'The Plot Against America' Episode 5: Time for Sandy, Rabbi Lionel and Evelyn to see the truth about Lindbergh
'The Plot Against America' in episode 5 saw Herman Levin (Morgan Specter) and his family get picked for project Homestead and his office, that he has worked in for over two decades, has transferred him to Kentucky. Everyone in the family including Philip (Azhy Robertson) doesn't want to leave New Jersey, except Sandy (Caleb Malis) who continues to see this as an opportunity. He has become immune to the worries that his father and mother have about going to a state where members of Ku Klux Klan run free and wild with no one questioning them because he believes that Rabbi Lionel knows what he is doing.
However, if Sandy were to know the truth about how much of an opposition Rabbi Lionel (John Turturro) is facing when it comes to getting the funds for Homestead, he might be surprised. As of now, because Sandy had been a part of the Just Folks program and had visited a nice white family that didn't hate Jews, Sandy has come to the conclusion that his father is wrong to be so suspicious about everything that Rabbi Lionel has planned.
Having not suffered the trauma of being oppressed has disconnected him from what it really means to live in a country that is governed by a fascist, and it is time for Sandy to open his eyes to the dangers of falling in line with Lindberg's plans. Will it take for him to face the horrors of oppression to really learn his lesson because that is definitely not what we want for him or his little brother Philip who at this point seems to understand the situation better than Sandy.
For instance, the families that are chosen do not really have a say in accepting the offer. If they do not want to move to the new city, they would have to give up their jobs and they do not have any other option but to lose their livelihood if they were to exercise their rights. Rabbi Lionel is also aware of the same and he believes that by providing the families with support in forms of hikes in salary or supporting funds he would make them more receptive to transfers. However, he is facing huge opposition for the requisition of funds from other members of the party who are businessmen themselves and are acting in their self-interest.
Rabbi Lionel has promised his people support in funds, but with this opposition, he can never keep his promise and all the illusions that he has built about the country being his, is close to being broken down. Sure, he might have had Lindberg's attention before the president was elected, but now, he is even unable to get a meeting with him and is left to deal with the First Lady instead. For someone who is so close to the president and the First lady, when he invites them to his wedding and they claim that they have a conference to attend and these are all really minor signs, but if Rabbi Lionel was not blinded then he would see the red flags himself.
What really takes the cake is when Lindberg begins to face opposition from a radio newscaster who announces that he is going to oppose Lindberg in the next presidential election. Herman, despite opposition from Bess (Zoe Kazan), decides to attend this newscaster's first address to the public and sees how the country has turned against Jews. He sees men feigning to be Jews entering the gathering and attacking people calling them Nazis to make everything seems as if it were the Jews' fault for inciting violence. Herman himself is hurt and is bleeding and returns home with bloody bruises and Bess, who is also glad that he is fine still, draws a line. She tells him that if Herman continues to put up a fight, she will leave to Canada and take the kids with her as well.
What is worse is the fact that all of this began with Bess' sister Evelyn Finkel's (Winona Ryder), mistaken belief that this project is good for her sister's family. She believes that this is a great opportunity and all she has done is manage to bring a drift between Herman and Bess who have otherwise been strong and have stood together. Despite multiple warnings, Evelyn has also gone ahead and wedded Rabbi Lionel but she did not have her family around. It is time that she realized that she had, in a way, sentenced her family's destruction.
