Note: This story contains spoilers from the “Pachinko” Season 2 finale.
Some of the biggest emotional moments in “Pachinko” have hinged on Sunja, the character portrayed by both Minha Kim and Yuh-Jung Youn in the Apple TV+ original. But few moments are as raw as the final conversation the middle-aged Sunja has with her eldest son Noa (Tae Ju Kang) in this season’s finale.
In many ways, the second season of “Pachinko” belongs to Noa. Desperate to give his son the best life possible, Hansu (Lee Minho) re-enters Sunja’s life, freeing her husband from prison and providing her family a safe place to life during America’s nuclear bombings. Slowly, Hansu comes to be a bigger and bigger part of Sunja and Noa’s life. By the time Noa is old enough to attend university, Hansu has established himself as a father figure and mentor to his biological son. But when Noa finally learns the truth of who Hansu is, his world is shattered as he’s forced to see his mother, family and existence in an entirely new light.
In “Chapter Sixteen,” Noa leaves his university and goes home one last time. He startles his mom in the middle of the night. But instead of confronting her, he expresses that he loves his mother and misses home before wandering off.
“When Noa first appeared in our home, I felt very weird, like his behavior was very weird,” Minha Kim told TheWrap about this final conversation. “I could see the sorrow in his eyes.”
When Noa leaves her, Sunja is initially unsettled but overall all right. It’s only when she realizes that Noa intentionally sought her out one last time before disappearing that the typically even-tempered Sunja becomes panicked and heartbroken.
“Before then, Sunja was not that shocked by anything else. Nothing can scare Sunja at all. But after the last episode, she’s frightened, and she’s afraid of all things that could happen,” Kim said.
As difficult as this scene was for the actor, it wasn’t the most difficult one Kim tackled in Season 2. Surprisingly in a season that depicts the horrors of World War II and a woman torn between her two great loves, that distinction belongs to earlier in the season when Sunja has to persuade Noa to go to college rather than stay and support his family.
“I didn’t know how to persuade him. Like, I got mad, but I felt sorry for him. I wanted to comfort him, but he wasn’t listening to me. So should I yell at him?” Kim said, walking through her process for the scene. “I remember that day was my hardest day ever because I couldn’t figure out what to do to make his mind turn over. But I guess that was the point of the scene, which was very, very painful.”
Kim admitted that the night after she finished the scene, she had a hard time getting to sleep. “I felt I was lost,” Kim said.
“Pachinko” Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+.
