Author Topic: The Man in the High Castle  (Read 7811 times)

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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #35 on: January 10, 2018, 06:35:37 AM »
The OCD in me wouldn’t allow me not to keep watching. Already watched the first two episodes of season 2 and it’s stepped it up a bit and peeked my interest more. Especially already have had Julianna meet the man in the high castle.
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Offline Nekov

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #36 on: January 10, 2018, 07:06:11 AM »
I haven't read the book but I know the premise and story of it, and I like that the show is really expanding on that element of it.

Spoileres about the book

Well, in general Dick's books ara about how we percieve reality and how we don't know wheter what we see is true or not, not alternate realities. In this book in particular, he gives the sense that what's being described in the book is not real, and that what really happened after the second war is what's seen in the videos they find and the book written by the man in the high castle.

End of spoilers about the book

What I like about the show is that they are grabbing all of the elements in the book and putting them to a great use, even if they change the storyline and add things, it's well crafted and they way it's produced gives it a certain look as if you were seeig it through some kind of veil.
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #37 on: January 12, 2018, 08:23:04 AM »
The second season is night and day better than the first. I'm enjoying it much more....more compelling storytelling going on. I think I'm on episode 6 now so only a few more to go, but it's certainly gained traction for me.
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #38 on: January 13, 2018, 12:41:17 AM »
Just finished season two. That was really good. Way better than season 1, characters really started to get honed in. Objergruppenfuher John Smith is by far my favorite character still. The Trade Minister and other Japanese authority guy are close seconds. I like Julianna but those other characters are really cool.

Can’t wait for season 3.
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #39 on: February 11, 2018, 01:55:15 PM »
I'm watching season 2, I just finished the eight episode, Loose Lips, and it's one of the biggest FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU in recent TV history (at least of the shows I'm watching).

That was so high tension and FFFUUUU-ish that it could have well been a season finale, it would have been a fantastic cliffhanger. Glad there are two more episodes to watch!
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #40 on: February 11, 2018, 05:47:52 PM »
I liked season 1 enough to give the show a chance and watch season 2. Glad I did. Season 2 was awesome and it ends in such a way that I cannot wait until season three gets here!!!
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #41 on: February 14, 2018, 07:03:45 AM »
Finished the last two episodes. Wow. Huge improvement on Season 1 indeed!

The whole premise for Juliana's journey was to find out the dude whose death assured that San Francisco wouldn't be nuked, and when in the end John Smith saved the day in Berlin, I was like "...so? what's the matter? Trudy's father wasn't going to bomb the city anyway", and then comes that beautiful scene with the Man in the High Castle explaining how he bet all the odds on Juliana being strong and good hearted, as he figured out that the killing of Trudy's father meant that Thomas would nave not been outed by them and therefore John Smith wasn't forbidden to travel to Berlin to stop World War III.

I love the moral ambiguities of this show where resistance members are assholes, and Nazi people have feelings and love their family. Is it wrong for example that when Frank shot Kido my reaction was "Noooo!!!!" since he was about to meet with Tagomi to stop the war?

And speaking of moral ambiguities... last season the show had me rooting for Hitler not getting shot. Now in the second season finale, they make me happy that Himmler takes charge of things??? really, show? first you make me happy about Hitler himself surviving and then you make me happy about the father of the holocaust taking over? I hate you show. But also, well done.

Maybe it's a weird analogy but I saw some Gandalf wisdom in the Man putting all his bets on Juliana. Even though in different situations and for different reasons, both teach you the importance of every single life: Gollum was a bad and wretched being but he had to be spared 'cause he would have been instrumental in destroying the ring, and Thomas was a good guy son of an evil person that had to be spared because otherwise his father would have not prevented World War III.

The blind desire for vengeance would have avoided a far more important outcome (in both cases). You can never know how a single life could matter in the grand scheme of things, and so quick judgements of death could be disastrous.
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #42 on: February 14, 2018, 07:50:24 AM »
The whole premise for Juliana's journey was to find out the dude whose death assured that San Francisco wouldn't be nuked, and when in the end John Smith saved the day in Berlin, I was like "...so? what's the matter? Trudy's father wasn't going to bomb the city anyway", and then comes that beautiful scene with the Man in the High Castle explaining how he bet all the odds on Juliana being strong and good hearted, as he figured out that the killing of Trudy's father meant that Thomas would nave not been outed by them and therefore John Smith wasn't forbidden to travel to Berlin to stop World War III.

That entire 'reveal' scene with the man in the high Castle and Julianna was really well done. Then 'boom'....there's her sister!? Can't wait for season 3. Did you see the trailer for it? It's gonna get crazy I suspect.
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #43 on: February 16, 2018, 04:00:14 PM »
Not yet, I wanna go totally without preconceptions into the next season! I hope it comes soon.
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Offline CrimsonSunrise

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #44 on: October 17, 2018, 01:41:34 PM »
Halfway through the new season....  It's NOT disappointing!!!!!!!!!

Offline Nekov

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #45 on: October 18, 2018, 05:16:46 AM »
Halfway through the new season....  It's NOT disappointing!!!!!!!!!

Didn't know it was out. I have to catch this one
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Online ariich

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #46 on: October 18, 2018, 06:52:39 AM »
Finished the season last night, excellent stuff - pretty intense. Very interested in the direction the show is going in - very much taken further than the source material!

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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #47 on: November 06, 2018, 01:11:57 PM »
Really dug the third season.....this show is fun to watch. The John Smith evolution is one of the more compelling aspects of the show. You can 'feel' him becoming more and more disenfranchised and doubting his loyalty.....yet he knows the only way to keep all who he loves safe is to be 'all in'.

Surprisingly I felt like Julianna's story was pretty tepid this season compared to the first two. It seemed like this Season was really about the Chief Inspector and John Smith.
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #48 on: November 07, 2018, 08:57:52 PM »
Season 3 was fantastic. Can't wait to find out what they do in season 4.
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #49 on: November 11, 2018, 11:11:07 AM »
I will start season 3 today.

I've just finished a quick recap / rerun of season 2... boy, what a roller coster ride, as I commented in my previous posts! this show may not be perfect and at times, especially in season 1, was slow, but its high are very, very high. The climax of season 2 was fantastic, with all the pieces coming together to allow the two people we'd hate most in the beginning, Kido and Smith, to basically save the world, and then having it paid off by that beautiful, moving and perfect scene of Milton the Man in the High Castle explaing to Juliana how her hope and faith in the best of people, including a sick boy of a nazi leader, helped to achieve that.

And I'm still both pissed and impressed that in the first season finale they had me root for Hilter, and in the second they had me root for Himmler :P I will watch one episode per day so it's a couple of weeks in the Greater Nazi Reich for me!
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #50 on: November 23, 2018, 06:52:56 AM »
Finished watching season 3. I didn't like it as the other two, but it was still good. SPOILERS FOLLOWING OBVIOUSLY


For sure the pace was sped up, the first two seasons were slow, but they had gigantic payoffs, especially the ending of season 2 which I discussed some posts (but many months) ago which was absolutely stellar. This one was not so climatic, but it had many huge moments.

First of all, while they pulled the wicked irony of having us rooting for Himmler, they didn't whitewash the father of the Holocaust. Last season I was "happy" that he took over, and now in the season finale when he was shot I was like "Choke on your blood you bastard!!!!!", which he totally deserves in this reality, our own and all the other existing ones.

Also the final episode gave us a dimension jump, of Juliana (while being shot nonetheless!!!), that I expected to arrive in at least two moments earlier in the season, but it didn't: when Joe Black was about to shoot Tagomi (whas a cop out to have troops passing by) and especially when Frank Frink was awaiting execution. Poor Frank. I really, really thought that reciting hebrew prayers was his way of calming down and "going zen" so to speak and preparing for a dimension jump but no, they Game of Thrones-'d us with him being beheaded. Shit.

So, basically the two people who shagged Juliana this season got murdered, what a price to pay  :D I really didn't see Joe Black's death coming, but he was such a confusing character to begin with. I'm still not sure if his affection for Juliana this season was sincere, all a cover, or a mix of both.

Oh, and the Man in the High Castle himself was probably the most free person in the jail, it was great to see him confuse everyone with his nursery rhymes and then taunting John Smith with his failure. And what a chilling line from Juliana, I thought he would try to remind him how he saved his life indirectly by killing Dixon but no, she taunted him as well with the idea that he taught his son so well the nazi ideology, that he died for it.

And not that it matters to the overall grand scheme of things, but how badass was sweet, mild and calm Tagomi brutally asskicking the Nazi assassin sent to off him?  :metal never, ever piss off a calm dude, they're the worst when they snap into action!

Looking forward to season 4, I'm curious if John Smith will further slip down the nazi clutches or if he will have a moment of redemption. As I read elsewhere, it looks like this season was about hope - those who have it, even if they die like Frank, pass along their message of peace and longing for a better world, and those who lost hope and switches sides like John Smith, for the sake of his family, now have no family left to protect, with Thomas dead and his wife running away with the daughters.
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #51 on: April 21, 2020, 11:00:23 AM »
I only have one more episode to finish season 4. 
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Offline a51502112

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #52 on: May 18, 2021, 07:00:05 AM »
Old thread, I know...

ATM I'm in season 3. So far, I love it, but they're starting to lose me with all this time-travel shit.
Can anyone clarify what that's all about?

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #53 on: May 18, 2021, 07:05:05 AM »
It's not time travel, it's dimension travel.

The world of the show is Nazi won WWII world.
Tagomi traveled to a world where the Allies won, and Juliana became his daughter in law.
From those alternate worlds the film travel to Nazi-won world, where the Man in the High Castle distributes them.
You can travel through worlds only if you're dead in the other dimension, that's why Juliana's sister could come back at the end of season 2, because she died in Nazi world.

I only have one more episode to finish season 4.

Let us know if you like the ending! I finished the show but "forgot" to comment here.
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Offline a51502112

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #54 on: May 18, 2021, 08:00:49 AM »
It's not time travel, it's dimension travel.

The world of the show is Nazi won WWII world.
Tagomi traveled to a world where the Allies won, and Juliana became his daughter in law.
From those alternate worlds the film travel to Nazi-won world, where the Man in the High Castle distributes them.
You can travel through worlds only if you're dead in the other dimension, that's why Juliana's sister could come back at the end of season 2, because she died in Nazi world.

I only have one more episode to finish season 4.


Thanks. It was a little too much for my tiny brain.

Let us know if you like the ending! I finished the show but "forgot" to comment here.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #55 on: May 18, 2021, 11:29:53 AM »
Yeah, I finished it.

I remember not liking the finale all that much.
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #56 on: May 18, 2021, 02:02:14 PM »
I remember not liking the finale all that much.

They packed a LOT into those last couple episodes. Could have used an episode or two more to give it some breathing room.
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: The Man in the High Castle
« Reply #57 on: May 19, 2021, 01:22:25 AM »
Yeah, the pity is that they got probably told late in the process that Season 4 was the last, they have to rush through the storyline, also I read that the Tagomi actor wasn't available anymore and they had to quickly and hastily write him out.

Probably 5 seasons were needed for the show to end properly, I still like how the final action unfolded and the confrontation between Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Could have ended way better and with more time, but it could have ended way worse.

Season 1 and 2 will always remain the high water mark of this show - it is by no means among the very best of TV, but the climax of season 2 with the beautiful discussion between Juliana and the Man will forever remain for me one of the very best scenes of TV in recent years.
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