‘Pachinko’ season 2 reviews: The historical drama is ‘astonishing,’ ‘one of the best shows of the year’
“Pachinko,” the Apple TV+ drama that follows several generations in the lives of a Korean family during the 20th century, returned for its second season on August 23 to great acclaim. The series won our Gold Derby TV Award for Best Drama Series when it was last on the air more than two years ago. And the extended hiatus doesn’t seem to have diminished the program, if the reviews are any indication.
Season two of the drama has a MetaCritic score of 85 based on 11 reviews counted as of this writing. Ten of those reviews are classified as positive and one is mixed, but none are outright negative. On Rotten Tomatoes, where reviews are simply counted as positive or negative, the series is 100% fresh, with all 15 critics currently counted giving the show their stamp of approval. Those numbers aren’t far off from the ratings for the first season: 87 on MetaCritic based on 29 reviews, and 97% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes based on 62 reviews. So while there were more TV journalists weighing in about the show’s first season than there currently are for season two, enthusiasm for the show is undiminished.
Laura Sirikul (IGN) says, “In this astonishing second season, showrunner Soo Hugh expands ‘Pachinko’ into a masterclass in resonance and reflection while also paying respect to the overarching themes of the book.” Elijah Gonzalez (Paste) feels that this set of new episodes “not only matches but surpasses its predecessor with grandiose imagery and heartbreaking familial drama that hits deep. To put it bluntly, it’s one of the best shows of the year.” Chase Hutchinson (Collider) echoes those enthusiastic raves: “As it did in its spectacular first season, the series continues to weave a sweeping emotional tapestry spanning decades in time with moments big and small that lay you flat”; he thinks the series “should be part of any conversation about the greatest modern shows.”
Robert Lloyd (Los Angeles Times) also admires the series, but feels the second season represents a period of transition that “ends with little resolved and gaps still to fill, and while it offers all the sensual pleasures of the first season’s performances and production, its portion of love and death, it is very much the middle of a book.” John Anderson (Wall Street Journal) critiques the show for being “occasionally adrift in its own narrative,” but “the performances are uniformly good.” And Alistair Ryder (Looper), penning the sole mixed review on MetaCritic, argues, “In several episodes in the second season, characters are overshadowed by the weight of historical events around them … Its impact is blunted this time due to how overwrought the historical drama has become.”
In addition to sweeping our Gold Derby Awards, season one of “Pachinko” collected an impressive set of plaudits: a Peabody Award, an AFI citation as one of the top 10 TV programs of 2022, an Independent Spirit Award for its ensemble cast, a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series–Longform and a Critics Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Series, to name a few. But surprisingly, the program only contended for one Emmy, Best Main Title Design, which went to fellow Apple TV+ series “Severance” instead.
But the TV landscape is different than it was in 2022, with top nominees like “Succession,” “Ozark” and “Better Call Saul” no longer on the air. Other programs like “Stranger Things,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Yellowjackets” and the aforementioned “Severance” probably won’t be back until at least 2025, opening up the playing field for this year’s Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards. If the show can get traction at those high-profile events, the Emmys may catch on next. It’s not uncommon for the TV academy to lag behind on some shows; for instance, this year “The Gilded Age” and “Slow Horses” earned Best Drama Series bids for the first time for their second and third seasons, respectively. Either way, season two of the epic period drama appears to be a must-watch.