The Sympathizer Season 1 Episode 2 Breakdown | Recap & Review

The Sympathizer Season 1 Episode 2 Breakdown. In-depth recap and review for The Sympathizer - S01E02 “Good Little Asian” with the ending explained. Please Subscribe 👉 www.youtube.co...
In Episode 2, The Captain and Bon make it to America. They make it out of the refugee camp ahead of the General and his family with the help of an old college professor. The General starts to worry a spy has infiltrated their ranks and demands The Captain find out who it is.
The Sympathizer is HBO's new series from co-showrunners Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar based on the novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The Captain (Hoa Xuande) is a Northern Spy working for a South Vietnamese General (Toan Le) at the end of the Vietnam War. Or the American War, depending on who you ask, and this identity crisis and the Captain's double life set the stage for a show that is a spy thriller, a war story, an immigrant story, and a dark comedy.
S1.E2
Good Little Asian
Written By: Park Chan-wook & Don McKellar and Naomi Iizuka
Directed By: Park Chan-wook
As he adjusts to life in Los Angeles, the Captain is forced to find someone to implicate when the General begins to suspect a mole.
Episode aired Apr 21, 2024
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The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen amzn.to/49C9pVq
#TheSympathizer #hbo

[@TheOtaxephon]

I'm loving this show even having not read the source material. I absolutely love the way Park Chan-Wook directs and this show oozes his unique style. The guy has an eye for cinematography which is completely unlike anything else and while this episode slowed down the action, it still had plenty of charm. The dialogue was also incredibly well-conceived. It's unfortunate that this show is mostly getting slept on but if it keeps up the pace its own I think it may garner a cult following in the future.

[@choongta]

2:05, invisible ink: OMG. Quite a flashback to the '80s for me. I don't have HBO to watch these episodes, so not sure what was used as ink and how the reader went about reading the message. My aunt (who happened to be from Paris as well) came to visit us in L.A. Back in the day, she would help taking letters and photos to my mom. I remembered, on one normal letter, I would use fountain pen and lemon juice as ink to write an invisible message at the bottom of the letter. Writing was a bit challenging as there was no visual trace almost immediately, so the note had to be short and sweet. For my mom to read, she would hover the paper over the flame of a candle. As the paper just started to turn brown, she would move the paper around so it wouldn't catch fire. Eventually, the invisible writing would appear in the brown area. Strange but true !

[@tmmnago2722]

They use iodine to reveal the invisible ink.

[@pascalthomas9703]

Love the serie so far. But the multiple roles played by Downey Jr are a bit jarring.

[@smittyjjensin558]

Its probably a joke about how the protagonist sees all the significant White American men in his life as being roughly the same

[@seanlee2250]

Can't wait for the E3 ! Expect the unexpected!That is why I love it!

[@soutarm]

Love your breakdowns and I'm happy to see you're reviewing this show. I was surprised you didn't mention that the graffiti was based on the famous "Saigon Execution" photo of a Viet Cong captain being executed.

[@EPluribusUnumSemper]

The scene when the protagonist was being interviewed by the student journalist hit home so hard. I have liberal values, but the actions of self righteous useful idiots who have no idea of what they’re marching and protesting about is infuriating. They think that there’s only one monolithic Vietnamese people, even to this day, and somehow they don’t comprehend what is the reality of communism is about. I remember being pushed back and forth in a mass of people clamoring for our daily ration that was quickly running out. A woman in the crowd asked a cadre at the commissary counter why did she sold the food to someone who wasn’t even in line when there are so many of us who have been waiting. The cadre responded in a thick northern accent, “If you liberated us instead of we liberating you then this wouldn’t have happened.” We were all shocked to hear that and were terrified of what could happen. Re-education camps and new economic zones (the jungle) would certainly be our destination if we persist. They called it “liberation,” but we know that it’s an occupation and subjugation. To this very day you will find northerners occupying the best government positions in the south and southerners are merely window dressing in a “unified” Vietnam. If there were “independent and freedom” certainly the common people didn’t have it. If “reunification” brought wealth and prosperity, why were there waves of people escaping to the sea in search of a better life. That didn’t just happened in Vietnam, after America abandoned Indochina, communist forces in Lao and Cambodia were also free to take power and the people of those countries also fled. Then the Cambodian genocide followed. Those self righteous useful idiots who were marching in support of a communist Vietnam should know that good intentions can also lead to bad consequences.

[@anasakmalagismail32]

The graffiti on the General's liquor store is not a racist graffiti. It is a reference to the summary execution of a Viet Cong officer by the national police chief of South Vietnam which was captured in a photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize.

[@EPluribusUnumSemper]

That photographer later apologized to the general after realizing what that photo had led to. The man being executed was a communist death squad leader who was on that day targeting the families of the members of the Army of South Vietnam. The general action in publicly executing the man was rash and violated the Geneva Convention, but war brings the worst out of man, especially when it’s so personal. For those who could resist the temptation to enact retribution, sainthood awaits. So many westerners are too privileged to understand that reality. Many are so righteous without ever having to be in the position of those who they judged.

[@rolandkloka]

Great show love your commentary.

[@gerryletourneau2092]

"Sucker Bite" WTF?. It's called a "Hickey"

[@TheSeventhvoice]

Brad Pitt pulling a tropic thunder what am I seeing

[@Pang-nn4eq]

Does captain know that the professor dude and the CIA dude are same guy? In the universe? Because that is not made clear

[@q09w86er]

It is RDJ (the same actor) playing two different characters, breaking the fourth wall. And it seems from the title image that there will be 4 characters in total.

[@WholeFnShow1]

Man, never seen a show pretty much fall off a cliff in the 2nd episode like this. Thought the 1st episode was great and i love PCW so i was excited but this Downey Jr playing dif roles and the squid fucking/sandra oh relationship was just like an eyerolling left turn. It went from a serious show to a joke out of nowhere. I usually enjoy the comedic aspect of his other movies and in korean cinema in general, but it's not translating in this for me. The directing aspects and style is still great but the tone kinda went out the window.

[@normalnamenormalname2083]

I was so fucking confused man. I had high hopes for this show…

[@Justanotherdude0]

I know, to each their own but I loveeeee it. I was actually expecting more satire on the first episode and they nailed it in the second. They really captured the tone of the book well. Thou I do blame their marketing for not preparing the audience for it.

[@Dominicn123]

I loved it lol park has directed weirder things, old boy itself had VERY similar scenes, even worse in regards but I think this was a good set up, literally most other shows have failed in the modern day, not many are caring enough to set up events like this one has

[@attabooii]

The entire book is written through a satirical lens. It's a political black comedy. The beginning and the end are the more serious parts of the book. I will say, it's a very good book, so you might wanna give it some more time

[@seanlee2250]

That is why I love it! Expect the unexpected!