Not to be undone by Netflix and Hulu, Amazon has been producing their own original content for the past few years and this week they are releasing a new round of pilots for free. Unlike a lot of other studios, Amazon will be taking viewer comments into consideration when it comes to deciding whether or not to pick these pilots up for full season orders. Check back here for all of Decider’s recaps.

With Transparent‘s big win at Sunday’s Golden Globes, Amazon is closer to achieving the prominence that its rival Netflix has in the original streaming content world with its critically acclaimed and crowd-pleasing series Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards. It’s the latter that Amazon is striving for — a surefire prestige series with A-list actors and an A-list director like David Fincher. And while The Man in the High Castle may lack those two important elements (but having the participation of executive producer Ridley Scott), it’s as close as Amazon has gotten to matching its rival.

Based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo-winning 1962 novel, the series takes place in an alternate world in which the Allied Forces lost World War II. The United States is split into three sections — the Japanese control the states on the West Coast, and the Germans run nearly half of the country. Between those two spaces is a neutral zone in the Rocky Mountains region, which remains mostly under Nazi control. The series two protagonists, Frank Frink (played by Rupert Evans) and Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos), meet in the middle of the country at the end of the pilot, both having traveled from the East and West Coasts, respectively, with smuggled property.

It’s an intriguing premise, for sure, and one that could feel incredibly cheesy and far-fetched. And while there are moments in which a heavy suspension of disbelief is required (How, exactly, does a Hollywood industry in Japanese-controlled California still churn out Rock Hudson movies?), the show works thanks to its absolutely beautiful cinematography and production design, which achieves a level not yet seen on an Amazon original series.

It’s a gorgeous show that shows a lot of promise, one that brings in a possible built-in audience of Philip K. Dick fans and will naturally find broader appeal with its limited sci-fi elements. As for the acting, there’s a little to be desired from its two leads (the French Alexa Davalos struggles at times with a convincing American accent), but they’re also an adorable pair (who, I presume, will end up together as they are married — and divorced — in the original novel).

But the most staggering elements of the show are what will be the biggest conversation starters. There’s the uncomfortable imagery of Nazis with American accents, the swastikas emblazoned on government institutions, the notion of a still-alive Adolf Hitler (rumored to be suffering from Parkinson’s). There’s an underlying racial commentary at play, with white Americans resenting their Japanese leaders and the German and Japanese leaders’ distrust with each other. And, of course, subtle Holocaust allusions — references to Jews hiding in America after their families were wiped out, and a particularly unsettling visual reference to the scene in Schindler’s List when human ashes cover the ground like snow.

Of Amazon’s upcoming pilots, The Man in the High Castle seems like the best bet for a full series order. Should that happen, we may very well see Amazon earn itself more awards like it did over the weekend.

[Watch The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Instant Video]

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Photos: Amazon Instant Video