The Man in the High Castle - Seasons 1-2

"In a dystopian America dominated by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, a young woman discovers a mysterious film that may hold the key to toppling the totalitarian regimes."

- IMDB

Season 1

The premise was the defining aspect of why I decided to watch this show - What would've happened if the Nazis & Japan won? I was not disappointed as I was introduced to this very well established fictional world based on an altered reality. The writers did their homework and made this different America come to life in such a believable way. 

The main plot revolves around a resistance group trying to take down the Nazi regime. The idea of the films has it's flaws & I'm not sure I like where this is going.* Juliana Crain's story of working with resistance to getting the film to the Man in the High Castle was interesting. But I didn't like how the films insinuated that this is an alternate universe tale, especially in the season's finale cliffhanger. I'm just not feeling it.

The rest of the story revolved around the happenings of the this fictional America. The writers did a good job of providing a diverse group of characters that helped viewers further explore different aspects of the culture and politics of this world. 

• Juliana Crain, a character who grew up in the Japanese Pacific States and an "American" who practices and appreciates some Japanese culture like martial arts & tea. 
• Robert Childan also respects and practices Japanese customs. He represents a man, who not too unlike Smith, has tried to adapt to being as much like the invaders as possible, as that is the safest route in the political environment. I need a passing moment of anxiety. 
• Frank Frink, also living in the JPS, had a Jewish grandfather. Through his story we were able to witness how Jews are still prosecuted, even in the Japanese side. Frank's scenes were some of the most heaviest to watch at times. 
• John Smith was no doubt an American that became this hardcore Nazi icon of political power in New York. Despite that, his family keeps him human. His son, Thomas, is a prime example of what it means to grow up in a Nazi environment and how the education system has molded young citizens to follow the Reich. (I'll bring them up again in a moment)
• Back in the Pacific States, Inspector Kido & Nabusuke Tagomi establish that there is a good and bad side to the government, while Wegener does the same in the Nazi side. 

Going back to John & Thomas Smith, as this may lead to one of the most interesting arcs, Thomas was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy. Thanks to Joe Blake's conversation with a cop, it was revealed that any terminally ill or elder people are constantly being burned in order to maintain perfection within the Reich's citizens. Now, even though John Smith is a Nazi, it's been established that he seems like a family guy. So how will this play out? This is an arc that I'm looking forward to the most in season 2 as Thomas's experiences could lead to a compelling story full of character development for John Smith. 

*I wrote my Seasons 1 & 2 thoughts separately.

Season 2

My absolute favorite thing about season 2 was the continuation of Thomas's MD arc. As I hoped, it brought out a different side to John Smith, who is officially my favorite character. Though Smith continues to be loyal to the Nazi regime and even finds himself rise up the ranks as he takes down traitors, he is still prepared to to break all laws to protect his family. I'm not going to watch seasons 3 & 4 & I'll explain why next. But if I were to watch those seasons, I would love to see how Smith begins to be heavily affected by his son's death. Could this be a ripple effect to Smith changing sides? Perhaps taking down the Third Reich from the inside? All I know is that Smith's story has so many different possibilities from the end of season 2 & I hope the other seasons did him justice.

Now, let's get into why I stopped after this season. The main reason is that I came to the Man in the High Castle to watch an extreme Historical Fiction. My biggest interest was to see the show live up to it's premise - What would've happened if the Allies lost? And I definitely got a my fare share of answers and am completely satisfied. 

However, I wish that it stayed a Historical Fiction rather than become a Science Fiction about Alternate dimensions. Surprisingly, I found interest in the politics of the show, and that doesn't often happen to me. There was so much potential here to make a good story of taking down the Nazis without the need of a multiverse. I also became disinterested in many of the characters, and had no attachment to any of the new ones introduced in the season. So I'll end my marathon here. Those who don't mind the sci fi elements, please continue watching. I'll probably read what happens anyway just out of curiosity.

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

**Very Long Post Edit**

Boy oh boy. I did what I said I'd do and followed up on John Smith's Arc. And I'm mostly satisfied. 

I loved his arc with Helen in season 3. The way they were breaking apart from within and from each other was honestly heartbreaking. I watched a handful of episodes, and it was clear that the 3rd season was really delving deeper into John's layers to add dimension to his character & get us to sympathize with him more. This continued in season 4 with his daughters. I saw a couple sweet moments between him and Amy and how at peace he was when he was being a dad. Then he interacts with Helen and the now frustrated Jennifer as they now know "safe" isn't freedom. It's heartbreaking to see the family break like this.

I also enjoyed the emphasis of Helen these final seasons. The fact that all her character development ended up with her running away from John made me love her so much. This situation is totally acceptable nowadays, but this is Nazi country. It was so brave & awesome for her to do this, even if it did fill John's heart with sadness & fear.

I will still say I'm against the multiverse, but I will admit they greatly utilized this arc to gave John Smith a chance to dive deep and show the most honest side of himself in the series to the audience. His time in the "alternate universe" gravitated all the weight of his regrets over him. He became a Nazi just to protect the family, but got in too deep and has corrupted himself in the process. His final conversation with Helen and her emotional confrontation with Jennifer shoved that in both their faces. This almost led to John completely turning the tables, especially after the last episode that led to the series finale. But, alas, John took 10 steps backward last minute.

I did not like how the Smith family ended their story. This goes back to my dislike for the multiverse. If this was a story purely about the main dimension, I feel like Smith had the opportunity to really use his new state of power to just be like "okay rebels, here you go, take back America, I want nothing to do with this crap anymore." Even with how it really went - instead of taking his own life, he could've turned to Juliana & say the same. He could've surrendered and allowed the rebels to win in exchange for a fresh start with his daughters in the other world. But it just abruptly ended, both John & the series.

So yeah. I said I'd stop watching. But even after watching through the other seasons, I still stand by my original opinions from my actual review. While season 3 & 4 had some epic and well written moments, Season 1 delivered the best when it came to giving me what I wanted from the premise.