Review: The Sympathizer, "All for One" | Season 1, Episode 5

It's time to check out the big board

Photo: HBO

“I’ve lost myself. That’s tangible.”

I mentioned briefly at the end of last week’s review that I wondered how likely it was that this show would have come to fruition if not for the presence of Robert Downey, Jr. It’s not that he’s the only recognizable name involved in this show. (And as we’ve already acknowledged, the source material for The Sympathizer is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which is no mean feat.) But as much as I like the work of Park Chan-Wook, Don McKellar, and Sandra Oh, let’s be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that the presence of the man who would be Tony Stark is enough to vault any project to the top of a wishlist for studio executives.

Now, the good news about “All for One” is that Robert Downey, Jr.’s work here is…let’s say relatively tamped-down, or at least not as outlandishly flamboyant as it’s appeared in previous weeks. (The image of RDJ using his lips to pretend to play trumpet like Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie does mean I have to hedge…