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Tripwire Reviews Season Three Of The Man In The High Castle

Published

8 years ago

November 19, 2018

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An America Still At War With Itself

♦ Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows takes a look at the third season of Amazon’s The Man In The High Castle, on Amazon now. Warning: Major Spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet…

Man in The High Castle Season Three
Executive Producer: Christian Baute
Co-executive producer: Elizabeth Benjamin
Co-executive producer: Chris Collins
Executive producer: Stewart MacKinnon
Directors: Daniel Percival, Alex Zakrzewski, Ernest R Dickerson, John Fawcett, Meera Menon, Steph Green, Jennifer Getzinger, Deborah Chow,
Stars: Alexa Davalos, DJ Qualls, Joel de la Fuente, Rufus Sewell, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Rupert Evans, Luke Kleintank, Chelah Horsdal, Brennan Brown, Arnold Chun

The Man In The High Castle began with its first season back in 2015. Its high concept, that Germany and Japan won the Second World War, based initially on Philip K Dick’s brilliant novel of the same name, was intriguing and it offered drama that put it head and shoulders above anything on TV at the time. Now we are three seasons in and the status quo has altered. John Smith, played by Rufus Sewell, has moved up the Nazi ladder and is very close to making it to the top of Nazi America’s rulers. Julianna Crain (Davelos) is still involved with the rebellion and is determined to bring the facts of the alternate world to light and topple the Nazis. Trade Minister Tagomi (Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa) still offers a humanising influence on the Japanese side while Inspector Kido (Joel de la Fuente) is a man you still don’t cross. Joe Blake (Kleintank) is still a Nazi agent, in this season with more certainty about his position in American Nazi society although his role in it is cut short towards the second half of the season.

The Man In The High Castle continues to feature exceptional acting from the likes of Sewell, who has made head Nazi John Smith almost sympathetic, and Davelos continues to be a warm and likeable character, offering a beautiful vulnerability and strength where it is required. However, the conceit of the alternate world, ie our own, where the outcome of the Second World War is familiar to viewers, just doesn’t sit well with the more hard-hitting aspects of the world the series is set in. Is it a hard-nosed drama looking at a world where the Nazis and the Japanese won the war and colonised the US or is it a lighter science fiction tale where the Nazis are working on creating a machine to take them through to our world? They can’t make up their mind and so it falls between the stools? Scenes like the one at the end of the season where the Nazis utilise the technology to reach the other world would be more at home in something like a James Bond film and sit uncomfortably here.

There is still enough for fans of the previous two seasons to enjoy here and the performances of the likes of Sewell, Davelos and Tagawa continue to set the bar very high. The return of Frank Frink (Rupert Evans) is a welcome one too and here he finds religion. The programme makers manage to depict the scenes in the secret synagogue with Frink as a canny counterpoint to the demagogic behaviour of the Nazis, bent on rewriting US history to shape to their own ends. The story of Ed McCarthy (Qualls) and antique dealer Robert Childan (Brown) is well-handled too, bringing them back into contact with Frink. We are introduced to new character, wheeler dealer Liam Wyatt (Jason O’Mara) who offers a performance with panache.

The Man In The High Castle season three is very frustrating because the programme makers can’t quite make up their minds about what it should be. But the acting and some of the scenes make it worth persevering with. It has moved quite significantly beyond Dick’s original concepts and it has been commissioned for a forth season. Recommended with a few reservations.