Episode 2 of The Sympathizer kicks off with the anonymous Captain summoned from the dreary re-education camp by the North Vietnamese General, tasked with reading the next installment of their shared tale. Back in Vietnam, the memories of their harrowing escape from communist persecution are still raw, with Bon trudging onward, a shell of his former self, clutching the lifeless body of his wife, while the Captain bears the heartbreaking weight of his deceased child. The pair, despite their sorrow, manage to reach the plane and mourn their losses together.
Bon has transformed into a zombie-like figure, his voice silenced, his will to live extinguished. His every need, from bathing to relieving himself, is now attended to by the Captain, who has become his caretaker. Together, they have found a semblance of existence in the bustling cityscape of LA.
Unbeknownst to Bon, the Captain has been secretly transmitting intelligence to Man, now an officer in Vietnam, using cornstarch as a covert means of communication. The news he shares is not encouraging; the General's power is waning, and he may soon pose no further threat.
Five weeks prior, the refugee camps painted a stark contrast to the bustling city they now inhabit. The General, Captain, and other Vietnamese refugees were trapped in squalid conditions, surrounded by filth and scarcity. The people's discontent with the General boiled over into violent outbursts, leading him to suspect that a spy was whispering hatred into their ears. In an attempt to smoke out the traitor, he orders the Captain to embark on a mission to uncover the mole.
To distance himself from the General's increasingly volatile situation, the Captain turns to a college professor, who agrees to sponsor both him and Bon. Their meeting takes place in the professor's office within the Oriental Studies Department, where the Captain is introduced to the sassy Ms. Mori.
The professor confides in the Captain his own troubles, bemoaning the labels of colonizer and imperialist that are hurled at him and his colleagues. He laments the push to rename the department "Asian-American Studies," a change that he views as a dilution of their academic focus. In a bid to brighten the mood, the professor invites the Captain to a party and gifts him a dapper collar suit. As a final task, he asks the Captain to compile a list of his Oriental and Occidental characteristics, a request that both flatters and intrigues the Captain.
Captain was summoned for an interview by an inquisitive student, and Ms. Mori found herself thoroughly impressed by his witty repartee. Later, in a different abode, Bon arrived bearing a letter from Professor Hammer. The following day, amidst the festivities of a lively party, the professor challenged Captain to expound upon his list of dualities. Captain acquitted himself admirably, presenting his ideas without denigrating his Asian heritage, ultimately leaving the professor disinterested.
A tender relationship soon blossomed between Captain and Ms. Mori, causing Bon to feel a twinge of discomfort. Meanwhile, the General's family had relocated to LA, where his waning relevance transformed him into a drunken, smoke-addled figure consumed by his obsession to uncover a spy. In his newfound exile, the General opened a liquor store named 'Yellow Flag Spirits,' his paranoia only escalating when he discovered graffiti scrawled on the store's wall on its inaugural day, leaving poor Captain to scrub it away.
Later, Captain crossed paths with an old classmate who disdainfully opined that 'yellow' carried no positive connotations in America, likening it to urine and commenting on the unsavoury name of the store. Amidst a patriotic fervour, the General delivered a fiery speech, reiterating the urgency of their mission to unmask and eliminate the spy. Subsequently, everyone was summoned for interrogation by the General and Claude.
To evade accusations, Captain, who had been a target of suspicion, falsely accused a former officer in the force. He rationalized that the officer maintained contacts in their homeland, through whom they procured peanut candies. The General and Claude promptly set about breaking and inspecting the candies. Later, the General summoned Captain, pressuring him to delve deeper into the spy matter, citing the suspect officer's well-to-do family in Vietnam, in stark contrast to the plight of others languishing in re-education camps.
Captain enlisted Bon's help to address the suspicions surrounding the officer. The episode concluded with Captain penning a letter to Man, posing a profound question: should he take matters into his own hands and eliminate the General?
