The Sympathizer is a very complicated show about a very complicated person.
A double agent. Pretending to be against communism, backed by the CIA. Secretly keeping an eye on "The General" who represents south Vietnam (anti-communism). When in reality he himself is a commie.
Throw in the fact that he's half-white, lost his mother at a young age, and has a history in America... and, well, yeah. You have an interesting character.
The Captain (the lead) is a character that genuinely sees all sides of the argument. Perhaps making it his greatest weakness. He also desperately wants to be seen. Throughout the show he becomes more and more exhausted by having to play all angles. And just wants to be heard.
But when he is, he must flee the country or kill someone to cover his tracks. It's a tenuous mission.
Throw in a little identity politics and we have a very layered series dealing with a lot of themes and ideas. Maybe too many at times.
I think one of the most interesting aspects in this series is The General. The General can't accept that communists won the country he loves so much. You don't ever get this side of the story when you read or watch things about the Vietnam war. You almost forget that not everyone in Vietnam was pro communism.
It was also an interesting choice to cast that character with such a comedic lens.
It's interesting to think of a world where democrats fought republicans for the United States. And England backed democrats and still lost. And republicans just took over the entire country.
That's essentially what happened with Vietnam. Even after the United States backed the side against communism they still lost. Think about that.
(Also, I am not comparing republicans to communists, it's just the example I used).
I think the last two episodes save the series. It definitely sticks the landing. Explaining that the other agent we saw getting tortured in the first episode in the theater and what happened between her and The Captain was very satisfying. And his friend being the commander commissary the whole year he was in solitary confinement. I think it's very satisfying.
It's also very funny to me, in hindsight, that we see The Captain risk his life every single day for a cause he believes in, for communism. Only to experience communism for a year and then dip. Like, that's very funny.
Last thing I'll say is... The realization when you find out that The Captain's mom was raped by a white man and that's why all of these white men in The Captain's life are played by Robert Downey Jr. (because The Captain sees all evil white men the same from childhood trauma) gave me chills.
A double agent. Pretending to be against communism, backed by the CIA. Secretly keeping an eye on "The General" who represents south Vietnam (anti-communism). When in reality he himself is a commie.
Throw in the fact that he's half-white, lost his mother at a young age, and has a history in America... and, well, yeah. You have an interesting character.
The Captain (the lead) is a character that genuinely sees all sides of the argument. Perhaps making it his greatest weakness. He also desperately wants to be seen. Throughout the show he becomes more and more exhausted by having to play all angles. And just wants to be heard.
But when he is, he must flee the country or kill someone to cover his tracks. It's a tenuous mission.
Throw in a little identity politics and we have a very layered series dealing with a lot of themes and ideas. Maybe too many at times.
I think one of the most interesting aspects in this series is The General. The General can't accept that communists won the country he loves so much. You don't ever get this side of the story when you read or watch things about the Vietnam war. You almost forget that not everyone in Vietnam was pro communism.
It was also an interesting choice to cast that character with such a comedic lens.
It's interesting to think of a world where democrats fought republicans for the United States. And England backed democrats and still lost. And republicans just took over the entire country.
That's essentially what happened with Vietnam. Even after the United States backed the side against communism they still lost. Think about that.
(Also, I am not comparing republicans to communists, it's just the example I used).
I think the last two episodes save the series. It definitely sticks the landing. Explaining that the other agent we saw getting tortured in the first episode in the theater and what happened between her and The Captain was very satisfying. And his friend being the commander commissary the whole year he was in solitary confinement. I think it's very satisfying.
It's also very funny to me, in hindsight, that we see The Captain risk his life every single day for a cause he believes in, for communism. Only to experience communism for a year and then dip. Like, that's very funny.
Last thing I'll say is... The realization when you find out that The Captain's mom was raped by a white man and that's why all of these white men in The Captain's life are played by Robert Downey Jr. (because The Captain sees all evil white men the same from childhood trauma) gave me chills.
