THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA “Part 2”: All Roads Lead To Fear

As America pulls back from the War in Europe, the country plunges ahead into what promises to be another war, one in which the spoils are little more than basic dignity and equal treatment. In Part 2 of The Plot Against America, David Simon and Ed Burns expertly weave together various character plotlines, all of which come to a head on the night of the Presidential Election, Tuesday, November 5, 1940.

Episode Summary

The episode opens with a picture of day-to-day life, one which will stand in stark contrast to the new reality encroaching at the end of the episode. Alvin (Anthony Boyle) has secured another job working as a driver and assistant to Abe Steinheim (Ned Eisenberg). His uncle, and patriarch of Levin family, Herman (Morgan Spector), helped pull some strings to get him the job, but Alvin has a difficult time with Abe’s swindling, and consistent habit of taking advantage of financially vulnerable clients.

Herman, meanwhile, works hard to fulfill his monthly quota, as he has for years previous. Bess (Zoe Kazan) decides to get a job in order to help the family save up for a house. The boys, Sandy (Caleb Malis) and Philip (Azhy Robertson) struggle with the complications of growing up and finding one’s place in the perpetual state of confusion everyone else seems to accept. All in all, it seems like a perfectly normal time in a perfectly normal family’s life.

Around the country, however, a political revolution is taking hold, one that will plunge this normal, innocent family into chaos. Slowly, the revolution grows until Tuesday, November 5, 1940, when Charles Lindbergh is elected as President of the United States.

Weaving a Continuing Masterpiece

Throughout this episode, several disparate and perfectly sculpted plotlines are weaved together, adding fuel to the increasing tension. Each of these plotlines is crafted so well, with dialogue so evocative and on point, that viewers feel as though they’ve experienced far more time with these characters than the few minutes given to each scene. David Simon and Ed Burns, channeling Philip Roth’s brilliant writing, continue to show incredible skill in carefully choosing as their creative devices life events and objects with which every person can identify.

Throughout the episode, young Philip struggles with the bad influence of his friend Earl (Graydon Yosowitz). Earl takes him to places he’s never been before, both physically, when the pair catch a bus to follow people home, and behaviorally, when Earl reveals how easy it’s been for him to steal money from his parents, tempting Philip to try it as well. Even at home, Philip’s life continues to change faster than he would like. When Bess announces that she’s planning to get a job, the fear on the young boy’s face is palpable.

When Philip is exposed to war reels for the first time, he sees German bombs falling on England. He asks Sandy to clarify what he’s seeing, and Sandy replies nonchalantly: “It’s war.” Even more confused, Philip asks: “I thought war was soldiers shooting each other.” Sandy replies with a simple, but deceptively brilliant, line: “It’s the new war.” Philip turns back to the screen and sinks deep into his chair. It’s a brilliant depiction of a child learning about the hard truths of life, slowly shedding his innocence and learning what it is to fear. Until that point, the danger of war seemed so far away, fought between committed soldiers. Now, he sees it falling from the sky onto normal people like himself. Later, as his family listens to the election results on the radio, and reacting with fear to the anger he sees around him at home, he runs to his room to pack a suitcase, thinking that all this chaos may result in his home being bombed.

The chaotic in-home relationship between Herman and Alvin is also used to show the increasing tension they both feel at the world outside. Alvin struggles with what he considers amorality on the part of his employer, Abe. Abe is paying him well and has secured him a scholarship, but Alvin says he’d rather be fighting Hitler than spending his time building a debt to a Jew who gives Jews a bad name. Herman, on the other hand, either doesn’t believe or simply disregards Abe’s swindling and dishonesty, focusing instead on the financial successes he sees as the result of the man’s hard work. After the election, Alvin finally tells Abe to go f*ck himself and travels to Canada to enlist.

The buildup to this episode’s climax is simply brilliant. The various individual paths each character follows culminates into a powerful shared experience during a political speech given by Evelyn’s new romantic interest, Jewish Rabbi and Lindbergh supporter Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro). Evelyn’s conversion into a Lindbergh supporter, her sister’s worry at the inevitable political tension between them, Alvin’s building loathing at those who take advantage of or hurt others, and Herman’s wall of ignorance formed from his insistence that the worst could never happen. These characters have made their various choices in an attempt to hold on to their own hopes, but during Bengelsdorf’s speech, everything comes crashing down.

After the speech, Herman desperately tries to grasp at his dying hope: “Does that idiot think one single Jew is gonna go out and vote for this anti-Semite because of that stupid lying speech? What does he think he’s doing?” Alvin shatters Herman’s wall of ignorance with this brilliant reply:

He’s koshering Lindbergh! They didn’t get him up there to talk to Jews. They didn’t buy him off for that. Don’t you understand? He’s up there talking to the goyim. He’s giving all the “good Christian folks” of this country their personal rabbi’s permission to vote for Lindy and not to think themselves Nazis or anti-Semites. Can’t you see what they just got the great Lionel Bengelsdorf to do?

Fear as an Artistic Device

The last shot of the episode places Herman in the center of a crowd watching the newsreels. The people around him cheer the stunning victory of Charles Lindbergh as President, while Herman sits, silent and afraid, alone in a crowd of hundreds.

Part 2 of The Plot Against America offers a powerful commentary on fear. While we can all relate to the fear of growing up, seen through the eyes of someone like young Philip, Roth uses that relatable device to open viewers’ minds to an understanding of what it must be like to face something far worse: the very real danger faced daily by marginalized communities. Alone even in the midst of a crowd, they are forced to contend with finding a way to live their lives as the powerful continue to ignore their needs, or sometimes, actively oppress them. Brilliant artistic moments like these serve the greatest purpose of storytelling, presenting to the discerning viewer a glimpse of what it may be like to live such a life. We would do well to pay attention.

The Plot Against America: Part 2 aired on March 23rd, 2020, on HBO.