Pachinko
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The story centers on Sunja and all the spiraling relationships that stem outward from her.
What could they add that wasnt in the already rich source material?
The answer turns out to be: a whole damn lot.
Ryoichi is disappointed but accepts Hansus fathers protestation.
He tutors Andrew, a disaffected and whiny young man who thinks math is miserable.
Without Hansu, Andrew will fail.
Hansu brings the message to Mr. Holmes at a private club, who asks how Andrew is doing.
Mr. Holmes and Andrew are a foil to Hansu and his dad.
Koh Hansu and his father are struggling financially, but the two adore each other.
Hansus father tells him he wants him to soar, harkening back to Solomons impossible quest to defy gravity.
(Another harkening, this time to Sunja and Kyunghee being confronted by the debt collector in Osaka.)
Hansus father was just a means to an end for her.
How could Hansu jeopardize his chance to go to America like that?
Koh Hansus father throws him out of the way of a falling beam and dies.
The screen cuts to black.
Sound stops, except for the slight keening left in ones ear after impact.
The earthquake destroyed the roads; theres no way theyll be able to cart their belongings.
The episode jumps forward in time to 8:48 p.m., showing Yokohama in flames.
Ryoichi and Hansu have survived, trudging behind a line of nurses holding lanterns.
In the lamplight, Hansu recognizes the corpses of Mrs. Holmes and Andrew lined up on the street.
Not only is his employer dead, but so is his short-lived dream of going to America.
Later, Ryoichi and Hansu overhear a group of Japanese people discussing a nearby jailbreak due to the earthquake.
The discussion quickly turns fearful when someone says 300 Koreans escaped.
Though Ryoichi tells the people to calm down, racist speculation quickly takes hold.
Soon, a group of Japanese vigilante citizens approaches, asking after the four Koreans.
Hansu watches the exchange, horror-stricken, through a slat in the cart.
The episode vaults forward in time again to 2:12 a.m. the following day.
After all, he has his fathers debt to pay.
Its a heartbreaking scene that encapsulates the double-edged sword of an oppressors so-called generosity.
Hansu will be under Ryoichis conditional protection.
He will never have the legitimate life his father dreamed and sacrificed for.
The episode ends with a shot of young Koh Hansu watching the horizon.
His expression is troubled, and he looks to be weeping.
One cant help but wonder what future he sees for himself, among all that he now must mourn.
I would be interested to know what other viewers thought this signified, if anything.
I really enjoyed this particular cinematographic choice.
THE SEASON FINALE IS NEXT WEEK, FOLKS!!
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