REVIEW: The Sympathizer Episode 2 — “Good Little Asian”

The Sympathizer brought audiences through the fall of Saigon in Episode 1 of the series. Now, in The Sympathizer Episode 2, “Good Little Asian,” written by Park Chan-wook & Don McKellar, and Naomi Iizuka brings us to the United States.  Directed by Park Chan-wook, this episode is emotional. Still tinged with the humor you expect from the first episode, it’s also steeped in the uncertainty, racism, and introspective history of the first episode.

In The Sympathizer Episode 2, we watch as the Captain (Hoa Xuande) continues his story for his captors. He got on the plane and made it with Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan), as much as it looked like he didn’t, and now, he’s adjusting to life in Los Angeles. There’s plenty for him to contend with. The Captain is forced to find his way around another weird white CIA man played by Robert Downey Jr (this time racist in the “I’m just like you” kind of way). He also has to find a way to help his traumatized brother Bon, and also find someone to implicate when the General (Toan Le) begins to suspect a mole is sabotaging him.

In reality, though, even with the Captain sending word back to Vietnam, the General doesn’t need anyone working against him to make the refugees clap when he shows up to the mess hall in full regalia. This while they’re forced to eat slop and be treated as less than human by American soldiers. This begins the shift in the episode’s focus on the constant humiliation that the Captain lives through. This is most centrally present through his time with Professor Hammer (Robert Downey Jr.).

Professor Hammer may seem like a caricature of academia. Still, I can assure you that any person of color who has to deal with a white academic studying a culture that isn’t their own has met at least someone like him. No matter what he says, he’s humiliating the Captain. But to be honest, even the anti-war Americans are just as terrible. They are wholly incapable of understanding what they were even protesting for. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel has teeth, and Park doesn’t lose any of that sharp critique in this adaptation.

Seeing Downey Jr. as another weird white man makes the insufferable performance from Episode 1 make sense and pulls his place in the series together. Granted, that’s all pushed by Xuande’s stellar performance reacting to him. In fact, the way in which the white characters in The Sympathizer fall to the sidelines is masterful, even in Los Angeles, but especially when they’re putting the Captain and others through the wringer. They’re always off-cam, slightly obscured, or there to show just how stupid they are in their racism. This is Xuande’s series, and he propels it further in every scene.

Sandra Oh plays Sofia Mori, a new addition to the cast in The Sympathizer Episode 2. She sees the Captain for who he is, which is different from the rest of the world. In some moments, it is as if there is something more real in him because of how they begin to build a relationship. Oh’s Sofia is unashamed of who she is and unafraid of changing how she acts to fit the white men she works with.

The Sympathizer Episode 2 doesn’t just focus on character work. It also brings the audience into spycraft. We see exactly how the Captain relays information back to Vietnam and the complexity of working both sides. As the General begins to pay close attention to his surroundings, the Captain is anxious. Xuande’s performance is full of nervous energy, like someone in a room with the walls closing in.

Overall, The Sympathizer Episode 2 uses its stream-of-consciousness narration to its advantage. It allows for constant interjection and allows comedy to be layered into the larger and darker narrative. At only episode two, Xuande has proven himself as an actor who can carry a series. While the ensemble cast is all fantastic, his performances, voice-over, and ability to hold attention in every scene no matter how outlandish it gets.

The Sympathizer Episode 2 is streaming now on MAX (formerly HBO Max), and new episodes premiere every Sunday on HBO.