The Plot Against America: Season 1

"This is a show that, even as it depicts a precarious moment and exists in one, cannot bear uncertainty. That's a tendency that makes it both a fairly unpleasant watch, and a sacrificed opportunity."

"The Plot Against America is a uniformly handsome piece of television, blending production design, cinematography and seamless special effects to build out the world of 1940s New Jersey."

"The show is chilling in the ways that life has begun to imitate its source material's art. But it's yet another example of how Simon and his collaborators manage to craft riveting entertainment out of incisive commentary on the way we live now."

"The ensemble cast is flawless too, totally convincing as real people of the period, with perfect pitch at the crucial turning points in the plot, and carrying that beguiling authenticity that characterises anything David Simon does."

"Factoring out the speculative aspects of the story, one is left with a moderately diverting drama of a family under pressure, arguing about whether what looks like trouble is really trouble."

"It all adds up to enthralling, essential viewing."

"How Simon escalates the story, and just how close to home the series hits, is yet to be seen. But "The Plot Against America" is off to a promising beginning - if not in content, then in form."

"Simon is TV's master of realism, and here the groundedness of his storytelling combines with the distinctiveness of Roth's characters to deepen the political profundity as well as the visceral impact of this speculative fiction."

"That was my feeling going in, a hesitance to spend even more time contemplating the clenching grip of fascism. But Simon and Burns, as they have done in the past, find a graceful path through the grimness."

"Roth's story becomes a meticulously detailed and gorgeously directed miniseries."

"The conclusion is moving and more pessimistic about the possibilities for equality in the US than Roth was. Yet even that sobering ending doesn't escape the tone of a classroom lecture."

"It's also a reminder that even as the world slides into violence and chaos, kids are still kids, and some things don't change. That's a truth at once reassuring and mortifying."

"To paraphrase Trotsky, The Plot illustrates that even if you are not interested in politics, politics is interested in you."