Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Pachinko Season 2 Episode 5.
One of the best parts about the Apple TV+ series Pachinko is its opening credits sequence. Each episode features a scene with all of the characters dancing and singing along to 1969’s “Wait a Million Years” by the Grass Roots (last season offered another song by the band, called “Let’s Live For Today”). Filmed in a bright and colorful pachinko parlor, for one brief scene, the characters from different timelines can interact with each other. It is a wonderful way to showcase how connected we can be to our families (even generations of people we have never met). Even though these individuals struggle a lot during their lives, this sequence is a pure expression of joy. That’s why it’s so notable that the fifth episode of Season 2 does not contain the credits at all. By forgoing the merriment, the series drives home the point of how devastating certain historical events are for the family, as well as for Japan. With sensitivity and care, Episode 5 is yet another example of Pachinko‘s ability to showcase how trauma can inform our actions for years to come.
Yoseb Becomes Part of History in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 5
The beginning of the episode is shot completely in black and white, with the first scene occurring on August 1, 1945, in Nagasaki. Yoseb (Han Joon-Woo) has been stationed there while the rest of the family has taken off for the countryside. He toils away in the factory, all while bigoted Japanese workers denigrate the Korean workers like him. Yoseb reluctantly befriends a young Korean named Taehoon (Baek Su-ho), who was sent over from Korea a year prior after an accident in the mine where he worked. They speak about how the war won’t last forever, but as of now, Yoseb says, “We do whatever it takes” to keep fighting and to survive.
Each day passing is marked by white numbers on the screen. On August 7, the foreman at the factory announces that a special advisor to the Emperor will be visiting. The next day, Yoseb sees Taehoon sneak a chisel off a table and pocket it. Yoseb tries to talk him out of whatever dangerous thing he’s planning, adding, “You remind me of someone… my brother, Isak. I brought him into this hell, all because I was lonely. And now, he’s gone.” But Taehoon thinks that the reason he survived a horrible cholera outbreak in his town is so that he can actually make a difference somehow.
On August 9, a clock is shown on the screen, illustrating that every moment is hurtling towards something major happening. While everyone is gathered in the factory for the special visitor, Taehoon attempts to stab the man. Yoseb jumps in the middle to try and stop his friend from carrying out his plan, and is, instead, stabbed in the shoulder himself. The two men are hurled into separate vans when the screen goes completely white. A faint glow of flames appears, the time 11:02 pops up, and then there is complete darkness. This is the exact moment when Allied forces dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 5 Depicts the Aftermath of the War
The next scene is a radio announcer noting that the Empire accepts the provisions of the Joint Declaration and that continuing to fight would only result in the collapse of Japan. The war is over. A blurry vision fades in and out, and a crying Kyungee (Jung Eun-chae) appears. The episode is no longer in black and white. It is revealed that Yoseb has survived the atomic blast and has been taken to the countryside to be reunited with his family. Hansu is sitting next to him. Yoseb asks about Taehoon, but Hansu doesn’t know who he is. All Hansu knows is that Yoseb was shielded from the blast because of the truck he was thrown in. However, it is obvious that Yoseb has been severely injured, with horrible burns covering his face. Hansu informs him that the bomb essentially ended the war, but quickly shuts down Yoseb’s idea that Korea will now be abandoned by the Japanese to be a sovereign country again.
Hansu tells Yoseb that they will be staying in the country until Osaka is safe again. This information is particularly heartbreaking to think about, since Mr. Kim (Kim Sungkyu) was just able to connect with Kyunghee for the first time in Episode 4, and will now have to live in the same house as her injured husband. Yoseb cannot hide his disdain for Hansu in this moment, and tells him that he knows that Hansu is Noa’s real father. Hansu insults Isak, and even in his weak state, Yoseb threatens to kill him for speaking ill of his beloved brother. Hansu carries out the simple act of holding up a mirror to Yoseb’s face; it is clear it is the first time he has actually seen how severe his burns are. Hansu spits out, “I saved you, just as I saved the others.”
After some time passes, the family is ready to return to the city. Noa (Kim Kang-hoon) says goodbye to his friend, and the boys look forlornly out the back window of their car as they drive away from the place they were able to make into a home. The camera pans across the inside of the house, filled with chalk drawings the boys have done and small touches that Kyunghee and Sunja (Minha Kim) have included to make the space more comfortable. They drive into the charred city with its blackened remains; this is all that is left of their home. Noa and Mozasu (Eun-seong Kwon) stand outside, while the adults try to see if anything can be salvaged.
An American Jeep rolls by on the street and a GI asks, “How are you kids holding up?” When the boys just stare at him (mostly in fear, since they’ve been taught to be scared of Americans), the soldier notes, “We must look like aliens to them.” But instead of throwing out racist remarks or acting as their enemy, the soldier kindly hands Mozasu his sunglasses in a gesture of peace and drives away. It is then that the show’s title card appears on the screen, a clear departure from the singing and dancing of the other episodes. The only downside to this depiction of the war is that there aren’t a lot of details explored about the true impacts of the bombings or of the extreme loss of life (more than 40,000 people alone died in the Nagasaki bombing) during the war.
A Time Jump Occurs in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 5
The entire season so far has followed young Sunja in 1945. The next scene features a time jump; it is now 1950 in Osaka. New actors are now playing the two boys (and it must be noted that Kang-hoon and Kwon will be sorely missed in future episodes). Noa and Mozasu, now played by Kang Tae-Ju and Masaku Takada, are officially teenagers. The city has once again become a bustling hub with people filling the streets. Sunja is running a noodle shop with plenty of happy customers. She is asked if it’s true that she’s going to open a restaurant, and she says she would love to if the Americans would loosen restrictions (and that she’s been saving as much as she can for this dream). Noa has his entrance exam for school coming up. A customer notes that Sunja will be the “envy of the market” if she has a son who’s in college. One notable element in this scene is that both Sunja and her mother, Yangjin (Inji Jeong), are now both speaking Japanese; previously, they had trouble acclimating to Japan because of the language difference. They have finally assimilated (even though many will still view them only as Korean immigrants).
Mr. Kim is still living with the family in Osaka. He meets with Hansu, and asks how much longer he will be required to stay with them. It must be torture for Mr. Kim to have to continue living with the love of his life, while her husband is under the same roof. Hansu says that as soon as Noa is away at university, Mr. Kim can leave. Mr. Kim suspects that Hansu has fixed things so that Noa will automatically pass the exam. Hansu seems a tad offended, and says, “I’ll do anything for my son, but not that.” But Hansu’s true reason for not helping is because he wants to see what Noa is truly capable of on his own.
In the next scene, Noa is studying to get into college when Sunja sits down with him. She apologizes for how hard he’s working, saying that she wishes she could have made things easier for him. He admits that he knows they could have accepted money from Hansu, but he’s glad they didn’t. Echoing Hansu’s words, Noa states that he didn’t want to do things that way; he also wants to know what he can achieve on his own. The next day, Noa buys some food in the market from a young girl that he clearly has a crush on. In a moment of vulnerability, he expresses his darkest fear to her: what if he can’t pass his exam? Only one in every seven students passes, but the girl reassures Noa that him not passing simply isn’t possible. It seems everyone has faith in Noa, except Noa himself.
There Are Kinks in Solomon’s Plan in ‘Pachinko’ Season 2 Episode 5
In a 1989 meeting with Tom (Jimmi Simpson), Naomi (Anna Sawai) observes that Abe is now carrying too much debt. She says, “If we distance ourselves from Abe, it would worry or alarm our other clients.” She thinks that because they’ve made a lot of money with him so far, Shiffley’s owes it to him to give him time to recover from the issues with the deal. Of course, this is exactly what Solomon (Jin Ha) does not want, but Naomi doesn’t know about his behind-the-scenes scheming. In a separate meeting, Solomon broaches the idea of turning the land into something else. Perhaps they could start an elite, members-only golf club. Tom arrives to let Solomon know that Shiffley’s won’t call in the loan because of Naomi’s appeal on Abe’s behalf. During these business chats, Tom also lets it slip that he and Naomi dated in the past (which is definitely not something Solomon knew about).
Solomon comes home at the end of the day to find Naomi asleep in his apartment. Even though Naomi has thrown a wrench in his plans, it doesn’t seem like he has any less affection for her, telling Naomi that seeing her was the highlight of his day. But how will Solomon traverse the bumpy road of convincing Naomi not to back Abe anymore? She doesn’t really know the breadth of Solomon’s plans, which means she’s the one obstacle he’ll need to overcome now. Will they somehow be able to move past this dynamic and keep their relationship going strong?
In the last scene of the episode, in 1950, a radio announcer describes that Korea has officially become divided with hostilities happening between the North and the South. June 25 appears on the screen, and Noa arrives to take his exam. Just as in the earlier scene when the ticking clock represented the impending bomb, a close-up of a clock appears as Noa sits down to take his test. Is this a sign that Noa will do poorly on the test, or just that he’s slowly inching forward toward his own destiny? There are three episodes remaining in the season to see where the characters’ journeys go from here.
New episodes of Pachinko Season 2 are available to stream every Friday on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
