Pachinko Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Chapter Fifteen

The penultimate episode of Pachinko’s second season is a bittersweet hour full of partings and change.

With a runtime that’s at least ten minutes longer than last week’s more languidly pace installment, Season 2 Episode 7, “Chapter Fifteen,” almost feels overstuffed at times. It’s packed with moments that are clearly meant to set-up the finale and/or Season 3, but the uneven pacing ultimately serves plot needs over character ones.

What feels like the entire Korean community in Osaka shows up to celebrate Noa’s acceptance into Waseda University. People he barely knows are lining up to hug him and everyone seems to be suddenly referring to him as “Our Noa”. It’s all genuinely charming and a rather lovely visual reminder of the bonds existing between these people who have survived so much together. 

Hansu shows up, visually striking in an all-white suit that stands out awkwardly against the dirt of the neighborhood, to give Noa a present—the same watch Sunja once pawned to pay Yoseb’s debts back when she first joined the family.

It is, as Hansu later puts it, proof that Sunja was never lost to him through all the years that followed their initial separation. Which is somehow vaguely creepy and strangely endearing at the same time.

 Noa remains blithely unaware of the watch’s significance but Sunja is two parts touched and one part nervous, as though her son will be able to glean the secret of his parentage from this one specific object, as imbued as it is with their history.

In all honesty, he’s much more likely to figure it out from the way she and Hansu can’t stop staring longingly at one another during his celebratory dinner.

It’s not like their yearning has ever been particularly subtle, but it is “visible from space” obvious right now, thanks to the obvious pride both are feeling in their son’s accomplishment.

Speaking of obvious romantic feelings, it’s been apparent for some time that Yoseb is well aware of the attraction between his wife and Kim. It’s not exactly cool that’s essentially been spying on them, but the two of them haven’t been super subtle about their feelings either.

(It’s honestly a wonder that anyone in that house gets anything done with all the yearning going on.)

Yoseb also hasn’t exactly adjusted well to life after the horror of Nagasaki. He’s constantly rude to everyone in his family, critiquing Kyunghee’s cooking and the boys’ manners. He hasn’t left the house in five years, though the show isn’t entirely clear on why. 

Is he ashamed of his disfigurement? Afraid of being out in the open where more bombs might fall? Scared of crowds or loud noises? But his Miss Havisham vibes certainly aren’t helping anyone, least of all himself.

Which is why it’s such a surprise when he corners Kim — who’s preparing to leave to return to Koraea and fight for the North in the civil war that’s raging there — and tells him he knows all about how he and Kyunghee feel about each other. And he’s…fine with it.

Well, not fine exactly, since it’s evident he wishes his wife looked at him the way she looks at Kim, but he’s at least aware enough to not want to deny her something that might make her happy. It’s probably the most selfless thing we’ve ever seen Yoseb do, and the most genuine sign of his love for his wife.

Kim’s over the moon, but we should know better than to assume any love story gets a happy ending on this show. Even though it’s obvious Kyunghee loves him back, she tells Kim that it can never be like that between them, even with Yoseb’s blessing. He should go to Korea and survive, and bring his wife and kids to visit them after the war.

Kyunghee, it seems, has a lot of unprocessed guilt and trauma surrounding what happened to her husband. The bombing of Nagasaki took place the same night she broke her vows with Kim, and she spent the aftermath of the attack praying, begging God to save her husband and promising all sorts of penance. 

Well, He did, and apparently Kyunghee is now honor-bound to spend the rest her life paying off that spiritual debt. This isn’t how God or his teachings work, for the record, and it’s honestly exhausting to watch Kyunghee once again cast herself as a martyr in her own life, always obeying even when the cost is denying herself. 

Tae Ju Kang and Mansaku Takada in “Pachinko” Season 2 Episode 7 (Photo: Apple TV+)

The bulk of the 1989 timeline in “Chapter Fifteen” is dedicated to the revelation that Sunja’s new manfriend is both broke and has a shady past — his unit in the war was responsible for the massacre of over 100 American POWs — rather than the fact that Mosazu literally hired someone to spy on the first non-family member that’s gotten close to his mother in literal decades.

The episode is not especially clear on the details about Kato’s past. We don’t hear his side of things about what happened during the war, nor does “Chapter Fifteen” go into detail about the consequences he faced afterward, beyond being forced to stand trial. And though it’s easy to read his acceptance of Sunja’s money as shady or manipulative, it’s just as possible to believe he genuinely enjoys her company and would like to see America with her.

But at the end of the day, it’s not so much about whether Kato is trustworthy or not, it’s that Sunja is lonely. Yuh-Jung Youn is quietly brilliant as she mourns the loss of so many she has loved, and it’s hard not to believe Mosazu is being too hard on her, even if he somehow turns out to be right about her new boyfriend. Hasn’t Sunja earned the chance to live a bit recklessly? To make some mistakes? To choose something simply because it might bring her joy?

It’s not like most of us were pleased with Solomon after last week’s installment when he told Tom to set Naomi up for some fake financial crimes, but it’s genuinely infuriating to watch how quickly she gets thrown under the bus by management despite her apologies and quite correct reminders that others (read: men) had been given second chances for far worse mistakes. 

There’s something cathartic in the fact that Naomi at least gets to say all of this, forcing Tom and her boss to at least look their misogyny in the face in front of her. But she still loses her job anyway. And all that’s left to do is hope like hell that she makes Solomon pay for it.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• Sunja’s goodbye speech to Noa at college is one of Minha Kim’s best moments this season. Heartfelt and wistful, encompassing both her pride in her son’s accomplishments and a bit of sadness that she was never able to fly herself in the ways she hopes he will, it’s gorgeous.
• I’m very curious to know how the Mosaszu we’ve come to know as a child and a teen grew up into the Mosazu that we see as an adult. Though it is interesting to see that he comes by his obsession with pachinko honestly.
• I can’t wait to see Sunja read her grandson for filth when she finds out what he did to Naomi. This, Solomon? This is what you’ve done with all the opportunity your family has fought to hand you?

What did you think of this episode of Pachinko? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Pachinko stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

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