Le Maître du Haut Château

(Updated after Season 4).

It is the year 1962. Having lost World War 2, the United States is now occupied by Germany and Japan. Germany occupies the eastern states and Japan the western, with the Neutral Zone in between. When her sister is killed by the Japanese, Juliana Crain is sucked into the covert, dangerous world of the American Resistance. Opposing her and her comrades are the most ruthless forces the Nazis and Japanese have to offer, lead by Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith of the SS and Chief Inspector Kido of the Kempeitai. The Resistance's greatest hope appears to lie in films which show an alternate reality, a world where the US and its allies won WW2. While largely viewed as propaganda, these films could be more than that. At the centre of the manufacture and distribution of these films is one man, a figurehead in the Resistance: The Man in the High Castle.

Great, but not consistently so. Based on a novel by Philip K Dick (writer of the novels and short stories on which movies such as Blade Runner, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Total Recall and Paycheck were based) and produced by Ridley Scott, the series had massive potential and initially lives up to it.

The central plot, an alternate history where the US loses WW2 and is occupied by the Germans and Japanese, is a very intriguing one and is very well done. The events that took place to reach the alternative reality and how the world and society now look and function all make sense. As a student of history, especially military history, I kept expecting something to not add up, or not fit in with history's possible paths, but it all fits in perfectly.

It became an enjoyable intellectual exercise for me, figuring out when the alternate history started deviating from the actual, and the events that took place, and didn't take place, for this to happen. As far as I can tell, the earliest deviation is in Dec 1941-Feb 1942 when the Japanese manage to invade and occupy Hawaii.

This alternate world provides some great plot developments and backgrounds for many intrigues: the American Resistance vs the Japanese and Germans; the friction between the Germans and Japanese and how they try to undermine each other, even potentially destroy each other, all while carrying on like loyal allies; the factional in-fighting within the Nazi Party and the Roman-style politics involved.

All the series needed was solid performances and no superfluous or hole-filled sub-plots and it would have been perfect. Easy enough to ask, right?

Yes, but alas, difficult to achieve.

After creating this great platform for drama and reimagining history and society, sub-plots are certainly not free of holes or contrivances. It is usually small things, but they are enough to undermine the credibility of the plot, e.g. 50 Japanese soldiers barge into a club to catch a fugitive, they all go in the front door, leaving other exits unguarded, fugitive escapes through the back door; man meets Yakuza boss, he's carrying a gun but henchmen don't frisk him, gun gets him out of a sticky situation.

Then there's the sci fi aspect involving the films. Admittedly, this is written by Philip K Dick so you should expect a sci fi angle, but I would have preferred the series to just concentrate on alternate history, and the drama stemming from that, rather than introduce the sci fi drama. It just seemed like an unnecessary add-on and a distraction.

Furthermore, performances are far from consistently solid. Alexa Davalos imbues Julianna Crain with a wimpy, anaemic, unengaging quality, far from what you'd want the main "good guy" in a series to be. Luke Kleintank makes Joe Blake boring and unlikeable. DJ Qualls is one of the more irritating actors in showbiz and generally the harbinger of a C-grade movie. Here he lives up to that reputation. I kept hoping the Japanese would shoot him and put me out of my misery. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is so boring as Trade Minister Tagomi it feels like every scene he is in takes an hour. Admittedly his character is drawn that way too, so some fault has to lie with the writers.

On the flipside there is Rufus Sewell as John Smith. Sewell's performance stands like a mountain among knolls: he absolutely dominates the series, putting in the perfect performance as the ice cold, calculating, ruthless yet family-orientated Nazi. If it wasn't for Sewell and how well-constructed Smith's character was, the series would have fallen apart.

After three seasons it was all set up for a great finale. While the initial intrigue had worn off and the plot started to get more and more padded (largely by the multiple universes stuff) it still had heaps of potential. In addition, achieving the potential didn't seem difficult: explore the intrigues between Japan and Germany, with the resistance adding a bit of spice, and build up to a massive all-in conflict.

Sadly, however, Season 4 turns out to be easily the worst season of the series. The intrigues and battles are few and far between. The multiple universes aspect gets centre stage and there are heaps of sub-plots which don't really add anything. The ending is rather tame and unsatisfying.

Ditch the multiple universes, concentrate on the alternate history and the Germany vs Japan vs resistance struggle (throughout the series), create some engaging "good guy" characters, played by good actors and actresses, and you'll have a masterpiece. Instead, while still on the whole very good, this feels like a massive missed opportunity.

An immaculate, terrifying alternate history that is accurate down to the buttons. I love period pieces, and this scary projection of a post WW2 hegemony ruled by the Japanese and German empires certainly fits the bill. Every costume, building, landscape, vehicle, street and interior room is accurate down to the woodwork and spoons - such a delight to watch. It's interesting in itself to see the crushed American psyche in the face of utter defeat, humiliation and occupation by mortal enemies. This alternate history makes the American century seem a fantasy, certainly it took tremendous courage to make this series. It's also nerve wracking watching the razor thin tightrope walked by the various protagonists on the winning side, as they try to navigate the internal dangers of their own ruthless regimes. The suffering of the common Americans reminds me of the brutal oppression we have witnessed around the world by autocratic regimes over the last 100 years - that in itself is a rich irony. The series is also a study on what it takes to bring down oppressive empires. Each of our dear protagonists - Joe, Juliana and Frank - are guided by their positive moralities on a destiny of greatness. It's particularly interesting to see how the entire arc of history can be rewritten by a single good or bad deed, by a single done or undone action. The machinations of Obergruppenfuhrer Smith, Trade Minister Togumi and Chief Inspector Kodi-Tai are particularly interesting. Both men stand on mountains of corpses built by their empires, and out of a deep sense of duty and honor, they maneuver to preserve their nations from further bloodshed and destruction, working always in the shadows. The searing images of enflamed Americans chanting Blood and soil do not seem so distant from our current epoque, nor do they seem alien and impossible. We are indeed witnessing history, with so-called freedom loving Americans flirting with fascism. It is heartening to see the universe is in balance, with the terrible personal price paid by men of previous principle, who sold their soul for survival at all costs. The arc of history does indeed bend toward justice. Ultimately this is a series about the Power of ideas to revive a forgotten dream, to restore hope and courage to the absolutely downtrodden and conquered. Symbolism is the most powerful motif, present endlessly across all domains of the various powers. Images and the ideas attached to them move people to action. It is quite interesting to see the underlying Metaphysics and laws of the universe being respected in this multiverse spanning series. As a fan of Fringe and other SciFi benders, it is nice to see a return to alternate timelines and realities, and how they interplay with each other according to 'rules'. I appreciate the 4th season in particular as it highlights the tremendous racial atrocities that these regimes are capable of, and the personal horrors of the victims. Oftentimes minorities are under-represented in such shows, and it is welcome to see the producers avoid that mistake. The humanization of minority victims was detailed and appreciated. The 4th season also does a great job of reinforcing the belief that we are who we are, even in the multiverse. There were some loose ends left that did not completely tie up the threads, especially around the multiverse. I guess I need to watch and read some analysis from smarter folks. It's normal that cerebral series like this leave some ideas for interpretation. The series finale was amazing, Hollywood level production values, astounding special effects. I am truly impressed by Amazon studios. Their offerings give HBO a run for their money.

The first two season are great, worthy of 8 or maybe even 9/10! The plot idea is simple but effective, most characters are interesting and acted well (with some exceptions), and the plot twists are very good! Some of the characters's choices are terribly stupid and annoying, but the rest is so good that you can almost forgive them.

That is, the first two seasons. Season 3 is a total mess. Few interesting moments, but for the most part it became a serie that has no idea what it is and where it wants to go, with bunch of useless story lines that start nowhere and go nowhere.

Watch the first two seasons, they are worth it! But then stop there.

I finished Season 1...A+...the production values are incredible...this must have an insanely huge budget...the characters, setting and story are also very well done...I hear people complaining that the series is too slow but I don't see it that way...to me it has a deliberate pace where the big moments have more meaning because it was slowly built up...the sequence with Hitler and Wegener in the S1 finale was a nail biter...the alternate timeline sci-fi aspect is a slow burn but presented in a really interesting way

and that opening credit sequence fits the show perfectly...creepy rendition of 'Edelweiss' from The Sound of Music...on to Season 2!

I finished up Season 2...this might make my All-Time Top 10 show list after all is said and done...absolutely amazing series...I read that this is Amazon's most watched series so I don't understand why it appears to not be getting the attention and accolades it deserves...very intelligent story...Season 2 was pretty much a direct continuation of the first season...you can tell that they plotted out the story in advance and aren't just making things up as they go...the world building and production values are second to none...a lot of great additions to the cast in S2- Tate Donovan, Bella Heathcote, Stephen Root, Sebastian Roche etc...the show also seems to have a lot of Battlestar Galactica vets (Michael Hogan, Callum Keith Rennie, Rick Worthy)

the HDR is no doubt the best implementation out of all the streaming shows I've watched across any platform...reference quality in pretty much every scene...this is the streaming show to show off your TV's HDR capability...stunning...every little detail from the shiny floors, costumes, furniture, facial detail, lighting looks amazing...I don't have an issue with the pacing but maybe that's because I'm watching all 3 seasons back-to-back...it seems they plotted out the entire story from the beginning and are taking the time they need to get there...the final few episodes of Season 2 were epic (S2 finale was a slight letdown)...some of the character motivations and constantly switching allegiances are a little confusing but overall this is Amazon's best original series.

I don't know if they cut the budget for S3 but it didn't look quite as amazing as the earlier seasons in terms of cinematography...it still looked great but a slight step down...the Dolby Vision also lacked the consistent pop it previously had...in the first 2 seasons almost every scene had amazing depth and pop...S3 had its moments but wasn't as consistently gorgeous (but the dystopian world building is still first rate)...I'm hoping that Nicole Dormer returns for Season 4 (Himmler sent her back to Berlin in the S3 finale for re-education training due to her 'perversions' aka they caught her in that lesbian club)...Bella Heathcote is very sexy and has great charisma on-screen...I'm guessing Joseph Goebbels will play a bigger role in S4 which will bring Nicole back into the story

overall I find this to be Amazon's best original series

After amazing 2 exciting season with brilliant acting and strong plot..season 3 went down hill by inserting story-lines that try hard to explore some gender orientation which were performed poorly and did not serve the plot or story line at any point..The thrill of those series were centered on the tapes and how they affect the future of Reich or Japan. instead the writers chose to replace it with Homosexual story lines that did not make any sense or relate to the series main actors..I never wrote a review before but because I am a big fan of the series I found season 3 as a slap on the face to the first 2 seasons, those 2 seasons in my opinion were top notch and one of the few series that had a good plot and good performance..Do not ruin it..