The visual work is good everywhere, including the promotional art (just look at the poster at the top of this piece).ĭavid Simon and his longtime collaborator Ed Burns cleverly use Charles Lindbergh’s actual words as his declaration to be a presidential candidate in a radio broadcast. Not many expensive blockbusters can match up to the world-building here. The setting of the show looks pretty believable as a result. The production design is nearly flawless. What took my breath away was the world-building. This may also have to do with the source material. Also, the journalistic accuracy that has defined Simon’s work (he was a reporter with The Baltimore Sun before he became an author and a screenwriter) is present here too. Both the story and the characters are quite engaging. The writing, once again, is quite solid, and this was not surprising for me at all for a show created by David Simon.

Our protagonists are members of an ordinary Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey who are struggling to adjust to the exacerbating social environment, wherein they are labelled outsiders and the group of people the ‘Americans’ should be watchful about. In the world of The Plot Against America, Lindbergh defeats Roosevelt and becomes the president, which leads to the persecution of Jews. Lindbergh was at loggerheads with Roosevelt in real-life, but did not contest any elections against him - or, any election otherwise. The incumbent US President Franklin D Roosevelt is facing a populist Republican candidate called Charles Lindbergh, a real-life war veteran and a borderline Nazi who advocated a neutrality pact with Germany. The Plot Against America is set in a fictional 1940s, at the height of the Second World War, around the time the Nazi forces overran France and threatened mainland Britain. It is just that it is missing the subtlety and detailed exploration of issues à la The Wire. On the contrary, The Plot Against America, at least so far, is the best show of 2020. That is not to say it not worth watching. The Plot Against America may be David Simon’s most timely and also his least nuanced work yet.

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