HBO's "The Sympathizer ," adapted from Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, tells the story of a Vietnamese spy who moves to the United States after the war. But if you're expecting a simple spy thriller, you might be surprised. The 2015 novel is told in the form of the unnamed storyteller’s post-capture confessions—from the outset, when the spy says he’s a “two-minded man,” it’s clear he may not be the most Reliable narrator.
If you'd like to get an early look at the show's April 14 premiere, here's a bookend and plot summary recap of "The Sympathizer."
The mind of a double agent
The Sympathizer begins in 1975, just after the Vietnam War. The narrator is a communist spy who works closely with a South Vietnamese general while secretly feeding his boss, Man, intelligence on the other side.
After the war, the narrator escapes to Southern California with the general. Here, the general opens a liquor store and the narrator finds a job at his old college. He also starts seeing his secretary, Ms. Sen (played by Sandra Oh in the show), while maintaining communication with Man.
In addition to spy work, the narrator finds another way to be an "infiltrator" by referencing a movie about the Vietnam War. While filming in the Philippines, he was injured in a set explosion and left the project, but when he returned to the United States, he discovered that Ms. Mori (or Sophia) had developed a relationship with Sonny, a journalist whose writings caused People's attention is on the general. While in America, the narrator kills many people, including Sonny, at the behest of the general.
Sympathizer's Ending Is a Forced Confession
The narrator eventually returns to Vietnam, where he is captured and forced to write a confession, only to discover that it is his boss Man who has imprisoned him. Mann orders the narrator to be interrogated so that he confesses details missing from his confession, including his role in his father's death and his standing by while a fellow spy was brutally tortured.
After acknowledging these things and agreeing that nothing is more important than the party's ideals, the narrator considers himself "enlightened" and is released.
While the narrator's story may have ended there as far as The Sympathizer is concerned, Nguyen actually has a follow-up book out in 2021 titled The Commitment — so there's certainly enough material to warrant the continuation of the HBO series .
