The Man in the High Castle

James B.
6 hours ago
2 min read

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Imagine a world where the Allied forces lost WWII after Germany dropped a nuclear bomb on Washington D.C., forcing the Allies to surrender and the world's maps to be redrawn. The Greater Nazi Reich now encompassing most of Europe, Africa and the Eastern Americas (US territories east of the Mississippi River). The Japanese Empire controls the Asian continent, Oceania, Australia and the western Americas. And finally, the Neutral Zone, a demilitarized band running the length of the Americas and serving as a buffer between the two super powers where there is no formal government or military.

This is the premise of the television series The Man in the High Castle, loosely based on the 1962 novel of the same name, written by Phillip K. Dick. The series' pilot was released by Amazon Studios on January 15, 2015 and was Amazon's most-watched pilot since it's original series program began.

There are four seasons of the series, 10 episodes per season. It's first and last season being the most popular.

The series plot lines include Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) and her boyfriend Frank Frink (Rupert Evans) who live in San Francisco under the rule of the Japanese and who eventually join the American Resistance. Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank) is also a new recruit in the resistance, but is actually working for the Schutzstaffel (SS) ran by Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith (Rufus Sewell) who's wife, Helen (Chela Horsdal) provides an award-winning portrayal of a woman, wife, mother and survivor.

DJ Qualls as Ed McCarthy, Joel de la Fuente as Colonel Takeshi Kido and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Nobusuke Tagomi further flesh out a deep lineup of talented actors. It is the cast and the production value (most expensive, second only to The Game of Thrones), that separates this series from so many others.

All seasons are now available on Netflix and I'd highly recommend.

Five out of five stars.