Chapter Five
Episode 5 of Pachinko begins with Sunja and Isak arriving in Japan. We follow their journey to Osaka 1931, as the hustle and bustle of Japan’s dock paves way for Sunja meeting Yoseb, Isak’s brother. He’s not exactly thrilled to see them, forcing a smile, as he admits that he and Kyunghee were shocked to learn of what’s happened. ..
Sunja feels like an outsider, especially as speaking Korean is frowned upon here. Sunja is silent while the two brothers talk. There are spies everywhere, and Isak is warned to keep his guard up (and his wits about him) as they arrive at the seaside town of Ikaino. There, Sunja meets Kyunghee for the first time. She’s kind, even showing off a tray full of food laid out for her. Of course, upon seeing this (especially the rice) she grows homesick and begins breaking down into tears.
In private, Yoseb worries that Sunja may be trapping her brother. He very clearly doesn’t trust her and remains suspicious of Sunja’s motives. At the same time, Sunja speaks to Isak, who promises to be by her side no matter what, admitting that he too feels like Japan doesn’t want him there. As the duo share their worries, they end up making love.
Kyunghee encourages Sunja not to strain herself while she is pregnant, as the smell of home has been taken away by Kyunghee’s washing. ..
When does the pain stop? Sunja cries, “When does this pain end?” A long pause ensues. “It doesn’t.” Kyunghee says glumly, gently encouraging Sunja that she’ll learn how to endure it.
The family is in trouble with the Japanese because they owe 160 yen to a loan shark. Yoseb borrowed money from them to help pay for Sunja’s crossing to Japan, but the debt has been doubled due to interest.
Sunja decides to take responsibility for her debt and sell her golden from Switzerland for 300 yen.
Kyunghee and Sunja head to the brokers, paying off their debt and gaining a stamped seal of approval to confirm as much. Together, they head out and run through the tight, winding streets. Koh Hansu heads back to the pawn shop and buys the watch from the sales assistant, pointing out that Sunja married a dreamer and for that, she’ll pay dearly.
Solomon returns to Tokyo and meets an old friend from school. After Solomon’s little stunt with the hotel, he’s being blackballed from all the banks. Solomon is confident that he’ll be returning to New York but there are rumours that Mr Andrews is having issues with his finances. That would, unfortunately, mean Solomon would bear the brunt of this.
Solomon is still obsessed with finding Hana. He thinks she’s located in the Yoshiwara area, specifically by the Uguisudani stop. Naomi showed up at a friend’s party and they talked about Hana’s history and what happened between them. The gist of it is that when Solomon left for America, the pair went their separate ways. ..
Solomon eventually heads into Yoshiwara and begins asking around. Once there, he finds a guy called Haruki whom he knows from the past. They have ties to Mosazu, Solomon’s father. Although they have a pleasant evening together, there’s trouble brewing. Solomon speaks to Mr Andrews on the phone after who confirms that things don’t look good. Now, given Solomon’s US Visa is actually sponsored by Shiffley, if he’s fired then it means he would be stuck in Japan. However, Hana rings at that moment and pleads with him for help.
Sunja scattered Kyunghee’s ashes into the water as they continued to learn more about their bond across this episode. This came back to the questionable editing of Pachinko by depicting her death early on without any context behind it. ..
Anyway, Sunja shows up to try and find out more about her father’s burial. After the worker classifies Sunja as “one of those” (Koreans who came to Japan to work), it seems like a lost cause. That is, until she finds a file that appears to be linked to a relocation request. There’s also a name on the file: “Shin Bokhee.” This happens to be Sunja’s orphaned sister that her mother took in and the pair have an emotional reunion. She shows where Sunja’s father has been buried, and thanks to Bokhee’s kindness, she gets to see his gravestone. ..
The Episode Review
This week’s episode of Pachinko was a letdown because it felt like the show was rushed and didn’t have enough time to properly explore Sunja’s life. I feel like we could have benefited from a more chronological order like the book is. If we were to follow Sunja’s life as it is, her story would be even more compelling and emotional. Comparably, watching Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan at the end of the movie before jumping back and seeing him in the army would still be appealing and emotional, but nowhere near as effectively.
Kyunghee’s death felt like an afterthought in “Sunja.” The show’s dual timeline jumps made it feel more detached than it should. ..
The story is compelling and well-directed, with a lot of interesting plot points and characters. However, I found some of the acting to be a bit wooden and the ending felt a bit too abrupt. Overall, though, Pachinko is an excellent drama that deserves widespread critical acclaim.
