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What if we wake up one day and we find that the nazi flag with its swastika frighteningly waves in Times Square? What if the United States are divided amongst the hands of the Japan and Nazi armies. What if the Axis powers actually won the Second World War?

Director David Semel and writer Frank Spotnitz – with The X-Files and other famous projects in his curriculum — have tried to recreate the world writer Philip K. Dick has imagined in his bestseller novel The Man in the High Castle.

On one side the Japanese bow, on the other the Nazi salute. It’s 1962 and we are in an alternate universe in which the Second World War has been won by the Imperial Japan and the Nazi Germany, where Pearl Harbor has passed into the annals of history as the time the weak US navy was defeated by the great Japanese army. There’s no freedom of expression and political law enforcements like the Gestapo still maintain the order in the East side of North America. In a world like this, people fear the premature death of the Führer Adolf Hitler and there’s no tangible trace of Jewish people, meaning that the embryonic ideas inside the Mein Kampf possibly have been carried out eventually. This is the picture the new tv series branded Amazon wants to give us, as settings for a plot we know very little of so far.

Two episodes are only available right now on Amazon Instant Video, the streaming service created to take on Netflix and Hulu, with the idea of distributing original series like Reed Hastings’ company does with House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. After watching both the first two episodes, I feel like Amazon has finally found the leading series for its online streaming service.

In just a couple of episodes, the writers have set the plot for possibly intriguing developments. The acting hasn’t been great so far but it may be because the pilot was shot in the early days of 2015 and it took a long time for the series to be approved and have other episodes commissioned. Sure enough, right from the second episode we can start appreciating what seems to be a good promise, with a great photography and a great plot. Is the one pictured in the series the only possible universe? Or can the protagonists act and rebel in order to change the future and “restore” a better version of history? Many are the clues that are spread in these first two episodes and we can expect the series to evolve from just intriguing to a ‘must-watch’.

If we learnt something from the last episode of Gotham is that the series likes to play with couples. Edward Nygma and Penguin. Bruce and Alfred. James Gorgon and Captain Barnes. After Theo Galavan has been set aside, Gotham managed to set up a plot so intriguing and full of possible developments that it makes me think that Bruce Wayne, still being a too emotional teenager, is actually missing all the fun.

Nygma and Penguin found themselves together after the previous episode when Edward rescued Oswald from certain death, as he was living alone and injured in a unknown wood. Probably, the most interesting character so far is Nygma. As I believed the actor behind Oswald Cobblepot, also known as Penguin, did ‘save’ the first season of Gotham truly expressing the best acting among the whole cast, this year’s new leading figure between villains is surely Edward Nygma, i.e. the future Riddler. The two are having a good time together after Ed provided him the necessary cures for recovering. And as Nygma himself declared in a very finaly written scene, he’s feeling like a butterfly after leaving its cocoon. The thrilling effect he acknowledges the first time he says that he’s been killing people recently is proof of his transformation. It is scary and exciting at the same time to think about Nygma and Penguin teaming up together. Gotham is prepared to unleash new evilness against the GCPD after the presumed temporary departure of the former major of the city.

Bruce and Alfred, on the other hand, are having a tough time living together. And the yet so little and inexperienced he should be only paying attention to Alfred’s suggestions, which are only in the purpose of Bruce’s safety. He has been striving to know the identity of the man who killed his parents and in order to do that he would be even willing to trade his own family company, the Wayne Enterprise. Fortunately, he doesn’t and now Bruce has to fight with the idea of having lost the chance to know the truth. He would do everything, even not acknowledge how dangerous it could be to maintain… friendship with Silver, the cute girl that’s been working with Galavan in order to fool him and eventually murder him. Alfred, on the other hand, as Selina Kyle, has cleverly understood why Bruce and Silver should stay apart, following the unquestionable circumstances linked to the imprisonment of Theo.

Last but not least, Jim Gordon and Captain Barnes. They are both blocked inside the house of Galavan while a number of mercenary killers approach the house to kill Jim. This is revealed to be an act of revenge of Theo’s sister after the events of the previous episode, but it eventually sets the mood for a very interesting dualism between the two leaders of the Gotham police. Barnes, stabbed in the leg, has some good lines for Jim who is focused in defeating his authority. At the end of the episode, Jim faces the monstrous killer Eduardo Flamingo who kills and then eats his victims, or kills by eating them…

It’s Alison and Cole’s turn to show their idea of truth. The Affair’s Episode 7 opens its narration several months in the future from where we left. And given the structure of the series we’ve been familiarising with, it apparently looks like one of the numerous flash-forwards that are shown as intro and outro of each episode. Conversely, this time the series brings us when Alison is several months into her pregnancy. The episode takes place on Thanksgiving Day and we heard she saying the baby will likely be born in April. We can assume her children to be four-months-old at the time.

Noah’s book is finally out and seems like having huge success, given especially the new house he can now afford. Nonetheless, not everything goes fine between Noah and Alison. He’s been “harassed” by all the meetings and the responsibilities that his new book demands and by his new assistant: a girl that is probably the reason why, in the first half of the episode, we see Alison uncomfortable and probably jealous about the whole situation.

Much is given by the revelations that Noah’s book brings inside that set the plot for possibly interesting developments. We’ll see.

On the other half of the episode, we have Cole’s struggles with his new girlfriend. The series has skipped several months since last week’s episode and now we are left with more questions than answers, as usual with this show. How did Cole happen to end up with his brother’s crush? It’s not sure how, but things apparently are going well between the two until misunderstandings bring the couple to temporarily split.

That leads us to spectate Cole’s reunion with his family and hopefully to start the thawing between him and his mother. At the Thanksgiving dinner, at Lockhart’s, Cole and his brothers found out heart breaking news about their father’s death. Apparently thanks to Noah’s book and some new revelations from his mother, Lockhart’s legacy is compromised.

This is the age of anti-heroes dramas. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) are the living proofs of a  change in the narrative styles adopted by TV writers these days. 

Long gone are the days when the main character was a positive everyman with noble and saving-the-world like intentions. And when someone happens to be a positive character of such, he or she ends up being physically or morally harmed, or worse decapitated.

We are fascinated by anti-heroes. They tend to stay more hooked up on our feelings than positive characters do. There’s something magnetic and thrilling in supporting the bad guys that clearly makes us more disposed to forgive them and cheer for their progress in the storylines.

The American drama has recently given us two great examples of anti-heroes that are likely to be remembered and leave a cult image of themselves in the years to come. I chose to focus on Walter White and Frank Underwood since they are the best examples of anti-heroes in television, though they’re not the only ones. Tony Soprano and Don Draper (from Mad Man) are two great anti-heroes of previous shows. Then who, in an imaginary competition, is the greatest anti-hero?


Walter White/Heisenberg

As we all know, he is the chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer, who eventually decides to direct his life towards the criminal world by becoming the greatest methamphetamine’s cook and producer of the world. With a 99.1% purity, Walter White’s – in art Heisenberg – meth is the best ever manufactured. He eventually becomes a producer himself, unchaining his product from the hands of the villain Gus Fring. 

Walter White’s story is about a man who has been given the chance to pursue his ambitions “thanks” to his disease and, therefore, has nothing to lose. He chose to exploit all these circumstances to reveal his nature, though he’s been hiding under the idea of leaving something for his family.

Frank Underwood

Conversely, House of Cards’ protagonist totally lacks an inner and more human side, showing to the world a meticulous, impassive, rational and machiavellian character whose only pursuit is to ambition and personal success. And if this means hurting others in order to succeed, that is completely accepted. He doesn’t need anyone’s permission and appears able to act with “ruthless pragmatism”.

In comparison, Frank appears to be the Heisenberg side of Walter White. He seems to lack  humanity and he usually exploits his wide range of skills in order to accomplish his personal goal. Contrariwise, Water White shows some kind of good intentions in what he does. He still retains some sort of humanity that eventually makes him vulnerable and weak. That is observable in the feelings he has for Jesse and how he’s not completely ruthless and schemer in every situation. “Ozymandias” is a clear example of what I’m talking about. Nonetheless, after coming to know Walter’s personality I had personal doubts about his reasons: is he a good man transformed by the need to provide for his family? Or was wickedness already an inner side of his persona? Did the cancer give him an excuse to unleash his real personality? Walter wasn’t a bad person: he truly believed his goal was to leave something to his family after he’ll be dead. But eventually, we come to know that what he was doing had awakened some sort of inner strength he had been covering for too much time.

Speaking about House of Cards instead, I think we’ve been played by Frank Underwood. He’s not the anti-hero we want him to be. He is the villain of the story and there’s something scary, thrilling, disturbing and peculiarly disarming about being confident of the bad guy. He has nothing that may justify his action — contrary to Walter White — therefore watching him playing his role to me is like watching the whole Harry Potter saga from Voldemort’s point of view.

Nonetheless, we cheer for Frank as we have supported Walt and we want both of them to win and accomplish their purposes. Maybe there’s something evil in everyone’s inner side as I personally get excited every time I see Frank succeeding or talking directly to his audience. To us, to me.

The Affair may have finally reached the turning point of the second season with last week’s sixth episode. The Best Television Series Drama-winning series in the 2015 edition of the Golden Globe Awards has shown, more than great acting, great narrative styles and a lot of initiative. Each episode is divided in two, giving the chance to develop the points of view of both protagonists, Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson). It was something so special and fresh to my eyes since each episode would show how the reality can have many sides and how it can change depending on who is going to tell you about it.

“It denies objective truth”, said Joshua Jackson.

It’s not just a matter of hiding the truth: often, when you try to recall details from old memories, you end up involuntarily making them up. In this sense, the series embraces perfectly what the unconscious may hide from us. “When you’re telling a memory, you’re actually not really telling what happened. You’re telling a retelling of the last memory that you had or the last time you retold the story. That’s the premise of the show,” said, creator of the series Sarah Treem, in a recent interview. 

The second season had to bring up some innovations in order to keep the narration flowing. That’s when they got things wrong. The Affair introduced two more narrators on the board. Adding both Noah and Alison’s ex-wife and husband represent new challenges and possibilities to expand sides of characters that were temporarily left behind.

This was a test-bed about the maturity of the show itself. Forgetting the summer is not always easy and leaving the light-heartedness that Montauk on Long Island ensured proved to be the real challenge that separates the series from being good to become great. The writers played the first season on the mystery of an impossible love, the secrecy of an difficult relationship and all the perfect mix that a love affair can promise. Coming back in the city though, at the end of the summer, means to get back to the reality and to face the consequences of the affair: divorce and a spoiled relationship with children.

Introducing two more characters as points of view seemed at first a good choice: it would have brought more complexity and more intrigues to the story. What it did instead was overloading the whole narration and slowing down the course of a story that used to be always on the fast track.

At least, until the very last part of the sixth episode when we learn from Alison about her pregnancy. This new revelation, aligned with everything that happened before, like the slow estrangement of the two main characters or the good time Noah has spent with his family, looks like a rubber ready to erase all the issues the series has had so far.

It’s hard to get the first season of a series right. It’s even harder to get a second season that stands out from the previous. Now imagine how it must be hard to create a following season that is at least as great as the first one of The Flash. Surprisingly, after all we have been through last year with Barry Allen fighting against the demon of his past Eobard Thawne in art Reverse-Flash, we finally get to know a new Barry, now fully capable of his powers, that will have to fight against even more obscure enemies.

I’m getting faster, faster than I’ve ever been and I wonder if it’s because lately something’s chasing me. It’s my past.

New threats endanger Central City and they all come from the wormholes that the latest fight with the Reverse-Flash has created after Barry had to travel back in time and created a singularity.

The main one is represented by Zoom, a mysterious new villain that comes from the parallel universe the singularity has linked to the main one. He’s more of a demon than a human being. He hides under a black speedster suit that is symmetrical to the one Barry wears. 

Andrew Kreisberg, writer of the series, compared Zoom’s appearance to Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man, revealing, “The Zoom outfit is much more organic than the Reverse-Flash suit. In a way, it’s hard to tell if it is a suit or alive… There’s no skin showing, for all you know there’s a robot underneath, or dark energy.”

Zoom, much like Eobard Thawne, wants to kill Barry for no exact reason as he wants to be the fastest man alive and therefore he has to get rid of The Flash in order to have no competitors for the role. It doesn’t sound like a reason worth fighting for, but it’s apparently enough to unleash a very complicated plot that is literally keeping me chained to the seat every week.

But above all, the most intriguing question about the new season is who hides under the mask of Zoom. Many theories have sparked across the internet and since the show does draw inspiration from the comics, many amongst the “academics” may already have hypothesis about who may really be Zoom.

Among the theories, the one that strikes me the most is the involvement of Earth-2’s Barry Allen. We don’t really know anything about the life of the Barry on the other side. He could be as powerless as he may have developed the same superpowers. He may have never lost his parents or he may have taken different choices that eventually led him to the dark side. Could things have worked out differently?

It may sound like a hard-to-believe idea, but it’s certainly one that would definitely take fans by surprise.

If there is a word that can sum up the entire third episode of the second season of Gotham, that word is madness. The Last Laugh is one of the best and positive overwhelmingly episodes of the whole season so far. Not because Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock are back together and angrier than ever after the killing of half the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) in the previous episode; not because both Bruce and Alfred seriously risk their lives, but because ‘Gotham’ loses one of its best villains and greatest nemesis in the whole Batman universe.

We have been living with the idea of meeting a younger version of The Joker, the Dark-Knight’s most iconic villain. We have done it since the first season, when we briefly met Jerome: he is a disturbed and evil-inclined guy who, as soon as the second season started, revealed himself to be the best guess for the role of a younger version of The Joker.

We saw him starting to embrace his role as his madness was silently creeping out from his personality. We dreamt, thanks to a really convincing actor (Cameron Monaghan) who was giving a solid characterisation of the historic villain. We saw him building an infant version of the Suicide Squad (in the series called The Maniax) — that never happened eventually. But in the end, we saw him cruelly murdered, stabbed in the throat, just to ensure the plot of Gotham will work out.

There was a chance we could understand what was going on, though. ‘Gotham’ executive producer Bruno Heller, before the episode was aired, said: “That story [of Jerome] is going to come to a huge and shocking resolution, which will explain the whole Joker myth and how it began and how the Joker came to be.”

And we could have understood it even better when, in the first half of the episode, Jerome’s father, Cicero, told him how he would be “a curse upon Gotham”, and how “children will wake up screaming at the thought of him and his legacy will be death and madness.”

Death and madness. Madness, again. Maybe madness can really sum up the entire episode thanks to everything that goes on throughout the episode and especially thanks to the explosive and unexpected finale that left most of who didn’t get the clues breathless.

But maybe there is something more than using Jerome’s death as a simple plot device. As pointed out on Variety, ‘the joke’s on us’. The Joker might be dead, ‘but his bloodthirsty legacy will live on’. Just before the end, we see his dead body, preserving a creepy smile on his face.
 His last laugh, is it just a mere resemblance of the title? Maybe that will eventually turn to be Jerome’s last laugh, but Gotham has other plans for him.

At the end of the episode, we are introduced in a suburban world, colourised with a grey/bluish palette in which the spirit of The Joker has been hanging around, corrupting whoever it meets. ‘Gotham’ shows us many examples of young men who seemed ‘inspired’ by the legend of Jerome and his actions to the point they are led to commit homicidal acts.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Gotham’s executive producers explained how in the world where the legend of Batman isn’t born yet, The Joker is ‘less of a he and more of an idea. It’s not about a man. It’s about the ideology of a man and what that represents and how it affects other people’.