'The Plot Against America' Episode 2: Things get worse for the Levin family with Fascism at an all-time high
'The Plot Against America' episode 2 will continue to see Hector Levin (Morgan Spector) fight against the idea of a Fascist President coming into power. Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole) is pushing for a war that would leave the Jewish population in the country to deal with an onslaught of antisemitism in the US. Herman, who is distraught at the thought of the US being led by a fascist president tries to educate everyone around him about why he shouldn't be elected. However, from the looks of the promo, it seems as if his actions have no result.
Not only might Lindberg get elected by the US to lead them, but the Jewish population in the country will fall prey to bullying, racism, and everything that they fled from in the first place. The fact that the Hitler-led government has won against France and is now eyeing to bring Great Britain under its control has further aggravated Levin and his other Jewish friends. The first episode saw one of Alvin's friends get attacked for being a Jew and he is bruised with a shiner to show how much people hated the Jews living among them in the city. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we will see more atrocities committed against the Jews in Newark, New Jersey where the Levins live and around the country.
The promo also shows Herman Levin meets Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro) and the two discuss why Lindberg is not the right candidate to lead America against Fascism, considering he is one himself. Rabbi, who is also a Jew supports Lindberg and the promo hints at him playing a significant role in ensuring Lindberg's victory. It doesn't help things that Evelyn Finkel (Wynona Ryder), Herman's sister-in-law is attracted to Rabbi. This definitely teases tension withing the Finkel-Levin family in the future.
Then there is a different conversation that Herman has with Monty Levin (David Krumholtz) which in contrast sees another family member point out to Herman that his opinion is shared by a very small percentage of the US population. Everyone that he talks to, who believes the same things that he believes in, mirrors the minority in the country and that is exactly why Lindberg has a huge chance in making it to the Oval office.
With Rabbi set to convince people who do not believe or trust Lindberg, the man is set to claim the 33rd president of the United States and what we would see in the upcoming episodes is how the country falls apart under Lindberg's leadership. We see the effects firsthand through the Levin family where the elder son wants to make use of an opportunity that comes from the Fascists and his father Herman is dead set against it.
Then we have Alvin. I have a feeling that he is going to one of the most promising characters with a nuanced characteristic trait to keep us engaged in the show. He doesn't steal but has no qualms about standing up for a friend who is a thief. He finds exhilaration in breaking away from a family that he finds is suffocating with its rules and regulations and his idea of freedom comes in the form of rebelling against the system. Yet, he joins the army; possibly the one place where rebels would be squashed under the feet of many disciplined soldiers. Why? He aims to kill a Nazi.
'The Plot Against America' will air on HBO on Mondays at 9 pm ET.