The Sympathizer
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We return to Bon and the Captain on the bombed airfield, surrounded by death and debris.
He is smoking a cigarette while Bon languishes in the backseat.
Bon dissociates and goes mute, refusing to shower or eat unless the Captain forces him to.
For Bon, its hell an unfamiliar wasteland he has to traverse alone without his wife and child.
This strikes a nerve among the women in the refugee camp.
Hammer speaks to Ms. Mori in Japanese (she sarcastically responds, This is America.
Here, the show reminds us, perhaps too crudely, that this was a different time.
Everyone was marching, the reporter said.
We were on your side.
To which the Captain asks, And which side is that?
The reporter stammers back, The side of the Vietnamese people.
Curiously, this cynicism didnt extend to Hammers antics.
(The text is also used as a cipher in his spy correspondence with Man.)
What else, we begin to wonder, are the Captains blind spots?
The two have some shared history.
The evidence is his peanut candy, a treat directly shipped from Vietnam.
The Captain is ordered to get rid of the Major.
That question, though, retroactively triggers a partial flashback of another interrogation scene, which involves boiled eggs.
At home, seeing a dejected Bon, something spurs the Captain into action.
Bon punches his head to the rhythm of a hammer as Linhs coffin is nailed shut.
They take a drive.
The Captain enlists Bons help with Major Oanh.
Bon clarifies, Which Oanh?
Bon assures the Captain that he can help.
He speaks like a man with nothing to lose.
Things are being put into motion that cant be undone.
