The Man in the High Castle The New World Season 1 Episode 1 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** Previous Next» Photo: Amazon Studios Amazon’s most ambitious drama begins with this clever episode, designed to introduce viewers to an alternative universe where Axis powers won World War II. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1962 Hugo Award–winning book, The Man in the High Castle is exactly the kind of challenging, enterprising show that Amazon needs. Last January, Matt Zoller Seitz wrote that the show “simultaneously evokes House of Cards and Mad Men.” Transparent put Amazon Studios on the map, but this drama confirms that the streaming service won’t be a one-hit wonder. What if the Allies didn’t win World War II? This tremendously fruitful question lies at the core of The Man in the High Castle. After bombing Washington D.C. to end the war, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan jointly occupy the United States, splitting it in half. The Japanese Pacific States consist of everything west of the Rocky Mountains; the Greater Nazi Reich comprises the land east of the range. The Rockies are a relatively lawless neutral zone, trapped between the two superpowers. It’s been over a decade since World War…