Following the season premiere last week, the second episode of The Sympathiser is now available, and it was an excellent way to build on the show’s opening. Set two months after the fall of Saigon, we watched the captain dealing with an insane commander who suspected there was a spy among them.
In addition, his good friend Bond was dealing with bereavement. However, it would appear that both of these issues might be remedied using the same technique. So, with that, let’s dive into this episode and analyse everything there was to learn from it. Here’s how The Sympathiser Episode 2 ends. Just so you know, this will contain spoilers.
Spoiler Alert!
The Sympathizer Episode 2 Breakdown
So the show began by reminding us that the captain was currently imprisoned and was being forced to relay all of the information regarding his covert operation as a spy for the north. He was charged with returning to the United States during the fall of Saigon to keep an eye on the general and report back if there was any indication that the general was planning to strike again.
That was his main purpose. But, given that he’s being confined in a cell, it appears that somewhere along the way in the story that he’s going to tell us, something will go horribly wrong, and that love of America that Man expressed may transform him and his loyalties.
The first section of this episode was quite well-constructed. We were back on the airstrip the night Bon lost his wife and newborn baby as he and the captain were hurrying to board the plane bound for America. This image was intercut with the captain driving his automobile down a highway, almost as if what had transpired was a distant memory.
However, Bon sat in the rear of the car, traumatised and in mourning, yet not over the death of his family, with whom he was only beginning his life. The mood, tone, and vibe of these starkly different photos were unavoidable to notice while viewing. The blood flowing from Bon’s wife as he attempted to carry her was a terrible and harrowing shot.
And then, in the distance, with the plane door closing on the land that they considered home, which was essentially on fire, and the convertible roof folding open when they arrived at the vast open landscape of an American desert, it felt like it should have represented freedom because of their safety.
And it was almost as if they could begin a fresh chapter in their life, but it didn’t feel that way at all. The majority of these folks did not want to be there because they were leaving their homes, which they preferred to remain in. They were simply unprepared for this new land and culture.
So I think the opening section of this episode was quite impactful and set the tone and mood for the rest of the episode. Following this, the basis for the episode’s story were soon laid. The General suspected that there was a spy among those on the plane with him.
He felt this way because many individuals turned against him while they were at Fort Chaff in Arkansas, and he believed he was being undermined and that others were conspiring against him. He also felt this was the case later in the episode since there was graffiti on the side of the booze store he opened with the word Butcher on it.
Something about when the general killed a murderer on the street. The Captain didn’t seem too concerned at first, but when the General became convinced that there was a spy, he threw Major Juan under the bus and accused him of being the spy.
When we first saw the character outside the General’s house, handing that snack to the General’s wife and mentioning that he was in the secret place, it felt like something bad was about to happen to him, and that he would most likely be accused of being the spy.
With the General and Claude suspecting that it could be the Major since he had access to Vietnamese delicacies that were not available in the United States, the General pressed the Captain to kill him and deal with him so that the matter would be resolved. There was a tense moment when it was revealed that the Captain’s name came up while people were discussing who they thought the spy could be.
There was only laughing and unease, but I believe this demonstrated a flaw in the Captain’s plan. While he is now undercover, he isn’t convincing everyone. Let us remember when he was with the professor and met Sophia at the dinner he hosted. She stated that she could see through what he was doing and how he was acting like the good student that the professor expected of him.
That sentence felt much more important than what it implied at the time. So, I believe there will come a moment when suspicions about him will be heightened even further. Bond’s anguish served as the episode’s foundation drone, culminating in an extraordinarily dramatic scene in which we saw him as a lost guy.
He wasn’t showering or eating; he was just surviving. We watched him clutching his fist to his head because he was so hurt, and then we cut to a scene where his wife and child were having their coffin closed, and he was striking himself in the head to the beat of the pounding of the nails. Both Bon and the Captain appeared sad, and you could feel the agony that was shared by them.
While it appeared that the Captain was mourning Bon’s wife and child, he was actually attempting to take advantage of Bon’s mental state. In the final minutes, the Captain revealed to Bon that the Major was thought to be a spy, and he asked Bon, as he would in coded letters to men, if he should kill him.
When the spy was mentioned, Bon’s entire demeanour altered. He stated the line, which I can help you with. This demonstrated Bon’s intense hatred for anyone who sided with the North. He believed that some people were to blame for his wife and baby’s deaths. This was Bond’s time to let out all of his pent-up wrath and rage over what had happened to his family.
Trouble is on its way to the Major’s door, and I believe it will continue after the Captain and Bond leave. That will undoubtedly follow them. The Captain most likely couldn’t accomplish it on his own, as we saw him writing to Man, asking if he should do it. So the fact that he is manipulating Bond’s sadness reveals a lot about the Captain as a person.
Has the Captain ever killed before? That is something we do not know for certain. There were some really fascinating questions and assertions made during the captain’s interrogation. The interviewer questioned if he felt the support of American activists, and he also stated that Americans were on the side of the Vietnamese people, to which the captain reacted by asking which ones, North or South, and the interviewer then replied, all of them.
The captain then said, “I suppose we all look the same after all, right?” This was a point where it began to show a different perspective on the war, and the interviewer’s blasé demeanour was a fascinating focus. However, during this interview, the captain was asked the bold question, “Have you ever killed anyone?” and the interviewer’s head transformed into an egg, revealing a scene of what appeared to be a patient or prisoner devouring an egg.
The Sympathizer Episode 2 Review
This part of the story was not resolved at the time, so it’s difficult to say what happened there. But it appears that the Captain may have some blood on his hands, albeit not his bare hands, as he claims. This episode also demonstrated a full indifference and unfiltered approach to racial words, behaviours, and settings during the 1970s.
For example, as the captain entered the store, there were two rude, judging store workers. Professor Hammer was extremely improper in his behaviour and the culture that he appeared to seek to exploit for his own gain. And the fact that he referred to the captain as a half breed and forced him to enumerate his oriental and occidental characteristics in front of an audience at his dinner party, as if it were some sort of entertainment.
So the show leaned into that in this episode, providing another reason why those who had fled their nation may have found it difficult to believe they could build a new home in such an atmosphere. This is my review of the episode. I think this was an enjoyable episode of the show.
Style-wise, it’s simply stunning. The transitions, the deliberate use of specific colours, the music choices, the repetitive motifs that appear when scenes from the past are shown, and the performances given by the performers. Everything works so wonderfully together and has a Park Chan wook vibe.
This show’s story strikes a mix between wisdom and fun. It has strong pacing, which allows the show to feel natural even if it takes us through several time periods and shows us things from the past and present. The three characters who are currently stealing the show from me are the Captain, the General, and Bon.
All of the performances are outstanding, and you truly believe in the compelling personalities and characters that they present. I also think Downey Jr. is doing an excellent job. His job as the professor was very different from Claude’s. But the riveting nature of the show, as well as the battle that can be seen inside the Captain’s mind, is what keeps it engaging for me.
I have no idea where the programme will go or what might happen to Landon in the cell in the current day, but it is one that I am interested in seeing. So there you have it: The Sympathiser Episode 2 Ending Explained.
