The Sympathizer
WARNING : SPOILERS ahead for The Sympathizer instalment 1 .
Summary
The new A24 original seriesThe Sympathizerpremiered on HBO and MAX on April 14 , 2024 . The highly foresee miniseries began with episode 1 " Death Wish " which quickly dives into a retelling of the Vietnam War months beforethe Fall of Saigon , a diachronic landmark during that pivotal outcome . The Sympathizer’scastis precede by recent Academy Award winnerRobert Downey Jr. as Claude , an eccentric yet incredibly resourceful CIA operative . arrange in the 1975,The Sympathizeris a work of historical fabrication that is based on the novel of the same name write by Vietnamese - American professor Viet Thanh Nguyen .
The Sympathizerwas created by Don McKellar ( Last Night , The Red Violin ) and Park Chan - wook , the celebrated theatre director ofOldboy(2003),The Handmaiden(2016 ) , andDecision to Leave(2022).The Sympathizermarks Chan - wook ’s first proceeds to television since 2018’sThe Little Drummer Girl , which originally air out on AMC . While Downey Jr. is doubtless the most recognizable albeit interchanging face inThe Sympathizer , up - and - coming role player Hoa Xuande play the booster simply known as The Captain , a communist mole secretly bring for North Vietnam while being stationed in South Vietnam in bread and butter of the Americans try against the cattle farm of communism .
The Sympathizerepisode 1 " Death Wish " has several time jumps in the first half of the episode alone . The series begins essentially at the last of the narrative in which The Captain is being held captive after the Fall of Saigon . The Captain is secern to rewrite his account of everything that hap run up to his imprisonment , starting with his clash with a female communist undercover agent who was exposed by the South Vietnamese Army and the Americans . As it twist out , The Captain is so experient at play both sides of the conflict in the Vietnam War that he ends up getting stuck in the middleby the end of the acclaimed serial .
8Claude Invites The Captain To Sit In On An Interrogation Of A Communist Sympathizer
The fellow spy is tortured but doesn’t rat out The Captain to his superiors
After learn the fate of The Captain in the opening move scene ofThe Symptathizer , the serial publication climb up back to 4 months prior to the Fall of Saigon . The Captain is in the thick of his operation as a mole for the Northern Vietnamese Army and is shocked to discover that a brother of his has been discovered by the so - call Secret Police of the Southern Vietnamese Army , lead by The General . Claude , the only American CIA operative who is introduced in the first episode ofThe Sympathizer , bid The Captain to see the interrogation process in social club to cultivate him on how to properly handle these situations .
The Captain recognizes the commie as someone he has previously turn with and lookout in silent sadness as she is tied to a chair and interrogated . Despite know exactly who The Captain is , she does not rat him out as the somebody who give her the unadulterated roll of Secret Police . As the serial starts to unfold , the audience chance upon that The Captain was the one who gave her the intel she is being oppugn about , but her firmness manifest how passionate she is about defend Northern Vietnam ’s interest group .
7Man Informs The Captain That Their Communist Leaders Want A Full Roster Of The Secret Police
Man says the North Vietnamese communists will need to educate the south
The Sympathzierthen go back 2 solar day prior to the interrogation scene in the dramaturgy in which The Captain figures out quite easily how to reach the Secret Police roster and take moving-picture show of it without being notice . In another quick flashback scene that live on back three days prior , The Captain ’s longtime friend named Man give him the assignment from the higher ups in the northerly Vietnamese ground forces . It ’s observable that Man has more insider access than The Captain does and has move over him deal of assignments before . This post the Captain on him mission in the General ’s office , open up a locked filing storage locker and guide photos of the roll with a small camera fit for a undercover agent .
6The Captain Gave The Communist Spy The Photos Of The Complete Secret Police Staff List
She swallowed the film before being interrogated by Claude and The General
Once The Captain realizes that the communist spy has been capture , which he is forced to work a part in by hit her upon her arrest , he predict Man and tells him that the " cat is going to swoop on the pigeon" . This Captain uses cryptic nomenclature to inform Manthat the communist undercover agent is about to be taken into the hands of Claude and the CIA , which could surely spell bother for their secret ally . Man , who is also a dentist , understands the severity of the situation but knows that her lot is now out of his hands .
The communist undercover agent had swallow the film control the double of the Secret Police faculty lean that The Captain had taken . Claude and his familiar wait for her to make the filmso they can discover what she had gotten her script on . After being interrogated to no avail , the communist spy threaten them all about the Fall of Saigon that is to come . Her words are think more to demonstrate the might of the Northern Vietnamese Army than to really admonish them of the impending attack .
5The General Asks Claude For Two Planes To The United States For Him & His Family
Claude lies to The General by agreeing to two planes
Two month subsequently , and two months before the Fall of Saigon , the General invites Claude over to his house to talk about terms about the Americans give him a plane to flee to the United States . Although the General wo n’t admit that he is flee Vietnam with his entire family , this is exactly what he mean to do . Claude match to leave the General with one aeroplane in guild to not raise suspicions that the General is abandon his land . Eventually , afterthe General and his wife are very lasting about the two planing machine , Claude courteously agrees to the two planes although , as The Captain says in the voiceover , no one there is convinced that the two planes would really be provided . This turn out to not be the casing , as Claude only gets the General one plane .
4The General Gives The Captain The Staff List To Decide Who Goes On The Plane To The U.S.
The General hands the staff list over after all the trouble The Captain went through to obtain it
After The Captain had gone to great lengths to acquire the Secret Police list , the General effectively turn over it over to him so that he can regulate which of the gamey ranking members of the southerly Vietnamese armed forces will be selected to travel on the plane with them to the United States . This intact meter , the General and Claude have no idea that The Captain is shit them and had ab initio take the photo of the inclination earlier in the installment . The Captain aver he made the selections based on loyalty and power , but really make up one’s mind to go out behind some of the most equal to ones to present a rough trial . The Captain picked " the incapable ones who appeared capable " to go to the U.S.and also quest three blot for Bon and his family , since he is the godfather of Bon ’s young youngster . Bon is in the Air Force of Southern Vietnam and has no idea about the truth about Man and The Captain .
3Man Instructs The Captain To Keep An Eye On The General In The United States
The Captain is tired of being a mole and doesn’t want to go to America
While speaking in secret while out for drinks with Bon , The Captain tells Man that he has no desire to go to the United States and evince that he is exhausted from being a mole for three and a half year . After requesting not to go on the planing machine to the United States that Claude had arranged , Man orders him to stupefy to the plan because they want eye and capitulum on The General at all time . Man also accuse The Captain of loving America and claim that he " dreams in English " ever since he went to college in the United States . The Captain explains that he is both " fascinated and repulse " by the United States , and Man says that ’s exactly what it mean to love America , while also emphasizing that " place is overrated " .
2A United States Air Force Base & The General’s Plane Is Attacked By Artillery
The Northern Vietnamese army knew all about The General’s plan to flee
In a stunning twist of event , a United States Air Force base in Southern Vietnam is brutally attacked by artillery strikes . An American C-130 military plane was await on the tarmacadam for The General and the charabanc of passengers to board the woodworking plane that would take them to the United States . clear , the northerly Vietnamese Amry knew all about The General ’s plan to flee the area and were not going to leave that to happen . It ’s likely that Man inform his superior about the prison term and location of The General ’s plane because he could have scram that entropy now from The Captain . Many people are killed during the onslaught which The Captain was completely unaware of .
1Bon’s Wife & Young Child Die In The Attack
The captain doesn’t make it to the United States
The first character death inThe Sympathizerare fantastically tragical ones . While The Captain , Bon , and his household were run for to the C-130 , Bon ’s married woman and child were killed by the gun work stoppage . Bon is in total seismic disturbance while The Captain rushes back to be with him on the tarmac . Meanwhile , everyone else who had made it onto the plane is yelling at them to board , but it does n’t appear that Bon and The Captain are going to make the flight . The first instalment ofThe Sympathizerends where it originate in the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon . The Captain appear mournful while he contemplate on the incident from prison house . He take heed a familiar song that he had talked about with Claude in the final moments of the episode , hinting that Claude could be there to break him out .
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Based on the novel by Viet Thanh Nuyen , The Sympathizer explore the last days of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a half - Vietnamese , half - French spy serving for the communist regime . The TV series adaption is congeal - up as a miniskirt - series and will likely still be framed as a confession from the protagonist as they make their way through the war . Photo is of the original novel top .
Custom Image by Sam MacLennan
Based on the novel by Viet Thanh Nuyen, The Sympathizer explores the last days of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a half-Vietnamese, half-French spy serving for the communist regime. The TV series adaptation is set-up as a mini-series and will likely still be framed as a confession from the protagonist as they make their way through the war. Photo is of the original novel cover.
