A cover of Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida' plays out over Pachinko's second-season finale, bringing the all-consuming, emotionally draining, beautiful show to a close once again.
Sunja's (Kim Min-ha) son Noa found himself at the centre of the tear-jerking final episode, his abrupt departure from the family rippling out like waves of heartbreak, shaving off yet more layers of his mother's fortitude, exposing more rawness.
Heck, the masterful execution of Noa's decision even made us feel pity for Hansu (Lee Min-ho).
Much like its debut season, Pachinko's second outing pulled viewers through a current of emotions that surged through Sunja and her family's everlasting story of endurance, peppering their struggles with delicate morsels of joy.
Reflecting on the journey, Pachinko's writer, executive producer and showrunner Soo Hugh unpacked everything from Isak's death to Noa's goodbye before teasing how the fallout of his exit will impact a possible season three.
Isak's death was just so moving. There's a lot that is unsaid between him and Sunja. However, despite all her emotion towards him, she doesn't say, 'I love you'. How important was that? And what does that say about her feelings towards him?
That is such an interesting question. That's one of the things about language that is so fascinating. In Korean, 'I love you' doesn't exist in that way, especially between lovers.
This is what makes our translation process such a challenge on this show is we have this notion in the English language of something. We understand it right. Like 'I love you' and it conveys so much, right?
But then you learn in another language that doesn't exist. So how do you convey it that way? And 'I love you' specifically is something that we talk about a lot with the translators. So I feel like her not saying it, we said it in other ways. There's that one tear that comes down Sunja's cheek when she's staring at him.
I really feel her love towards him in a way that is unspoken, like you said, despite language's restrictions.
Solomon is such a complex and interesting character. What does Solomon's decision to betray Naomi in episode six say about his struggle with his sense of self?
It's interesting. That was a conversation with Apple, and they asked such an interesting question. In the original version of that scene in the script. It was even harsher the way he did it. Like it was more brutal.
Apple was like, 'Soo, I don't know if Solomon (Jin Ha) can come back from this', and when they said that, I was like, 'Huh?' That's interesting because I understood why he did what he did, but I realise me understanding it was not on the page yet. So that's why that breakup scene between them was so crucial.
It was even harsher the way he did it. It was more brutal.
That was a really hard scene to write. I think it took like 100 drafts of that scene to get right with Jin and with [Naomi actor Anna Sawai] in that performance and they gave a lot of notes.
I think what redeemed Solomon is he didn't have his mind made up. He didn't know he was going to do that to her and I think it just makes for an interesting character.
Noa and Sunja's talk after he learns the truth about his parentage was incredibly profound. It's different on screen versus the book which is a lot harsher. Later, she even refers to his goodbye as a mercy. Why did you opt to change it?
I felt the big blow-up was [better-placed] with Hansu. For Noa, that was the moment where you felt everything just exploding out of him.
That rage felt right with Hansu. It didn't feel right with Sunja. I think after he lets that explosion go and he goes to see his mother, I think he actually understands what happened between them. I think [Noa] can't live with it.
That rage felt right with Hansu. It didn't feel right with Sunja.
He also knows how much his mother loves him. He knows that, he knows how much his disappearance is going to shatter her, so he wanted to give her a goodbye. It's a goodbye scene. She just didn't know it and he felt like he had to give her that in order for her to at least have one step of solace.
The finale scene, with Noa, was made even more beautiful by the soundtrack. It was also the first time that we've heard a song sung in English on the show. Was that a conscious decision to do that?
We did it once before in season one. At the end of the episode, we used the cover of a Neutral Milk Hotel song 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea', and here we did a cover of a Coldplay song 'Viva la Vida' and it's not that we wanted to copy season one, but it's just that I've always loved that song. When I hear the lyrics of that song, it speaks to Noa for me, really poignantly.
How do you think Noa's decision is going to shape the tone of season three?
Season three feels like, if you're going to do season three, the fallout of what it's like to live without Noa, right? And really, the past and present will start colliding more. Now, we understand why Sunja is the way she is in the present-day storyline.
We're obsessed with the fact that the older version of Sunja has this vulnerability and a certain kind of softness that the younger Sunja maybe can't afford to display. Especially in this season, it's really interesting that she has this softness at the end given everything that she's endured. What were you trying to highlight through that?
I love that you picked up on that. I think when you look at Youn Yuh-jung's performance of Sunja, it's a performance that's filled with so many unsaid things. It's as if that woman's body – she's a small woman – is filled with so many memories. You really feel the weight of that in Youn Yuh-jung's performance and I think with [Kim Min-ha]'s Sunja, she just hasn't lived that much yet. She's getting there.
At the end of season two, you start to feel her body. You know, when she sinks down and falls asleep [after Noa's departure]. You start to see the two Sunja starting to merge, but I think the question of the show has always been, 'How does that turn into that synergy?' And that's what we're seeing unfold slowly bit by bit.
Pachinko seasons 1-2, based on the novel by Min Jin Lee, are available to stream now on Apple TV+.
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Janet A Leigh
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.