Plot: Near the end of the Vietnam War, a spy who was embedded in the South Vietnam army flees to the United States and takes up residence in a refugee community, where he continues to gather intelligence and report back to the Viet Cong.

This series was Alright.

Pros: I like how they betray refugees. The cinematography is great. Most of the performances were very good. It does keep you glued to your screen for each new episode I watch. The storyline was structured nicely and It discuss a lot about war and how Americans treats Asians.   

Cons: The dialogue were difficult to understand through most of the series. Each of the 4 different characters played by Robert Downey Jr. were hit & miss for me and this series can be hard to follow.  

Genre: Black comedy; Historical drama; Spy thriller; War drama

Created by Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar

Directed by Park Chan-wook; Fernando Meirelles; Marc Munden

Showrunners: Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar

Based on: The Sympathizer; by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Starring: Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr., Toan Le, Fred Nguyen Khan, Duy Nguyễn, Vy Le, Ky Duyen, Phanxinê, Kieu Chinh, Alan Trong & Sandra Oh.

Composer: Jo Yeong-wook

Executive producers: Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, Niv Fichman, Kim Ly, Ron Schmidt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jisun Beck, John Sloss, Ravi Nandan, Hallie Sekoff

Producers: Inman Young, Jes Anderson, Ted Pacult, Kris Baucom

Production Locations: United States, Thailand

Cinematography: Kim Ji-yong; Barry Ackroyd

Editors: Jin Lee, Vikash Patel, Fernando Stutz

Production companies: Team Downey, Rhombus Media, Cinetic Media, Moho Film, A24

Network: HBO

Casts & Characters:

Main:

• Hoa Xuande as the Captain, a police captain in Saigon who is secretly a communist spy for the North
• Robert Downey Jr. in several antagonist roles including (in order of appearance):
  • Claude, a CIA agent who mentors the Captain
  • Professor Robert Hammer, the Captain’s Orientalist grad school professor
  • Ned Godwin, a Congressman in Southern California trying to appeal to the local Vietnamese American population
  • Niko Damianos, an auteur filmmaker making a film on the Vietnam War, based on Francis Ford Coppola
  • The Priest who is the Captain’s father
• Toan Le as the General (Trọng), a high-ranking Southern Vietnamese general that the Captain serves under
• Fred Nguyen Khan as Bốn, the Captain’s childhood best friend
• Duy Nguyễn as Mẫn, the Captain’s other childhood friend and his handler
• Vy Le as Lana, the General’s daughter and the Captain’s love interest
• Ky Duyen as Madame, the General’s wife
• Phanxinê as the Major (Oanh), an incompetent major secretly running a black market operation, whom the Captain decides to frame
• Kieu Chinh as the Major’s Mother
• Alan Trong as Sonny Tran, a Vietnamese American reporter and the Captain’s former college rival
• Sandra Oh as Ms. Sofia Mori, a Japanese American secretary who develops a sexual relationship with the Captain

Supporting:

• VyVy Nguyen as the Major’s wife
• Kayli Tran as the Communist Spy
• Scott Ly as Gunner Dao
• David Duchovny as Ryan Glenn, an acclaimed but volatile method actor playing Captain Shamus in The Hamlet, loosely based on Marlon Brando
• John Cho as James Yoon, a Korean-American actor playing Kim in The Hamlet
• Max Whittington-Cooper as Jamie Johnson, a popular soul singer and first-time actor playing Lieutenant Bellamy in The Hamlet
• Marine Delterme as Monique Thibault, the production designer of The Hamlet and Niko’s girlfriend

I still recommend watching this series on Sky Atlantic.

Rating: 7 out of 10 Stars

Ryan Balkwill:

Resident TV reviewer,

Level Best Art Cafe