Jin Ha Breaks Down That Tense Showdown Between Solomon and Abe-San in 'Pachinko' (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 Episode 2 of Pachinko.

After another stellar episode of Pachinko, the Apple TV+ series is picking up momentum as it dives into Season 2. The premiere showed us a time jump in past Sunja's (Minha Kim) storyline that lead to aging up her kids while World War II is in full swing. On the other side of the timeline, we see Solomon's (Jin Ha) story picking up not long after the first season as he struggles to stay afloat after being fired from Shippley's. The series, based on a novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, follows a Korean-Japanese family across four generations after they leave Korea and immigrate to Japan.

The series often deals with the prejudice and xenophobia that Koreans experience from Japan, both during their original occupation of Korea from the 1910s to the 1940s, and also the lasting impact of this prejudice that goes into the late 80s and beyond. We spoke with actor Jin Ha, who plays Solomon, and Pachinko showrunner and creator Soo Hugh, about the show and the directions it takes, both throughout Season 1 and into Season 2. We discussed with Hugh about the format of the show and the decisions that go into making where the cuts are made between two storylines. We also spoke with Ha about Solomon's arc after the devastating blow he experienced at the end of Season 1 and into his Season 2 storyline.

Read about their replies below or watch the full interview above!

How 'Pachinko' Decides Where To Cut Each Storyline

COLLIDER: Soo, I'm curious of your decision process when it comes to arranging this story because it's based on a novel by Min Jin Lee. A lot of the difference for me is how the format of the story is being told and how you're jumping back and forth. How do you decide how to lay out each episode in each scene and where you decide to cut between the past and the present?

SOO HUGH: I wish I could take credit and say that it's from day one and that it's exactly the way we imagined it in the writers’ room, but so much of the show, like many shows, changed through the course of the process. You see things on set that you're like, “Ah, I'm now seeing connections between these two scenes I never did before,” or you see connections in post, “Ah, there's an affinity here.” So in each step, whether it's the writing, the production, or the editing of it, that language gets formed bit by bit by bit of when to cut and when not to cut.

JIN HA: Can I ask you a follow-up question? Does your writers’ room write the earlier timeline just as one whole thing, and then the ‘89 separately?

HUGH: Yeah, you beat them out separately, and then you weave in the outline. Absolutely.

Abe-San's Cold Rejection of Solomon Shapes the Character's Arc in Season 2

Jin Ha, looking at Solomon through these past two seasons, he started from a very different place than where we are now at the end of the season. How do you think his character has changed, and what do you think has been the biggest impact on him that caused that change?

HA: There are so many different factors and moments that I think have informed… I think that's exactly right, the journey to where we find Solomon at the end of Season 2, that's the arc that we're experiencing or going through. I think one pivotal moment that happens earlier on is in Episode 2 when he confronts Abe at the awards ceremony. It's not an emotionally charged scene, but for me, what they discussed between the two of them seems to resonate throughout because it was sort of Abe trying to reveal more of, like, “This is how the sausage gets made.” You know what I mean?

I'm at my lowest, then I'm coming to him to grovel essentially. I'm removing pride and ego and going directly to him because I have the one fund that I've been trying to make happen, and I got one big fish for from my childhood friend, and have now been stymied by Abe yet again. And so for me, I have no other options. “Let me just face it,” which is maybe his unique trait that he is, at that dire straits, able to go, “You know what? Fuck it. I'm just going to go and talk to him directly and say, ‘What do I need to do?’ Because I can't do this. I need to survive. There's no friction at all. I need to somehow get running.” And the response that Abe has, I think it's not cruel, and it's not vicious, it's just so brutally honest in the way that he's like, “I'm going to destroy you.” It’s the seasonedness with which Abe says, “I can't show you any mercy,” that Solomon knows he's not lying.

So in that way, I think Solomon, from then on, is like, “Okay, well, shit. If following the rules as I have so far gets me to this place where I'm screwed, and I've got no options given to me, then I suppose I have to try something else,” which is the prompt that makes him start to plan differently for what his next moves may be. Then, obviously, the next turning point is his relationship with Naomi, and then the sacrifice that he has to make, the decision that he has to make then, in terms of what takes priority — his care for this person in his life or his ambition.

New episodes of Pachinko Season 2 premiere on Apple TV+ every Friday.

Pachinko

TV-MA

Drama

Based on the New York Times bestseller, this sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive.

Release Date

March 25, 2022

Cast

Lee Min-ho , Minha Kim , Anna Sawai , Jimmi Simpson , Eun-chae Jung , Jin Ha , Kaho Minami , Yuh-Jung Youn , In-ji Jeong , Jun-woo Han , Soji Arai , Steve Sanghyun Noh

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

2

Creator(s)

Soo Hugh

Streaming Service(s)

AppleTV+

Watch on Apple TV+