The Plot Against America: It's either Lindbergh or War!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The Plot Against America: It's either Lindbergh or War!

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

Thanks for making the thread. I finished the show yesterday and was surprised there wasn't alread thread for it. I mentioned it in the chat thread and it was kind of ignored so that was pretty strange, I guess the show flew under the radar somehow.

TheOmegaWalrus posted:

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There were some story points in the finale I didn't 100% comprehend, but that's probably by design. The interplay of real and alternate history is something I really, really want Simons to explore some more.

I didn't know that ala Chernobyl, HBO released an hour-long podcast with every episode which will become mandatory for my inevitable re-watch. I kind of wish I knew that going in, but the writing depth is there for multiple viewings.

What happened in Germany in the 40's wasn't some anomaly, it can and likely will happen again.

What didn't make sense sense for you? I thought they wrapped everything up pretty sensibly.

Didn't know about the podcast, these often seem to be a waste of time but I'll definitely give it a shot.

Sassy Sasquatch posted:

Watched it a week ago, as a Simons fan it did nothing for me. I'm not sure if it's the format or the source material but the pacing was pretty uneven with its overly long lulls intersped with awkward ellipses. Especially in the first half. Despite the good acting I could not get attached to most of the characters and ultimately felt like the show didn't have anything new or interesting to say about them. Most of them follow a predictable path and whatever social and political commentary there was felt trite to me. (cue the obvious parallels with the current US administration)

It gets grating when the show keeps propping Roosevelt as a hero of the Jewish people when the guy made no particular effort to help European Jews fleeing the Nazis (to say nothing of the Japanese internment camps after the war started) and actively campaigned for reelection on the basis that he would not go at war with Germany.

It was a bit weird but compared to an actual nazi I'm sure FDR would look pretty great. Plus alternative reality and all that. And people tend to project their desired traits onto their pet politicians/celebrities etc. Like how some trump fans insist he's XYZ despite ample evidence to the contrary,

quote:

The show has good production values and does a great job at ramping up tension at times but it ultimately rings hollow.

Also seconding this:

Like what's with the burning of ballots in the epilogue, has Simons fallen out of love with electoral politics ?

I haven't read the book but apparently there everything just goes back to normal at the end. I thing that would be a huge copout and it makes a lot more sense that those who benefited and liked the direction things were going in under Lindbergh wouldn't just let that happen.

# ¿ May 8, 2020 01:19

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 12:36

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

I thought it was heavily implied they had multiple of those radar thingies and shot down the plane at another location, or at least saw it explode/crash by coincidence. That's the only way it makes sense that they prematurely shut down Alvin's station; they had to know it done.

As for Evelyn and Lionel, they got the purge treatment form the VP. Somehow the FLOTUS had enough loyalists to get her out and get them released too and congress to remove the nazi VP (probably the least realistic part lol). They really betrayed the jews so I suppose nobody cared about that too much, it's not like racism was fixed

# ¿ May 8, 2020 09:44

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

Escobarbarian posted:

Why didn�t you just make it yourself? The people in Couch Chat don�t just exist to make threads at your behest.

I mentioned the show in the chat thread. Not that they should make a thread for me.

Sassy Sasquatch posted:

A friend of mine argued that it sets up the youngest going to see Evelyn at her office on his own. It’s not a great payoff but it’s not entirely useless.

That's probably correct but I didn't really connect it at the time. I was probably more focused on the stalking aspect of it.

Alhazred posted:

The show gives you just enough information so that you can piece it together yourself and I really like it when writers does that.

Yeah I really liked it. There's no big payoff for the character and you're not even told what actually happened, but you can deduce just enough of it and see the consequences.

# ¿ May 17, 2020 09:19

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The Plot Against America: It's either Lindbergh or War!