Mini-series - 7 episodes
Buy the book (paid link)
Created by: Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Hoa Xuande, Scott Ly, Sandra Oh
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
Near the end of the Vietnam War, a plant who was embedded in the South Vietnam army flees to the United States and takes up residence in a refugee community where he continues to secretly spy and report back to the Viet Cong.
Verdict
I like the subject and how we're only seeing the Captain's musings, so there is the question of whether the narrator is reliable. We've got this inherent tension with a spy, but this was never as thrilling as I wanted it to be. With Downey playing multiple roles, that makes this feel comedic, especially when he plays against himself. I couldn't help but think the book is likely better. Some subjects just don't translate well. The final episode makes the entire season better. Part of that is the Captain facing his ideals and what those pursuits have wrought. It also addresses Downey's roles.
It depends.
Review
America called it the Vietnam War, Vietnam called it the American War. North Korea was communist backed by soviet China. South Korea was backed by the United States.
The Captain (Hoa Xuande) is the main character, a plant from North Korea serving in the South Korean army. The first episode jumps back a couple hours, then a couple days, and then further but the story demands it. We first see the Captain as a prisoner before seeing how he ended up as such. Since he is narrating the story, it allows us to bounce around as he remembers details he had forgotten. It also causes us to question how events transpired.
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| Robert Downey Jr., Hoa Xuande play Niko Damianos, the Captain |
While the first episode is disorienting, that's intentional. The Captain has to walk the line of infiltrating and getting information while retaining his cover. The Captain is tasked with finding the spy at the General's behest. It just so happens that the Captain is the spy.
The second episode makes this seem like a vehicle for Downey's acting. Why else would he play multiple roles? He does a great job, but it seems comedic. In episode three Downey is playing four parts in one scene. If I didn't know going in that Downey had four roles, I would have been very confused. Being a spy movie, I might have thought he was wearing a disguise.
The Captain ends up consulting on a movie about Vietnam. It seems to be some kind of satire with how ridiculous everyone acts for this movie. That could just be how the Captain portrays them. His captors keep asking him to revise his 'confession.' He may be giving them what they want. He even mentions during episode four that the events he didn't personally witness he's making up. He has a difficult time watching the dailies as it reminds him of what happened in Vietnam. David Duchovny plays an actor on this movie that's an extreme method actor.
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| Robert Downey Jr. plays Claude |
The final episode is easily the best, but it makes you wonder to what degree any of what we've seen is real. We also see the Captain's confession against another agent's confession that he thought had died. It's proof that even what you know isn't always exact. In his confession he left out the worst parts. As the show tells us, war happens twice, on the battlefield and in the memory.
This is always a show that I wish engaged me more, but it does end well. I think the show would benefit from watching it again. The last episode also gives us a reason for Downey playing multiple parts. The Captain sees all white men with stature as resembling his father. It's a neat detail, that would have been useful earlier.
The Captain has to confront his belief that communism would always win. He left the island and missed the turmoil, even burying the worst memories. He's forced to confront them while imprisoned, realizing the problems with communism. It's empty ideals and nothing is more precious than independence and freedom. The Captain and his army gave up everything in the search of an ideal and were left with nothing.
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