philip roth the plot against america hbo

Zoe Kazan in “The Plot Against America” HBO

The series finale is lacking in the kind of chef’s kiss of dialogue that has gotten Simon dubbed a “genius,” but serves up a satisfying melange of gut-wrenching drama and poetic justice. The series finally picked up steam with its final two chapters, propelled by a fiery performance from Zoe Kazan and a few scenes that finally started to sound like David Simon wrote them. Sticking to the script, however, the final episode of “The Plot Against America” builds on the momentum of Episode 5, which came a day late and a dollar short but paid off in the end. While HBO is recreating scenes of Jews burnt in their cars, Zionists are firebombing Palestinian cars - they don’t need another example of anti-semitism, especially a fictional one, to fan the flames. We’ve been watching the plot against America for the last four years, except instead of newsboy caps and vintage cars we got MAGA hats and tiki torches. What’s more, it’s one we’ve already seen play out. While elements of “The Plot Against America” bear similarities to the rise of the Alt-Right, the story is still mostly a thought experiment. Sam Levinson and The Weeknd Address ‘The Idol’ Reshoots: ‘Quitting’ Was ‘Never an Option’ He seemed obsessed with reflecting the real world as genuinely as possible, while animating his sagely prophets and Machiavellian players with poetic flair. Simon began his professional life as a journalist, and his work has always been in conversation with non-fiction. Roth’s allegorical alternative history has much to say about society, but it is still - thankfully - a work of fiction. Working for the first time from fictional source material, “The Plot Against America” has felt curiously devoid of the energetic frisson that marks Simon’s prior work. “ The Plot Against America,” Simon’s six-episode HBO limited series based on Philip Roth’s eponymous novel, has sadly not reached similar heights. His projects, from “The Wire” to “Treme” to “The Deuce,” share a pervasive yet subtle complexity these are entertaining, character-driven tomes that transform granular research into vivid portraits of myriad systemic injustices.

Over the course of his television career, David Simon has singlehandedly raised the bar for what to expect from a TV show.

Philip roth the plot against america hbo