The Man in the High Castle [Spoilers]

[Corvinus85]

35 minutes ago, Martini Sigil said:

I think the takeaway here is that the bond between man and stapler is sacred.

He did burn the barn down.

[Trebla]

23 hours ago, Corvinus said:

 

Also how many Cylons are in this? I’m hoping their number grows next season so you can divert the story into having the Resistance win, but the secret robots embedded in the Resistance use the Nazi nuclear arsenal to destroy the Earth, but somehow a number of humans manage to leave the planet, thus making the Man in the High Castle a twisted prequel to Battlestar Galactica.

Yeah, I had to laugh when they introduced Michael Hogan as "Hagen". If, if they hadn't already shown Stephen Root as TMitHC I would have just assumed it was Brother Cavil.

I finished the season last night and I enjoyed season 2 much more than season 1. I thought that ep. 8, "Loose Lips" was the show's first truly GREAT episode. I loved that they brought back  monstrous Heydrich and played him for info. 

The finale was good and brought both anguish and hope. Thomas Smith's ending was a gut punch and hit me much harder than Frank's death. Thomas was an innocent. Frank used to be a good man but had already Become What You Hate. 

Smith using Tagomi's film reel from our reality (at least I think it is) could be Deus Ex Machina but in a way the whole show is. Outside forces have been meddling with this timeline by way of the film reels. It seems reasonable that Hawthorne Abendson has been moving between worlds (perhaps several worlds) and bringing in the film reels. Now Tagomi has done the same and Tagomi's assistant IS from our world. There were hints last season though I didn't pick up on them until I read them on the TV Tropes page.

Juliana's ending is the hope spot as she sees her dead sister who is likely to be from another timeline. I think next season Juliana will begin to visit the other timeline(s) and do...something. I dunno what but she seems somehow to be a historical catalyst. Abendon mentioned that she seems to always appear on the films,

By the way, Ed and Childan are my new Cheech and Chong! It will be funny to see how they bumble in out of trouble now, especially since Frank won't be there anymore to put them in REAL danger.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Amazing show... Will there be a 3rd season? 

Also can anyone explain how they are doing inter dimensional time travel? 

[SpaceChampion]

Good season.  Felt like the pay off for groundwork of season 1.  Next season would have to lay a lot of new groundwork, I think.

[Isis]

Watched S2 in two days. Really, really liked it a lot. 

Joe is, if anything, even more annoying and childish than he was in S1. Love how he is all  'omg, killing 20m people is really bad...oh, I guess that some sex can distract me from the horror though'. I'm hoping that he goes through some personal epiphany or growth asap so that we don't need to see another whole season of him being a whiny brat.

I'm not going to miss Frank tbh. They did a good job of making him not all that likeable this season. 

The whole Smith family storyline was very well done. Great performances from all of them. 

And I really liked Juliana's wardrobe! I had coat envy.

[Relic]

5 episodes into this and really want to punch Joe in his stupid chin everytime he's on screen. Horrible character. 

[SpaceChampion]

Renewed for a third season, with a new showrunner.  Spotnitz left mid way through season 2, and apparently all the department heads sort of co-ran it for the second half.  Third season will be run by Eric Overmyer, who last did something called Bosch for Amazon.

[RedEyedGhost]

2 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

who last did something called Bosch for Amazon.

Good show.

[red snow]

watched this over Christmas and I think it was an improvement over season 1. It's one of those shows where the villains carry the show and that's largely because they make them more interesting. Rufus Sewel was fascinating as Smith - a guy who is pretty horrible but has a genuine love for his family that brings him into conflict with his "ideals". The actor playing his son did a great job of making a little nazi somehow endearing too. The same goes for the Japanese police chief - he did some despicable things in season 1 yet his devotion to his people/empire was a nice juxtaposition to that of Smith.

I also enjoyed the resistance and how the show didn't shy away at all in revealing insurgency tactics and highlighting how resistance/freedom fighters and terrorists are often the same thing. A brave move given current real world events.

Julianne was also more fun to watch this season. She played well in the Nazi setting and it was good to see her make an ethical stand at the end of "the ends not justifying the means"

Less convincing were the male protagonists this season. Nazi selective breeding musn't have factored in the "emo" gene as Joe was a sulky pain in the ass throughout. The guy was given the world on a plate and he still found a way to sulk about it. Even better when he essentially got what he wanted (stopping his dad) - he complained about that too. The third reich won't last long if he is the product of the master race. A similar thing happened with Frank in terms of being unlikeable and treating his friends like shit (something I guess Julianne was guilty of last season). At least I could understand why he was acting that way but assuming he's now dead (not certain he is even if he should be) it's probably a good place to leave him. I oddly found the "orange film ad" guy to be the most entertaining part of Frank's story.

I also think they wrapped up the new fuhrer story a little too easily. Surely he'd have had more supporters in place before making his play? I'd let it slide if they'd spent a little more time showing other high-ups lose faith in him over risking Berlin being H-bombed but they didn't. Maybe it will turn out it wasn't so simple as it appeared and the Fuhrer will return or at least prove to be a problem. I guess it's ok if the whole point was just to put Smith in a more powerful position - it'll be interesting to see how he deals with his son's actions next season. Going back to why I like John Smith it's the fact that his character could go either way, he might go full-on villain losing his son or he might even go semi-protagonist. Part of me could easily see him leading some kind of East coast indpendence movement that mirrors the original american bid for independence. It's pretty good writing/acting for a character to have such divergent potentials in a believable way.

I'm not sure why I enjoyed Togumi's story this season. I mean he spent what felt like 3 episodes gluing a teacup back together. I guess it's down to the captivating way Tagawa stares with what must be thousand pound butt-clench all the time. That and I guess his reality jumping skill is intriguing. I'm sort of hoping his other half is running around in Nazi world and we'll get to see the angry drunk version of him in season 3. At the end of the day I'm not really that interested in the "multiverse" aspect of the show. I know it's an integral part of the book/concept but I'd much rather they focused all of their attention on the alt world the show is based in. There's more than enough right there. I heard the writers of the last few bond films have a BBC show starting soon that just focuses on the alt world setting of "nazis win WWII". I'll be giving that a shot as it's based in the UK and deals with the immediate aftermath of the war and not jumping ahead 15 years.

Anyway I enjoyed the show and it's probably my favourite amazon original show. I'm pleased they binge release it as I think i'd find it hard going on a weekly basis.

[Ded As Ned]

1 hour ago, red snow said:

watched this over Christmas and I think it was an improvement over season 1. 

(snip)

Anyway I enjoyed the show and it's probably my favourite amazon original show. I'm pleased they binge release it as I think i'd find it hard going on a weekly basis.

I just finished season 2 a few days ago and had been meaning to post my thoughts, but this sums it up pretty well.  Although on the new fuhrer I'm certain I remember him accepting his fate when Hitler died... Telling Joe Fn Blake something like he wouldn't live long in the post.  But overall, I really enjoyed the season.  Glad it got renewed.  This and The Grand Tour are the only originals I watch on Amazon.

[mcbigski]

Are people only able to shift worlds if their analogue in the alternate world is dead?  Clearly the trade minister's American family didnt miss him for long.  Makes me wonder if Juliana or her sister actually did die in the base show world.  Kind of thought they shot her just before she meets Stephen root.

[red snow]

8 hours ago, Ded As Ned said:

I just finished season 2 a few days ago and had been meaning to post my thoughts, but this sums it up pretty well.  Although on the new fuhrer I'm certain I remember him accepting his fate when Hitler died... Telling Joe Fn Blake something like he wouldn't live long in the post.  But overall, I really enjoyed the season.  Glad it got renewed.  This and The Grand Tour are the only originals I watch on Amazon.

I had similar thoughts when Daddy Joe got the fuhrer position but then it felt a bit like he'd been playing the underdog as it seemed that Heydrich placed Daddy Joe as the top of the conspiracy. Unless he was always just a figurehead and Heydrich was using him? It wasn't that clear to me (I was watching it over the tipsy haze that is  christmas with family stay). I actually liked Daddy Joe's character he had a bit of a Ra's al ghul vibe in that his plans were big and possibly for the betterment of the planet (and the select few survivors).

6 hours ago, mcbigski said:

Are people only able to shift worlds if their analogue in the alternate world is dead?  Clearly the trade minister's American family didnt miss him for long.  Makes me wonder if Juliana or her sister actually did die in the base show world.  Kind of thought they shot her just before she meets Stephen root.

That's a good idea regarding how they can cross over! Juliana is alive in the "real world" so she can't travel but her sister at the end may be from the "real world". Then again they've pointed out more worlds exist so who knows? I hope they just stick to the two though - unless they introduce one where the cuba missile crisis went horribly wrong. That could work in season 3 as they covered that time period this season. That or a world where communism won within ten years of the conclusion of WWII. I guess if the Russians had got all of Germany they'd have got all the rocket scientists, etc and this may have given them an early edge over the west.

[Pliskin]

I thought the last three episodes or so of season 2 were amazing television. Specially the ending of episode 8. Very predictable of course, but so damn good plotting. I was waiting for everything to unfold, and I was not disappointed.

The way every storyline came precisely together at the end and made sense in the overall plot was perfect and exhilarating. You'd think it's something every show does, but no. Few actually bother to give sense to every character's storyline outside its own character development.

The start was so damn slow though. I totally understand why some are just bored by this show and couldn't car less. But the payoff... is incredible.

By the way, the guys at amazon are good. If the last part of the season was really managed by them in what you would think is a chaotic production after the disagreement with the showrunner, it didn't stop them from producing the best episodes of the show.

[RumHam]

I just finished watching this. I liked it. 

On 12/11/2015 at 6:56 AM, DaveSumm said:

I can't think of any other series where the backdrop and setting plays such a huge role in the quality, I mean there was nothing wrong with the performances or the writing or anything, but by themselves I don't think the series would stand out. It's the pervasive creepiness that never seems to wear off of having the Nazi's in charge that propels this series.

This pretty much sums it up. I'd rather watch a fake documentary about the setting of this show than the show itself. Still I enjoyed it and look forward to the third season. But it does feel like they don't have larger arcs planned for most of the characters and are just making it up as they go. Amazon needs to bring in a showrunner who can plot out where they want to go and probably set an end date for the series for pacing reasons. 

Also I hope they kill Joe early on and introduce someone new who is actually compelling to watch. I dunno what Jack Huston is doing these days but he seems like a natural choice to join the cast. He was so great as Richard Harrow on Boardwalk Empire. I'd love to see what he could do with a character who had his entire face. He was good in American Hustle as well but it was a small role. 

[red snow]

is anyone watching BBC's "SS-GB"? It's thematically similar to the point you could almost twist things and look at it as a prequel with a focus on the UK.

I've only seen the first episode and i wasn't overly impressed but that was largely down to the comically gravelly noir voice the lead has in every single scene - even with his kids.

[Rippounet]

On 20/01/2017 at 8:04 PM, Pliskin said:

I thought the last three episodes or so of season 2 were amazing television. Specially the ending of episode 8. Very predictable of course, but so damn good plotting. I was waiting for everything to unfold, and I was not disappointed.

The way every storyline came precisely together at the end and made sense in the overall plot was perfect and exhilarating. You'd think it's something every show does, but no. Few actually bother to give sense to every character's storyline outside its own character development.

The start was so damn slow though. I totally understand why some are just bored by this show and couldn't car less. But the payoff... is incredible.

I just finished it and those are my thoughts exactly.

I love how the show manages to make us root -at times at least- for "bad guys."

Through parallels, it also raises some very deep questions regarding political philosophy.