TV Review | The Sympathizer - Future of the Force

“The Sympathizer is a captivating satire of the post-Vietnam War world told through the perspective of a Vietnamese spy. Hoa Xuanda delivers a multi-layered performance as the leading man and Robert Downey Jr. is having so much fun playing several characters.”

Robert Downey Jr. is heading back to television with his new series The Sympathizer, and he’s playing several roles in this one! He also acts as an executive producer. This series is based on the novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Nguyen won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel in 2016. The Sympathizer debuts Sunday, April 14 at 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT in the US on HBO. The episodes will also be available to stream on Max.

FIRST-PERSON NARRATION

Hoa Xuande in *The Sympathizer*. Photograph by Hopper Stone/HBO

The Sympathizer follows the story of the Captain (Hoa Xuande), a half-French and half-Vietnamese spy working for the communist Vietnamese side. During the final days of the Vietnam War, he is forced to flee to the United States with the General (Toan Le) and his team where he secretly continues to spy on them. The whole story is told through the perspective of the Captain. In fact, the series juggles between different moments of his life as he recounts what happened. It’s part of his confession as a war prisoner in Vietnam. Sometimes, he starts somewhere and then rewinds to tell us something he forgot. It really feels like us, the audience, are inside of the character’s mind. You only know what the protagonist knows. They kept that first-person narration aspect of the novel in the series.

This storytelling style makes the series stand out. It’s a fascinating character study. The Captain is a man of two faces. Firstly because he is a spy so he pretends to work for one side while working for the other. Secondly because he is of mixed race. This duality within the character is an essential part of who he is and of the story. Beyond a character study, this series is also an exploration of a world divided by race, ideology and culture. The Captain being of mixed race is the perfect character to explore this Cold War world. Throughout the series, he repeats that he is not half of two things but twice of everything. This is something that rings true for mixed race people.

Undoubtedly, The Sympathizer is a captivating satire that has many things to say. At times, it’s a criticism of America, a land of contradictions and how it treats its immigrants. More generally, how people treat each other. The Captain faces prejudice from both White people and his own people because they don’t see him as one of them since he is both. And at others, it’s a criticism of war and the cost of patriotism. The Captain sacrifices a lot for a cause he believes in but only to be treated as a war prisoner. With war comes grief that is explored in a touching way. Grief actually takes many forms with this series. It’s grief about losing someone but grief about losing one’s homeland. This is also a story of friendship between the Captain, Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan) and Man (Duy Nguyễn) that comes with all its complexities.

CAST

(L-R): Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Duy Nguyen in *The Sympathizer*. Photograph by Hopper Stone/HBO

Since the series is from Hoa Xuande character’s point of view, it entirely relies on him. He delivers a multi-layered performance as the leading man. The Captain is so many things at the same and Xuande is able to convey all of that through his acting. The fear, the doubts, the despair, the love, the patriotism, it’s all there.

Furthermore, Fred Nguyen Khan delivers a moving performance as a grieving man. Even though, Sandra Oh delivers a good performance, her line delivery is on point, this is a terribly wrong casting decision. She plays a Japanese immigrant character while she is of Korean descent. We are in 2024 and this is still happening, it is absolutely not acceptable. There are plenty of talented Japanese actresses that they could have hired for the role. I could have definitely seen Ryoko Yonekura or Shinobu Terajima in this role. They hired Vietnamese and/or Vietnamese descent actors and actresses for the Vietnamese characters (I applaud them for this), they should have done the same with the Japanese character.

On top of that, John Cho and David Duchovny both appear as guest stars in the same episode. It’s honestly nice and unexpected to see them pop up here. Duchovny shines in this unhinged character actor role. He is there for one episode but he went all in with his performance.

ROBERT DOWNEY JUNIOR(S)

Robert Downey Jr. in *The Sympathizer*. Photograph by Beth Dubber/HBO

Robert Downey Jr. is having so much fun playing several characters. He plays a weird CIA agent, a shady political man, an arrogant film director and a know-it-all scholar. With a lot of makeup and his acting skills, he is able to make each of his characters distinct. He uses different accents, mannerisms, gestures. You can tell he has worked hard on his performances for this series. There is actually a sequence with all of his characters at the same time. It’s absolutely ridiculous (in a good way). Only an actor as talented as Downey Jr. could have pulled this off. In fact, he pulled it off brilliantly!

But you may ask, why is he playing several characters? Obviously, there is a reason to that. One that you will discover by yourself when watching the series. I will only say that it is a smart narrative choice that definitely carries an important meaning on the series’ criticism of the American establishment.

VERDICT

The Sympathizer is a captivating satire of the post-Vietnam War world told through the perspective of a Vietnamese spy. Like its protagonist, this series is many things at the same time. Hoa Xuanda delivers a multi-layered performance as the leading man and Robert Downey Jr. is having so much fun playing several characters.