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I'm surprised no one has posted about The Man in the High Castle. I was unfamiliar with the book, but it's yet another big idea coming from Philip K. Dick that's been turned into something on screen -- only this time it's a TV show. Supposedly, there have been some wide divergences from the book. It was only 240 pages long, so that's understandable.
But the alternate reality thing depicted by the films that are featured within the series was something depicted in the book. By the end of season 1, the writers spun this facet from the book into something that's, I believe, quite a bit different from the book.
Read no further if you haven't watched season 1.
The finale is crazy. Hitler himself is the one seeking after the films because they show him the future. It appears as if he can either change it or allow it to happen. They don't let you know how the films are made -- they're just there. The inflection point between the reality in the series and our reality is an assassination of FDR in 1933. America maintains an isolationist outlook through the early 1940s and the Nazis overrun the British and Soviets which then gives them time to develop atomic bombs by 1947. The atomic bombs are then used to subjugate the USA. I would imagine that the assassination of FDR in the alternate reality was inspired by Hitler's viewing of the film seen in the first episode of the series. It's not an accident that it happens in 1933 which is the same year that Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
But the alternate reality thing isn't confined to the films being made by [whoever], the Japanese Trade minister finds himself in a non-alternate reality America during the last scene of the season (early 60s rock and roll, lack of Imperial Japanese presence in San Francisco). The show is pretty good about showing some of the results from this alternate reality inflection point beyond the obvious (like Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan occupying different parts of the US). There's no rock and roll and the clothes, tv shows and movies don't line up with where we were in the early 60s. On the other hand, there are a couple positive things like the Germans producing kick ass passenger jets because they were able to keep all their rocket scientists together rather than having half of them shipped off to the US and the other half to the Soviets.
This show was very good in parts and dragged in a couple spots. Overall, it's well worth watching. Given the events of the last episode, there's a certain Lost element to this show. Like Lost, I have no idea how they're going to resolve these rather large hanging questions left from the finale -- namely, who and how are the films made and what's up with two realities existing at the same time.
But the alternate reality thing depicted by the films that are featured within the series was something depicted in the book. By the end of season 1, the writers spun this facet from the book into something that's, I believe, quite a bit different from the book.
Read no further if you haven't watched season 1.
The finale is crazy. Hitler himself is the one seeking after the films because they show him the future. It appears as if he can either change it or allow it to happen. They don't let you know how the films are made -- they're just there. The inflection point between the reality in the series and our reality is an assassination of FDR in 1933. America maintains an isolationist outlook through the early 1940s and the Nazis overrun the British and Soviets which then gives them time to develop atomic bombs by 1947. The atomic bombs are then used to subjugate the USA. I would imagine that the assassination of FDR in the alternate reality was inspired by Hitler's viewing of the film seen in the first episode of the series. It's not an accident that it happens in 1933 which is the same year that Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
But the alternate reality thing isn't confined to the films being made by [whoever], the Japanese Trade minister finds himself in a non-alternate reality America during the last scene of the season (early 60s rock and roll, lack of Imperial Japanese presence in San Francisco). The show is pretty good about showing some of the results from this alternate reality inflection point beyond the obvious (like Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan occupying different parts of the US). There's no rock and roll and the clothes, tv shows and movies don't line up with where we were in the early 60s. On the other hand, there are a couple positive things like the Germans producing kick ass passenger jets because they were able to keep all their rocket scientists together rather than having half of them shipped off to the US and the other half to the Soviets.
This show was very good in parts and dragged in a couple spots. Overall, it's well worth watching. Given the events of the last episode, there's a certain Lost element to this show. Like Lost, I have no idea how they're going to resolve these rather large hanging questions left from the finale -- namely, who and how are the films made and what's up with two realities existing at the same time.
I didn't read the spoilers. 
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