THERE’S no shortage of quality content available to stream right now. With Netflix floundering in more ways than one, rival services are more than able and willing to pick up the slack. Here are three shows that are among the very best of what’s out there.
Pachinko – Apple TV+
Pachinko, an adaptation of a very well-received historical fiction novel from 2017 by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, is a generational story of a Korean family stretching from the 1920s to the late 1980s – and everything in between. It is a deeply emotional and deeply human drama about people who find themselves swept up in the tides of history and who try to make the best out of tough circumstances.
For those unfamiliar with history, the show does a very good job of putting the viewer into the perspective of an average Korean during the Japanese occupation, which stretched from 1910 to 1945. Many tens of thousands of Koreans migrated to Japan, forming a labour underclass, simmering under pervasive discrimination. The legacy of this dark period still colours relations between Japan and the Koreas.
Although Pachinko takes place over a grand time frame – with mostly elegant weaving of scenes in the past and present, showing how the past echoes into the present – a throughline is the character of Sunja, played in 1989 (when the modern storyline takes place) by Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn, and in her youth by newcomer Minha Kim. Both performances are equally powerful, as we go back and forth and slowly uncover the trauma that dominated her upbringing, as well as how she persevered – though never unscathed.
In broad terms, the series follows a young and impoverished Sunja as she forges a relationship with a taciturn gangster (Korean superstar Lee Minho) and a hopeful priest (Steve Sanghyun Noh), and leaves behind her home for an uncertain future in Osaka, Japan.
The present-day story follows her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), a banker who has been living in the United States, but has returned home to tie up a business deal and resolve old wounds. The elder Sunja, quietly strong though burdened by the weight of her past, has to juggle a number of family crises, from caring for an ailing sister-in-law to helping her grandson convince another elder Korean woman to give up her land.
Pachinko is not really a plot-driven show, in many ways staying true to its roots as a novel in how it unfolds. It’s not a slow show, per se, but those looking for a mystery to unravel or a propulsive narrative won’t find that here. There are reveals and surprises to be sure, but the show’s power comes from its open-heartedness and humanity.
The show is also a visual feast, as Apple has spared no expense in bringing this world to life. The recreation of Korea and Japan of a century ago is so well realised that it is almost a transporting experience. A standout episode focused on a devastating earthquake in Japan in 1923 is an achievement on so many levels.
While there are many aspects of the show that are specific to the Korean experience, there is plenty for others to relate to, especially those whose history has been defined by colonialism. There’s a lot about the push and pull between modernity and cultural traditions, between east and west, trying to find a place in a country that will always find you foreign… topics that don’t really have an expiration date.
Pachinko is so well conceived that it would be trivialising to call it a tearjerker, but each episode tugs at the heartstrings many times over. This is an epic story well worth catching up with.
Tokyo Vice – HBO GO
Staying in East Asia, though this time moving forward to 1999, Tokyo Vice is a sweeping crime thriller set in the gritty underbelly of that expansive metropolis. Shot on location and with most of the dialogue in Japanese, the show really brings Tokyo to life.
Inspired by a true story – though plenty of liberties have been taken that take the story many leaps into the fictional – Tokyo Vice follows Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort), the first foreigner to get a job at Micho Shimbun, self-described as the most prestigious newspaper in Japan. Bored with run-of-the-mill assignments, Jake jumps headfirst into the yakuza-infested criminal underworld. He very quickly bites off more than he can chew and soon teams up with veteran detective Katagiri (a delightfully grizzled Ken Watanabe).
Other characters include Samantha (Rachel Keller), a fellow expat who works at a hostess bar with a lot of skeletons in her closet, Sato (Show Kasamatsu), an up-and-coming yakuza enforcer, and Miyamoto (Hideaki Ito), a brash detective who reluctantly takes a liking to Jake.
A big selling point of the show is the involvement of veteran filmmaker Michael Mann, who directed the first episode and is an executive producer for the series. For those unaware, he is the man behind Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice, some of the best American crime films of the last few decades. His career-long fixations, such as the relationship between cops and criminals, and the blurring of the line between professional and personal lives take up a lot of the show.
As in his other works, there is a meticulous focus on the details and process of investigative work, be it in journalism or police work, which is a satisfying departure from simpler narratives. You can really feel the weight of the research that went into this show.
Tokyo Vice can take its time to unravel its secrets, but for those who love an exploration of craft, there’s a lot to like. This is a show about professionals, where taking shortcuts is punished.
Of course, there’s also a simmering conflict between rival yakuza clans, hostess bars, and rampant police corruption amidst all the glittering lights. We spend a lot of time in these places, both in high-end nightclubs and in the humble homes of the average residents of Tokyo. The show’s strong sense of time and place is one of the best things about it.
For fans of crime stories, or even those who want to go to Tokyo but can’t afford it, Tokyo Vice is the type of mature storytelling that fans of the genre should sink their teeth into. The infusion of Japanese culture and its idiosyncrasies elevates it into something more than a typical crime show.
Slow Horses – Apple TV+
Taking place on the other side of the world, in good ol’ London town, Slow Horses is the latest entry in the crowded spy genre. It sets itself apart by taking a few twists to well worn established tropes and is also just really well executed.
Based on a popular series of novels, the show focuses on the MI5 agents of Slough House (derisively referred to as the Slow Horses), a dumping ground for screw-ups and malcontents on the last legs of their disastrous careers. Led by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman at his best), a foul-mouthed, grumpy, and farty (literally) drunkard of an intelligence agent who hasn’t had any fun since 1979.
After spectacularly failing an exercise, upstart agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is shuffled off to Slough House, which soon finds itself embroiled in a dangerous crisis as a rightwing group kidnaps a Brit of Pakistani descent and threatens to behead him on an Internet livestream. This being a spy show, things are not quite as they appear.
Which goes for a lot of the characters of the show, specifically the other Slow Horses. In relatively efficient fashion, through some flashbacks but mostly through dialogue, we learn just enough about them that they become rounded enough to root for.
The show is also routinely funny, trafficking in a dark humour that fits in with the heavy stakes of the story. Most of the time it’s a dysfunctional office comedy, with many interactions and relationships that are easy to relate to – the grumpy and difficult to please boss, the annoying coworker who always wants to hang out, the crummy idiosyncratic office space.
Rounding out the cast is Diane Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), the deputy director of MI5, who routinely butts heads with Lamb while residing in the decidedly shinier offices at headquarters. Both actors have a lot to work with in the meaty dialogue and the scenes where it’s just the two of them verbally sparring are among the show’s highlights.
Packed in a relatively tight six episodes, the plot takes plenty of twists and turns, with reversals to spare. It’s all grounded and believable with nothing too outlandish. Most of the action takes place over the course of a single night, with a built-in ticking clock that adds to the suspense.
Taking place in the grimier parts of London, Slow Horses offers a counter to the sleek spy fantasy of James Bond. Spywork here is generally boring and time intensive, with paranoia a mandatory requirement. It’s also just a job. – The Vibes, April 28, 2022
