S01.E01: Chapter One

[Scarlett45]

Quote

In 1920s Korea, Yangjin and Hoonie shield their only child, Sunja, from the realities of life under colonial rule. In 1989, Solomon closes a big deal.

Air Date: March 25, 2022

[Spartan Girl]

Never trust a guy that dresses like The Godfather. That’s all I got to say.

[ZeeEnnui]

7 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Never trust a guy that dresses like The Godfather. That’s all I got to say.

I was getting Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes. Red flags in the fish market either way. 

[chocolatine]

I loved the book, and this adaptation seems to be just as great. One of my biggest pet peeves is when Hollywood makes characters speak English with fake accents instead of their native language (House Of Gucci, anyone?) so I love that Apple is having the characters in this show speak Korean and Japanese.

[Scarlett45]

I really love the girl playing child Sunja. For a child so young she has really mastered her facial expressions. I kept expecting her father to shield her face when Mr Song was being beaten. 

[Natalie25]

Enjoyed the first episode. I agree that the actress playing young Sunja was quite good. I also loved the opening credits - so much joy!

[Zella]

On 3/28/2022 at 9:33 AM, Natalie25 said:

I also loved the opening credits - so much joy!

I've been looking forward to watching this show for a while but will admit to being a little puzzled when I first read a description of the credits. On paper, it sounded a bit cheesy to me, but it is so delightful and contagiously happy that I actually really love it. 

Also agree with all the comments on the child actor. She was very good. I also really liked the actor who played her dad. He didn't have a lot of screentime, but he did a great job. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Zella

[aghst]

Just started watching this.

It didn't dawn on me that the opening credits are all the characters from the different timelines, Sunja as a little girl, as a young woman and as granny are all in there.

Obviously they were mistreated under occupation and scraping together a very modest standard of living in that fishing village.

But in the modern period, Sunja's son owns pachinko parlors and they have a nice home, while the grandson is a rising banker with all kinds of ambition in NY.

Sunja tells Solomon that Japanese still discriminate against Koreans living in Japan so he's better off living and working in America -- of course you had the very obvious racist meeting where Solomon is denied promotion and he has to come up with a big new deal to get the promotion this year instead of waiting another year -- and probably being screwed over then.

 

I knew about this show since it was released.  Been in my queue for awhile.  But as it happens, started watching this after watching the first K-drama (Crash Landing on You).  Quite different at least in the pilot, in terms of tone but I see that the show creator and creative staff are Korean.

It doesn't seem likely there will be as much comedy or social satire as Crash Landing on You.

[Scarlett45]

@aghst welcome! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you make your way though the episodes.