She lets Philip have the stamps, and runs to show them off, only to find his friends have moved out, replaced by an Italian who calls him “paisan” and hands him a mezuzah, take down from the house. “Like it or not, we only think we’re Americans.” Herman refuses to get in, saying that this is all a test - “They think one more push, one more shove, we’ll move to Canada.”Ĭanada seems to be doing well for Shepsie, who sends a letter to Bess. “Lindbergh is teaching us what it is to be Jews,” Bess says. The camera circles Bess as Herman arrives, draws the blinds and tells her that the men outside are gangsters who are likely there to protect them. Bess is constantly looking out the window, noting two suspicious men outside, and praying for her husband to return home. He rushes back to his family, his anxiety reflected in Thomas Shlamme’s use of handheld shots. Synagogues have been torched anti-semitic protests are sweeping the nation. Herman, working at the grocery, listens to reports on the radio.

Antisemitism has always been around.Īs the miniseries’ final episode opens, the worst has already come true. When Europe tilted towards demagoguery, the US was always on the verge of doing so. The myth Simon dismantles is one of the US as the prevalent force against injustice in the world, the beacon of hope among fascism. What Simon does, in adapting Roth’s novel now, in 2020, is show not that “It could happen here,” but “it could’ve happened here.” The creep towards fascism is not new its roots have existed for a long time, and always lying below the surface (fitting for a country founded on genocide). And for certain members of communities of color, that which many fear is not too far from reality. For some, the 2016 election stoked fears that it Could Happen Here. For many Americans, fascism is a distant concept something that plagues Other Places. “It can happen here too,” goes the saying.

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