‘The Sympathizer’ Is Your New Spy Show Obsession

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ALREADY IN 2024, a number of TV shows have played their casting cards just right. Masters of the Air was in the works for more than a decade before its release earlier this year; landing Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, two of the industry's most exciting ascending talents, was a combination of finely-calculated risk and plain old good luck. Hulu's Under the Bridge, a true crime series out later this month, features Lily Gladstone in her first role after the Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon. Perhaps the most notable of these, though, is HBO's The Sympathizer, which features Robert Downey Jr., fresh off his own full-circle moment—winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer. And what could be better than Robert Downey Jr.? Oh, that's right: four Robert Downey Jr.'s.

Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, The Sympathizer tells the story of a character known only as The Captain (Hoa Xuande), who was a double agent during the Vietnam war, representing North Vietnam while embedded in the South Vietnamese army. Early in the story he flees Vietnam altogether, eventually joining a South Vietnamese refugee community in the United States, still reporting intel back, torn between his many constantly changing and differing loyalties. Downey Jr, meanwhile, plays a number of different slimy American characters, chief among them a man named Claude who serves as a mentor of sorts to The Captain, but certainly should not be trusted.

The series counts star power that goes beyond Downey Jr., too. The series was co-created by Park Chan-wook, the legendary South Korean director of films including Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave (he also directs the first three episodes of The Sympathizer). Sandra Oh, who we all know from her role in Killing Eve and voice work in Invincible, also plays a key supporting role

The Sympathizer has high expectations to live up to—being based on an acclaimed piece of literature, featuring a recent Academy Award-winning star, and including the direction of a modern filmmaking visionary will do that. But it seems like HBO managed to once again pull it off with a show that's smart, exciting, and engaging, all at the same time.

Here's when you can see every episode of The Sympathizer.

When is the next episode of The Sympathizer coming out?

The Sympathizer episodes will air on HBO on Sunday nights at 9:00 PM EST, and be available to stream on Max at the same time. The next episode will be available on Sunday, May 5.

How many episodes of The Sympathizer are left?

The Sympathizer is 7 episodes in total, the first two of which are now available to stream. That means there are four episodes—and four weeks of darkly comedic spy twists and turns—left in HBO's limited series.

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Here's the complete release schedule for HBO's The Sympathizer.

Episode 1, "Death Wish" - Now streaming as of April 14
Episode 2, "Good Little Asian" - Now streaming as of April 21
Episode 3, "Love It or Leave It" - Now streaming as of April 28
Episode 4, "TBA" - Streaming on May 5
Episode 5, "TBA" - Streaming on May 12
Episode 6, "TBA" - Streaming on May 19
Episode 7, "TBA" - Streaming on May 26

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