grief, and survival.
Pachinko Season 2, Episode 2 Recap
The primary scene of the episode starts with a war scenario raising the spirits of the show by showing the effect of war on children. Mozasu and Noaz sleep in gas masks and the world around them is adsorbed in troubles. Another hurdle for them is experienced when they hear that a local boy’s father has died. The layers of sorrow become even more intense when Isak, Sunja’s husband shows up in the picture again in a dying process.
Sunja’s desperate attempt to save Isak leads her to seek a doctor through Han-Su, who reveals a troubling condition: the services which are provided by the doctor are costly and as a result Kim Sunja (Youn Yuh-jung) and her family are forced to migrate from the city. At the same time, Isak gets worse and a truth that affects everyone causes tension to rise. Now Pastor Hu, the man who had set on Isak on grounds of jealousy and personal vendetta by reporting him, is invited to see Isak. Though Hu regretted his action it had remain irreversible, before dying Isak gives his children a lesson about forgiving and that love matters most than having material possessions.
In the 1980 timeline, Solomon Baek (Jin Ha) is dealing with the consequences of a bad business venture. The social pressure that Abe puts to remove him from society coupled with his financial and professional woes explain the state. Out of despair, Solomon goes to an old woman he had harmed in the past to confess to all that he did, including his understanding that the Koreans are discriminated against in the country. This meeting brings solomon to an ethically ambiguous idea of turning the land’s history into an asset to him.
Solomon’s difficulties in his relationships, or in understanding/accepting who he is, and the world around him which is portrayed as hostile, are shown. His plan to sell the land in order to bring attention to the unpleasant truth about what happened to those who were buried there is his desire to correct the past, at the cost of disturbing the bones of people who were buried on that land.
The climax of the episode can be seen when Isak gets even sicker to sepsis and Sunja is left hopeless. Nonetheless, Isak dies and having no other option left Sunja is compelled to abandon him as the city appears to descend into anarchy. The scene is a memory of suffering and sorrow which characterized Sunja’s life.
Still in a rather sad manner, the episode ends with Solomon negotiating with the man who send people to attack a helpless old woman. Solomon agrees to sell the plot at the agreed price much higher than the rest of the prices but leaves the construction of the hotel impossible. This last rebellion represents further more or less his fight against a specific governmental structure that has always been against him.