Early Access: Pachinko E1 (Patreon)

E1. Well, this one sure has "epic" written all over it, right away.

Full disclosure: originally, I hadn't felt especially interested to check out this show, because 1, I haven't read the book and therefore have no pre-existing fondness for this story, and 2, Lee Min Ho's in it, and I'm mostly neutral about him.

What I mean by that is, I don't hate him, but neither does his appearance in a drama make me super excited to check it out, either.

However, the moment I watched Show's trailer, I'd felt completely intrigued to know more about this world and its characters.

First things first; I really do like it.

I'd heard that the first few episodes are kind of slow, but I don't feel a sense of drag, if that's what other viewers mean. I actually enjoy the measured pace of our story.

I also find it interesting, that Show doesn't tell its story chronologically, but regularly toggles between Sun Ja's growing up years, and Sun Ja's twilight years.

That gives us an overall rather interesting effect, I do think.

For one thing, it gives me the assurance that no matter what happens in our past timeline, Sun Ja's going to survive and be ok - because, at the same time, we see her as a grandmother, in her later years.

Another thing is, because we learn quite early on, that she ends up living in Japan in her twilight years, with her son remarried to a Japanese woman, and her son and grandson speaking Japanese so fluently as a matter of routine, it creates a distinct layer of irony to the past timeline events, where we see how the Korean people had suffered during the Japanese Occupation.

In particular, that scene, where Sun Ja's dad's tenant drunkenly complains that they're required to speak Japanese, but will never actually be accepted by the Japanese as one of them, feels poignantly ironic, when contrasted with the scenes of Sun Ja's son and grandson speaking Japanese so cheerfully, with their friends and colleagues, in 1989.

I have to confess that this particular point hits me a little extra, because Singapore had experienced a Japanese Occupation too, in her history.

My grandparents lived through this, and it really feels quite confronting, to imagine my own family members having to contend with similar treatment during the Japanese Occupation.

By extension, that makes me really put myself in their shoes, to imagine what it might have been like, to have been required to speak Japanese, instead of my own mother tongue, and yet, have been treated as less-than, regardless of my efforts.

It's painful and ugly, and Show doesn't shy away from portraying this dynamic.

At the same time, I do appreciate that Show doesn't use a blanket approach, and make all the Japanese soldiers into jerks.

Like in that scene where the pair of Japanese soldiers go to Sun Ja's house to question her father about not reporting his tenant for making traitorous remarks, I'm grateful that one of the soldiers comes across as reasonable, even though the other one appears rather bloodthirsty.

More to the point of our story, I find myself gravitating towards Sun Ja right away.

From the time when she's a little girl, I found myself loving her. They really cast Little Sun Ja really well. There's such a matter-of-fact curiosity in her eyes, and such a curious, blithe zest for life in general. Plus, she's so precocious and bright, without coming across as try-hard.

The way she effortlessly negotiates a better price for her father's fisherman tenant, than he can negotiate for himself, is pretty darn amazing.

I basically loved her right away, and wanted her to live a happy and good life, just as the shaman had said she would.

I do like Sun Ja's mom too, but I have to confess that it's Dad who got me in the heart. I love that he's so loving and protective towards Sun Ja, and I love that despite his modest means, he wants to give Sun Ja the happiest life possible.

Right away, he strikes me as a very kind man, and it really warmed my heart, to see him watch  over Sun Ja with such pride and such joy.

Of course, watching Dad being so pure and wonderful like this, in a show like this, my drama instincts pinged early, that Dad was unlikely to live very long.

Sigh. True enough, Dad doesn't make it through the first episode, which, sob. 😭

However, my silver lining is that Dad doesn't die because of the fact that he hadn't reported his allegedly traitorous tenant. Dad dies of an illness, some time after this incident. And somehow, that comforts me, a little.

I would have hated for Dad to have been tortured and killed, because he hadn't reported his tenant - out of the kindness of his heart. At least this way, I feel like Dad lived to see at least a few more days, before reaching the end of his days.

And the fact that the reason Dad manages to survive it, is because little Sun Ja had taken it upon herself to talk to the tenant, to tell him that he's put everyone in danger, and to please leave, makes everything so much more poignant.

Over in 1989, I find myself most fascinated by Solomon, Sun Ja's grandson.

I mean, he's clearly smart and accomplished. Right away, we see that he speaks at least 3 languages fluently: English, Japanese and Korean. And, he speaks well enough to plausibly pass for a native speaker, in all 3.

Very impressive, not just for the character, but for the actor playing him as well. I think it was Leslie who mentioned that this character must have been hard to cast, just on the language demands alone. I completely agree.

The thing that makes Solomon interesting to me, right now, is the fact that I catch a whiff of possible cad, from him. There's something about his gaze sometimes, that makes me feel that perhaps I should wait a little, before deciding whether I should trust him. 😅

However, at the same time, I do wonder if the whole reason that he has that whiff of possible cad about him, is because he's been required to survive in environments where he's not actually native, and therefore has been subjected to discriminatory treatment.

Perhaps he's had to be a cad, in order to survive.

And, we do see that he's a survivor. In that scene where he's told that his promotion isn't going to come through as expected, he doesn't just take it, like they want him to.

He negotiates, hard, even when it looks like there is no room for discussion, and he apparently gets what he asks for: a chance to secure an almost impossible deal, in exchange for the promotion that he's been denied. And backdated to the day of the discussion, no less.

I can't help but admire his chutzpah, even as I continue to eye him with some caution.

At the end of our episode, we get a 9-year time skip, which places us in 1924.

I do love that Sun Ja still has that matter-of-fact brightness to her; it definitely causes her to stand out in the crowd. Plus, there's the way she stands still with everyone else when the Japanese soldiers walk past, but she doesn't bow like everyone else.

There's something.. undaunted about her, like she cannot and will not be cowed, which I really like, but which I worry will make her a target for others, because she stands out so much.

And that's where we end, with Lee Min Ho's rich and well-heeled character being entranced by Sun Ja, the moment he sets eyes on her.

In any other kdrama, I might take this as Show signaling to us, the beginning of an epic romance.

However, in this drama world, I'm not so sure. Plus, I've already heard that Lee Min Ho's character is a jerk, so.. my expectations have been managed.

That said, Sun Ja's demonstrated in more ways than one, that she's perfectly capable of dealing with unexpected and unwelcome situations, so here's hoping that Sun Ja won't fall prey to any dark designs that he might have.

All in all, this was a very solid, absorbing first episode, and I'm definitely looking forward to following Sun Ja on her journey through what looks like will be a colorful life.

Next episode notes will be out on: Monday, 4 Apr 2022!

*This show will be covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier*