The Times Are a Changing

"Rorschach's Journal: October 12th, 1985. Tonight, a comedian died in New York." — Rorschach, "Watchmen"

Alternate timelines or futures are hardly new in entertainment, but they can often be chilling. I once watched a faux documentary that imagined our country if the Confederates won the Civil War. As you might imagine, it was quite different from the country we live in today.

One of my favorite shows of all time, "Fringe," featured a mirrored, alternate Earth. In that world, the World Trade Center never came down. I remember the first time they showed the towers again, the raw surge of emotion I felt. It was unexpected and really drew me into the story.

The most famous graphic novel of all time — "Watchmen" — also features an alternate setting. In that case, the action is 1985, but not as we've known it. Alan Moore, who created the graphic novel, didn't want to be accused to taking shots at contemporary politicians. So he shifted time, leaving Richard Nixon as President going on a fourth term. It was a dystopian future, but one where the United States had won the Vietnam war.

Why do I bring this up? Because perhaps the best new show of the year also takes liberties with time. It presents an alternate timeline, set in the United States in 1960. It's a world where the Nazis and the Japanese won World War II, and they now occupy the United States. It is equally as chilling, and that was likely the intent of the writer, Phillip K. Dick.

"The Man in the High Castle" succeeds, in part, because it's so jarring. And that begins right from the beginning. The opening credits — set to the German song "Edelweiss" — is chilling. It sets the tone, and gives visuals that draw you into the urgency of the story — which focuses on American resistance fighters seeking to take their country back.

Show runner Frank Spotnitz, who worked on "The X-Files," has a great feel for this kind of visual storytelling. The images re-enforce the foreign feeling when watching the narrative and the action of the story. I'm not sure where it's going, but I'm excited to take the journey and see how it all pans out.