Alternate histories hold a special place in my heart within the realm of science fiction. If you’re at all familiar with the theory that our universe is just one in a vast and infinite array of parallel universes collectively known as a multiverse then it shouldn’t take too much of a jump to consider that alternate histories can just as easily be thought of as history books of other universes. How’s that for a fourth wall breaker?

For the uninitiated
The Man In The High Castle is author Phillip K Dick at his finest. The story is an alternate history where the Axis powers, specifically Japan and Germany, defeat the US in WW2. Zeh Germans pioneer the atomic bomb before the US and annihilate DC; the Greater Nazi Reich sets up shop in New York City and stretch as far West as Montana to New Mexico. The Japanese take over the West Coast via San Francisco as far inland as Utah and Arizona, and call the region the Japanese Pacific States. Of course, if neither of those regions sound suitable you can always take your chances in the Neutral Zone, where anarchy and social Darwinism reign supreme; it’s everyone for themselves.

In the first season we were introduced to Juliana Crain played by Alexa Davalos (Clash of the Titans, Defiance). She and her boyfriend Frank Frink, played by Rupert Evans (Hellboy, The Canal), were just living their lives as best they could under Japanese rule. One evening Juliana bumped into her sister Trudy, who was carrying one of the infamous films depicting the alternate universe. In a rush to get the film off her before officers in the Kempeitai (Japanese authorities) could confiscate it Trudy passed it off to Juliana shortly before going off screen and getting killed by Kempei agents. Juliana learns the hard way that anyone so much as suspected as having possessed one of the films or assisting those who have are under the merciless eye of the Kempeitai’s Chief Inspector Kido played by Joel De Le Fuente (Law & Order: SVU, Rescue Me).

With Kempei agents hot on her trail Juliana does the safest thing she can think of, which was to flee to Canon City in the Neutral Zone and try to track down the intended recipient of the subversive reel Trudy was expected to meet. In her voyage to get the film reel off her hands she bumps into the deterministic and likable Joe Blake played by Luke Kleintank (Bones, Gossip Girl) who has a dark side of his own as a Nazi double-agent working under Greater Nazi Reich’s Obergruppenführer John Smith played by Rufus Sewell (Dark City, Gods of Egypt). Both Obergruppenfuhrer Smith and Chief Inspector Kido are desperate to track down this man in the high castle. We also learn within the first season that Smith’s son Thomas has unfortunately inherited muscular dystrophy from his father’s side, and he faces euthanasia by Public Health Authorities.

By the conclusion of the first season Frank and Juliana confront Joe as a Nazi agent. Joe gets the latest film and delivers it to the Nazi embassy. Inspector Kido acts on information supplied by Yakuza and executes the Nazi agent who was responsible for assassinating the Japanese Crown Prince, this negates the need for Kido to have to commit seppuku (Japanese ritualistic suicide). The boundary between the current reality and alternate realities gets more and more blurry as Japanese Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat, Planet of the Apes) seems to now be able to enter the alternate reality when he goes to Union Square to meditate only to find himself in the version of 1962 where the Allies won the second World War and now the US is in the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis.

Now that you’re all caught up
Joe confronts John Smith about resigning, but Smith declines the resignation and delivers the film Joe captured to the Fuhrer himself. Frank’s friend Ed McCarthy played by DJ Qualls (The Core, Road Trip) was discovered back in the first season to have in his possession the same firearm Frank was suspected of having. Now, having been detained by the Kempeitai as a scapegoat for the Crown Prince’s assassination Ed is tortured and beaten in much the same way Frank was when Juliana fled during the first season. To get Ed out of Kempeitai authority Frank reaches out to Robert Childan played by Brennan Brown (Focus, I Love You Phillip Morris) as a means of setting up a way to pay for Ed’s release.
Juliana is confronted and shot with a trank-dart by members of the West Coast resistance for not shooting Joe Blake. When she wakes up she meets Hawthorne Abendsen played by the ridiculously talented Stephen Root (Office Space, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) whom she learns is said man in the high castle. Hawthorne makes a tasteful reference to Carl Jung referring to the mind as the high castle. No matter what role I see that actor in I will always see Milton from Office Space. Never-the-less the visit to Abendsen pays off: he drops her a clue that will keep a nuclear war from occurring. He also reveals to Juliana a mysterious individual that seems to play a pivotal role in San Francisco’s possible nuclear destruction (or not).

In order to get Ed out of Kempeitai authorities Frank appeals to defense lawyer Paul Kasoura played by Louis Changchien (Agents of SHIELD, Predators) who has some impressive connections with Yakuza. Frank and Robert confess to Kasoura that the memorabilia they had recently sold him was a complete forgery; Frank is able to convince the Yakuza leader to let him and Ed work together to produce more forged artifacts for the sake of paying off the Yakuza for the hustle.

Joe is ordered by John Smith to visit Berlin and see Joe’s father, arguably the second most powerful man in Germany after Hitler. To keep Joe’s mind off Juliana Smith tells Joe she’s most likely dead. Meanwhile the West Coast resistance is hunting Juliana. She reaches out to her mother and step-father, whom she recently learned wasn’t her sister’s father, but that the mystery man Abendsen had been fixated over actually is. Strange! Upon learning the startling truth about her sister Juliana seeks asylum within the Reich as a means of seeking out this George Dixon fellow.

With Joe preoccupied in Berlin John Smith can concentrate on the impending doom facing his son; the Reich does not accept individuals with inferior genetics. Dr Adler, whom diagnosed Thomas from the first season pays Smith a house visit catching Smith way off guard. Adler appeals to him as humanely as he can that Thomas has to be put down. We learn that Smith, for all his love of country and duty and honor and responsibility to the Reich, is still willing to put family first; he uses the lethal injection syrum Adler provided to peacefully euthanize Thomas on Adler to ensure the good doctor’s eternal silence on Thomas’ condition.

Juliana does her best to adjust to life under the Reich gaining tutelage and acceptance from Smith’s wife Helen and Thomas. Frank has begun to take his new role in the West Coast resistance more earnestly as he accepts a very risky mission to re-purpose the highly explosive material from an unused Japanese bomb for a new purpose. In the assignment Frank gets soft for another resistance operative Sarah, a very attractive lady who has had the misfortune of being a veritable citizen of nowhere. Neither preferring her life in the Pacific States any more than she would want to live back in Japan.

In Trade Minister Tagomi’s meditations he keeps going to this alternate reality and finally reveals himself to the family he has in the alternate timeline. His wife Michiko, who is deceased in his own timeline, is alive though bears burn-scarring having been a survivor of the Hiroshima atom bomb. Tagomi realizes through this version of his family that they are accustomed to his being more distant and estranged. Michiko has been urging him to divorce her, and even more interesting is that Tagomi’s son Noriyuke is both married to Juliana in this reality and they have a son together. Tagomi attempts to mend the severely frayed relationship between him and his family in the alternate timeline, but Tagomi also learns that his son has practically abandoned his Japanese heritage.

During Joe’s stay in Berlin he learns of the true circumstances around his birth and heritage; having been brought up under the illusion that his father ran out on his mother and left the family to fend for itself Joe’s father Reichminister Heusmann reveals that Joe is actually a Lebensborn-child. Upon meeting the beautiful photographer Nicole he learns she, too, is Lebensborn and is invited to meet many others who are also. And Joe gets to try some acid (yes, the drug), and finds a degree of solace in embracing his Aryan heritage.

Ed and Childran are set to make their first payment to the Yakuza when they are seemingly randomly locked up; turns out fortune is about to smile in their favor as Kido and his Kempeitai pay Okamura a visit and basically wipe out the Yakuza once Kido learned that Yakuza was in bed with the Reich. Kido’s right hand Yoshida discovers Ed and Childran and lets them go.

Drama begins to swell for the Smiths as Dr Adler’s wife Alice begins to speak fearfully about the uber-strange circumstances surrounding the good doctor’s untimely demise. Smith’s wife Helen assures Alice all is well, but Alice won’t hear it. She demands an autopsy. While at Adler’s funeral Juliana is also in attendance and watches Thomas endure a seizure; eyes rolling backward is not strictly for horror movies. Understanding the implications she covers gracefully for Thomas, and naturally assures Helen their secret is safe with her. As a means of protecting their son John Smith plots to have Thomas “abducted” in a fake kidnapping only to make sure Thomas is sent deep into South America away from the Reich’s control. Thomas learns that he isn’t going to South America because he won anything, but because something’s terribly wrong with him.

To add further complications to the matter Heinrich Himmler informs John Smith that Hitler has had a collapse, the Fuhrer’s condition is grave. Well, what’s the Nazi Reich without some serious propaganda!? To ease the public trust the TV keeps airing footage of the Fuhrer, but Lucy (one of the members within the “Ladies Committee”) has a bit too quick of a tongue and suggests to Juliana that none of the footage being seen on the TV is new, but in fact ALL archived footage; it helps Lucy’s assertion that her own husband manages the TV broadcast. In a fit to stop such treasonous conversation Helen over-hears Lucy and intimidates her into silence. With Hitler in critical condition in Berlin Heusmann is made Acting Chancellor, and, with Joe’s new outlook on his heritage, gains the support from his son to stay in Germany a while longer.

Smith speaks to Juliana about the film depicting the test of a thermonuclear (hydrogen bomb) detonation, and it’s impending use in San Francisco as a means of precipitating a war between the Japanese and the Reich; with this new knowledge Smith misleads the imprisoned Reinhard Heydrich into believing that the war between the Germans and the Japanese is already underway. The false setup leads Heydrich to spill the beans that it’s exactly what he and a few others within the Reich high-command are looking for; with this confession Smith executes Heydrich, but not before learning that even Heydrich is still more pawn than ringleader. The Acting Chancellor is thus revealed to be the puppet-master for the looming war.

Juliana’s step-father Arnold played by Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive, US Marshals) informs Frank that Juliana had warned them to get out of San Francisco, and that she did not betray him. With this new information Frank confronts the senior member of the West Coast resistance about their uprising plan, but the resistance won’t hear it. Frank is able to convince the resistance, since they are so set on carrying out this uprising to go after a real military targer: the Kempeitai HQ. Aware of what kind of fallout will come out of it Frank urges Ed and Childran to leave San Francisco. Frank and Sarah basically pull a McVeigh/Nichols car-bomb stunt by parking in the HQ’s underground garage.

Just as both Frank and Sarah are attempting to leave the building Kido discovers Frank, and in a panic Frank initiates a gun-fight. After what the Kempeitai did to Frank’s sister, niece, and nephew he sees no recourse but to go John Dillinger and try to take out as many Kempei pons (derogative of Nipponese) as he can. Just as Trade Minister Tagomi arrives with the film of the H-bomb test detonation the car bomb goes off killing the Japanese General Onoda and most of the Kempeitai. Tagomi and Kido survive while Frank and Sarah are presumed killed in the blast.

Kido travels to New York to show the film to Smith and demonstrate that Japan has thermonuclear capabilities. As a means of keeping the two powers from going head to head Smith takes the film to Berlin to show Himmler and other high ranking Nazis that it would be unwise to attack Japan at this stage; even though Acting Chancellor Heusmann boldly declared that Hitler had been poisoned by the Japanese, and justice would be swift! Smith exposes Heusmann as a traitor, and both he and Joe Blake are arrested. By the end of the show Himmler is addressing the worldwide public from the Volkshalle where we are led to believe he will be assuming power after Heusmann’s detainment. Himmler publicly lauds Smith for his dedication and service to the Reich.

Feeling like she’s lost everything that means anything, Juliana, heads to the Neutral Zone. She finds Abendsen and learns that not all is lost. Her suspicions about her sister lead to the biggest moment of the series…the Keyser Söze moment.
Maybe my favorite element of the show is the sheer amount of gray matter where ethics are concerned. What do I mean? Take Smith. He will beat a man to a pulp if he believes it’s in the greater good for the Reich and so we naturally consider him as a truly vicious and barbaric character, the bad guy we can all agree to hate. Yet, we see he has a totally soft and vulnerable side to him in the face of his family and very close friends. Considering the lengths he goes to save his son our knee-jerk judgment of him comes back under scrutiny. This seemingly complicated characterization is also what makes Smith, in my humble opinion the strongest character in the show.

Each character is has their own strengths, and many of them have more weaknesses yet, but considering the role he plays in the show I feel like again John Smith is the strongest character; his forging virtue and familial value over his duty to the state shows a deeper soul. A man who’s true to his convictions; by contrast, however, Chief Inspector Kido may well be among the weakest in terms of ethics and characterization. After Smith I would say Juliana is the strongest, especially as a female ass-kicking Aikidoka; which (soapbox moment) makes me want to say how refreshing it is to see someone besides Seagal messing people up with that art! For me the most revealing element was Tagomi being able to transport himself between realities merely by meditating with Juliana’s charm, basically the show’s tag line that, “The future belongs to those who make it.” I guess they were going to use, “There’s no fate, but what we make for ourselves,” but Jim Cameron and Will Wisher beat Dick to it!

I recommend this show to two genre enthusiasts: the history buffs, especially of the second world war (just to call out the elephant), and those who love the sci-fi sub-genre of alternate realities. If you were a fan of Inception, the 1990 Total Recall, or Fatherland I know you will have as hard a time not binge-watching as I did. So between PKD’s portrayal of alternate realities, the paradoxical story-telling of the various characters’ stances on ethics, and the story’s overall ability to make us question ethics based on circumstances this show scores a perfect 10 from me. Season 3 is going to be a scorcher!!