The Sympathizer series finale

[silverstarry]

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1x7: Endings Are Hard, Aren't They

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[silverstarry]

Shōgun was commended for its commitment to portraying Japan accurately (and deservedly so). I wish The Sympathizer would get even a fraction of that praise.

Is the lack of interest/praise due to the Vietnam War making people uncomfortable? Was the 70s too recent for people to care about it being shown accurately? Is it because historic Japanese figures seem ~exotic but Vietnamese refugees are too familiar/recognizable?

Whatever the reason, I wish this show was getting attention for more than RDJ's multiple roles.

[vanilla_09]

IA. I'm not sure if it's just an impression and the show is actually getting some traction but even here I'm really surprised these posts have gotten very little comments too. I've been watching every week and the fact that Hoa Xuande and Toan Le aren't getting the same enthusiasm as the cast from Shogun makes me sad. This reminds me of a comment Hong Chau had made about how there is a certain type of Asian representation that is validated and celebrated in HW but in the Asian community as a whole and it always lands on projects from a South East Asian topics or characters.

[queenursula]

I think it being on just Max is probably a significant factor unfortunately. If this had even been on HBO standard that would have made a difference. Shogun was on FX so it was available to a much wider audience.

I.e. the replies to this thread have some people not knowing it even exists and others wanting to see it but not being able to

Park Chan-Wook is giving you Robert Downey Jr as “Personified American Evil” and everyone’s not watching for some reason
- Andrew (@Swordfish978) May 15, 2024

[thatgum_youlike]

well tbf the sympathizer is an hbo standard show - it aired on the channel in addition to being available on the max app. as a premium cable channel, hbo will never have as wide an audience that a basic cabel channel like fx will, especially after the mess of the max merger. max did a lot to tarnish the hbo brand unfortunately

[queenursula]

I watched the show because of Park Chan-wook but I enjoyed the rest and thought it was very compelling. Hope to see Hoa Xuande get more roles.

[carminaburana]

I just started the show (had held off until most episodes have aired and also because I just started reading the novel). Got right into the first episode and though i’m not Vietnamese, I’m also from a post-colonial region with a history of civil war and a lot of foreign interference stoking those flames, so much of the story really reasonates. Huge fan of Park Chan Wook and excited to see his work here.

[marywebgirl]

Now that the whole thing has aired, I have a question. I read the book and there’s a very disturbing rape scene towards the end. It’s somewhat important to the plot so I assumed they were going to include it in the show, and between that and RDJ I didn’t really want to watch. Did they cut it out?

[thatgum_youlike]

it's not exactly cut, but it isn't shown if that helps

[queenursula]

T/w

[Spoiler (click to open)]Its set up like a rape with the guys pinning her to a table. They shove a coke bottle in her mouth as interrogation. This is framed as a bit of unreliable narration via the narrator and it’s later clarified “they didn’t put it in her mouth”.

[mammary_glands]

I'm one episode behind but this miniseries has been excellent from top to bottom. I hope HBO doesn't skimp out on pushing everyone, not just RDJ (who deeply irritates my spirit but was tolerable in this once my brain was forced to acclimate), for awards. Hoa Xuande's been absolutely incredible.