We’re a long way now from Phillip K. Dick’s original book, but in many ways the writers have stayed close to the author’s original conception. America is divided in thirds. The eastern US is an increasingly creepy (and far too recognizable) Nazi state. The West Coast is still being run by the Japanese, but in an odd twist on real life, the Japanese are somewhat belatedly realizing that they are better off treating their portion of America as a partner rather than occupied territory. The middle section (roughly the Rocky Mountain area) is where all the hyphenated Americans live and let live – in other words, the real Americans. There’s a bit more humor in this season than there has been – in this universe, John Wayne is an actual war hero, not someone who just played a tough guy in the movies. And Joe DiMaggio plays baseball for San Francisco, where American teams play against the Japanese in an actual “world” series. But the alternate time line plot is confusing. And frustratingly, the season ends on an almost literal cliffhanger. Season 4 has been commissioned, but other multi-season shows (The Expanse, Game of Thrones) have figured out how to end some storylines while moving on the next. Recommended, with that warning. On Amazon Prime.
