Why does it work?
As a fan of the show I have to say I found that the source novel never quite went far enough for me, what it did do remarkably well was paint a realistic version of how this world would be under a fascist regime. The show takes this deep-rooted realism from the source novels and adds in far superior sub-plots and characters arcs, and for me, as such I think it far surpasses the novel. It could be argued that Season 1 was a little slow, and back then I wasn’t sure if they would ever progress beyond the book, which doesn’t really have an ending in the traditional sense. Season 2 definitely kicked things into a higher gear and for me excelled whenever they moved out of the boundaries of the novel. With the story of the novel completely covered, Season 3 must push on into new territory and by doing so fundamentally changes the nature of this show. If Season 1 felt like a bleak warning from history, by utilising the “what if” scenario, then Season 3 has moved the show firmly into sci-fi territory and for this reason I was absolutely hooked. If you had asked me what I would like to have seen from Season 3 a year ago, this is the kind of content I would have been looking for.
The acting, character development and shocks are in my opinion on par with Game of Thrones here and like GoT the show has the ability to emotionally connect you to traditionally antagonist characters. I always think of Thrones‘ Jaime Lannister when I see how they are developing the character of John smith, Smith is not a good guy, he is really the series main villain. He is a Nazi and fully complicit with the barbaric practices the Nazi’s employ, including mass genocide, human experimentation and the oppression of Liberty in America. And yet, we also see someone who will stop at nothing to protect his family, who cannot get his head around the loss of his son and resolve this with his commitment to the Nazi regime. We see a man torn in two in Season 3 and yet calm and composed in his appearance to anyone other than the viewer, closing him off in many ways from both his children and his wife Helen. Actor Rufus Sewell deserves an award nomination for his work across this show, he is in my opinion a fine actor and has the most dramatic changes in character from his humble beginnings as a basic Nazi stooge in both the book and early Season 1. The man has a magnetic screen presence which draws me in as viewer every time, and yet he is also frightening at times as well.
Another personal favourite character of mine is Trade Minister Tagomi and once again actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, delivers a fantastically understated and subtle performance as the Trade Minister who realises that our World is better than the one he lives in. It was also great to see him meet with Juliana as equals in this Season after the revelations and growth the pair had across Season 2. I could go on and on about the acting in this show, Juliana herself played fantastically by actor Alexa Davalos, really grows into a leader and as focal point of resistance in this season along with her many acquaintances, friends and pursuers.
Season 3 also doesn’t just spend it’s time wrapping up sub plots from Season 2, There are some great little sub-stories going on in Season 3 and one of my personal highlights was an exploration of homosexuality in the Nazi Reich. An American female journalist in a fake marriage falls in love with a senior German propaganda minister and you just know that things cannot have a happy outcome for the pair as their relationship is doomed to failure before it even begins, though the result may surprise you a little.
The Man in the High Castle should be required viewing at schools across the Western world, because it forces any viewer to confront the stark realities of a lack of freedom, homophobia, racism, religious persecution and a world run by cold sociopaths. With Hitler now passed away the running of the Reich falls to Himmler, who if anything is likely even worse than Hitler himself was. This is the kind of show which makes the viewer question their own moral compass and for this reason alone it should be shown to high school kids as an educative piece. The show rarely pulls any punches with regards to the shocking nature of some of its content, just going on trailer footage alone, you have the destruction of the Statue of Liberty to contend with this season, as well as the usually visceral violence one would expect from a show set in this cruel world. However, I feel the shocking nature of the violence and the prejudiced beliefs of the majority of the show’s characters are exactly what is required a for show like this. It allows the younger generation to truly see what our grandparents and great grandparents fought against and died for to give us the far better world we live in today.
Again, I don’t want to spoil the main story beats of Season 3 before it is even released, but I will say that I am genuinely excited about where this show could go in Season 4, the shackles are off, and the writers have the freedom to explore this in any way they wish now. Yes, we will always lose some characters in this show as it progresses, but that is completely believable in a world run by fascists, especially for the characters who are compelled to stand against such morally repugnant practices. Overall for me, Season 3 of the show picked up the pace and delivered a thrilling 10 episode masterpiece. I can’t stress it enough, for me this show is becoming an absolute masterpiece and I can’t wait for the rest of the world to finally get their hands on this starting October 5 on Amazon Prime.
Any Criticisms?
Not much to be fair, but, yeah I have a few things which I feel could have been thought about differently. My main gripe with the show overall so far is the writers have in many ways fudged a bit of real history by painting the Christians as an allowed, but still persecuted organisation, when in fact this is debateable and also controversial when it comes to our own real life history. Absolutely they should be showing the Jewish faith as clinging on by a thread, but I feel in many ways they have relegated the Christian story off-screen so as to avoid any controversy, I’m not sure that’s the correct decision.
Factually, Adolf Hitler was raised as a Catholic and while there were many in the Nazi regime with both atheistic and pagan tendencies, Hitler seemed to understand the importance of the Church even if he stopped following the faith of it. It is far more likely from a historically accurate angle that the Catholic Church would be thriving in many parts of Europe and America as it was seen by the Nazi’s as way to exert control over the masses. Not to mention the fact that the Catholic Church themselves were frightened to death of Communism and saw Fascism as the better of two evils for their own survival. By the 60’s who knows what the Nazi’s would have done with Christianity, and perhaps with Himmler in charge (an atheist) the persecution of Christianity would have begun in earnest. I just feel like it’s been shelved so that the show doesn’t offend the millions of Christians who may be watching. let’s be clear though, that this is not a show which is steeped in historical fact. Even the death of FDR and the continuation of the Great Depression would not have guaranteed the Axis a victory in WWII. In fact it would have been almost impossible for the Axis to win this war on multiple fronts if you want to get into the military facts of the war, though, of course, this is open to debate.
Finally, If we are going to get into what I would like to see more of in Season 4 of the show, there is much I cannot discuss whilst also avoiding spoilers. However, one of the things I would like to see in Season 4 is a move out of America and into other parts of the world. Yes, the book is based in the former US and so is the show, but other than Berlin itself, we have not really visited any other countries, and since the show has now moved well beyond the scope of the book, I would like to see the fledgling resistance movement spread across into Europe and further afield. I’ll talk about my hopes and desires for Season 4 further down the line when viewers have had their chance to watch Season 3.
Overall, superb show and I highly recommend to anyone, however, there is simply no way you could pick the show up in Season 3 and understand half of what is going on. So if this show interests you, then make sure you catch up in Season 1 and 2 which are currently available on Amazon Prime everywhere.
Final Grade: A +
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