User Reviews

Pachinko on Apple TV+, the gorgeous and gripping adaptation of Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel, is dangerously close to a masterpiece. I can't help crying... emotion, music, transitions, script, I have to say everything is amazingly well done. I thought I will go straight to Hansu's part but not, every scene attracts me, every character touches me!

Episode 3 of Pachinko starts with Sunja in 1924 cutting kimchi and preparing dinner with her mother. The scene is spliced beautifully with grandma Sunja in 1989 too, although in the past it's clear our protagonist is feeling under the weather. She's pregnant. Sunja shrugs it off as a "bad clam", but there's trouble down in the Fish Market. Koh Hansu has been gone for a week and in that time everything has turned chaotic. Prices have gone up, Koh Hansu is nowhere to be seen and Sunja struggles to keep her food down at the smell and sight of seafood. Eventually Koh Hansu does return, much to the delight of Sunja. She can hardly contain her happiness. She does though, for the sake of their hidden romance, and when they're alone the pair end up kissing and romancing. As the rain pours down, Koh Hansu hands over a beautiful pocket watch for her, promising to help her learn how to read the time. With a gift handed over to him, Sunja has a gift for him too - she's pregnant. He hugs her, confident that they'll have a boy. There are some things money can't buy and if the story in 1989 is anything to go by, the pain and hurt that the Japanese have inflicted on the Korean people runs deep. This story has been absolutely fascinating to watch play out, especially the titbits of information about where this story is going and the puzzle pieces we're missing from the timelines between these two moments. In 1924, the truth about Koh Hansu comes crashing out and with it, a whole world of pain for Sunja. It's hard not to feel for the poor girl and now that she's fatherless, it's lucky that Isak has come along when he has to help her out. It would appear that this is who Sunja marries and raises a family with, but again there's a lot we're not seeing here. So far Pachinko has been a brilliant watch, and with next week's episode clocking in at a little over an hour, it should make for an absolutely fascinating and enthralling watch.