The Man in the High Castle’s pilot debuted in January, 2015 and became Amazon’s “most watched pilot” since the inception of its original series development programme. This success tasked Amazon and the show-runners with the responsibility of living up to an immense amount of expectations when the whole season was released later. The entire first season of The Man in the High Castle was made available to viewers on November 20th, 2015. While TMITHC is not flawless, its thrilling story and alternate-universe setting still makes for a great watch.
Loosely based on the novel of the same name written by Philip K.Dick, The Man in the High Castle is set in an alternate-timeline USA where the Axis powers have won the Second World War. The story revolves around Julia Crain(AlexaDavalos), Frank Frink(Rupert Evans), and Joe Blake(Luke Kleintank) who get caught up in a resistance against the Nazi-Japanese rule. While Joe seeks out the resistance by himself, Julia gets involved after her half-sister, Trudy, is killed by the Japanese Kempeitai. Before her death, Trudy gives a film-reel to Julia that shows footage of America defeating Japan and Germany in the war. Julia sets out with the film to continue her sister’s mission and seek out the titular “Man in the High Castle” who supposedly collects similar films. TMITHC’s plot follows the trio and several other major characters whose lives are affected by the resistance and knowledge of these films.
The Man in the High Castle’s best qualities are its engrossing plot and setting. The pilot episode does not waste much time in making the viewer comfortable with the show and quickly introduces all the main characters and plot-points. There are hardly any filler episodes in the show. Every episode follows a few different plot-lines involving different characters that all form a part of the main plot and somehow manages to end with a strong cliffhanger, causing the viewer to jump right into the next episode. The most captivating aspect about TMITHC is the show’s setting. America in the 1960s ruled by the Nazis and Japanese makes for an intriguing backdrop. There are several instances in the show that depict how oppressive this regime would have been and the resultant hardships faced by the people. However, TMITHC fails in immersing the viewer into this setting, perhaps because the poor visual effects. Nonetheless, the show’s ambience is guaranteed to keep viewers hooked.
On the downside are TMITHC’s character arcs, performances, and pacing. Most of the characters in TMITHC are one-dimensional and do not have an interesting arc or detailed character development. This shortcoming meddled with the show’s pace as it wasn’t able to stay consistent in its pacing. This lack of attention to characters caused the show to lose its initial momentum after the first four episodes (episode 4 being one of the best) and did not recover it until episode nine. Frank Fink was the only character who got an arc that was relevant to the story and stayed interesting at the same time; followed by the dedicated Nazi officer, John Smith (Rufus Sewell), and the Japanese trade minister NobusukeTagomi(Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). Although, Julia and Joe are the characters through whom the plot primarily progresses, neither of them received any decent character development. The actors who played them were also subpar at best.
While the entire cast did justice to their respective characters, there were no performances in the show the show that stood out enough to be memorable. Amongst the main cast, Rupert Evans delivered the best performance as he successfully brought life to Frank’s tragic, eventful story. Despite being a supporting character, Rufus Sewell’s performance as Obergruppenführer John Smith was the finest one in the show. Sewell terrifically portrayed Smith’s character, one whose sense of morality is conflicted at times and is invariably 
indulged in his work and family. Another issue in The Man in the High Castle was the lines that often came off as sleazy, but this problem was rectified by the writers in the later episodes.
One of the best things about The Man in the High Castle is its background music composed by Henry Jackman and Dominic Lewis. It managed to capture the entire feel of the show and its setting. The plot’s intensity and drama resonated with the music and somehow it expresses the atmosphere of the Nazi-Japanese America more clearly than the visuals do. James Hawkinson’s cinematography is also commendable as it made the alternate-dystopia look even graver. Basically, it is the music along with the cinematography that lends its tone to The Man in the High Castle.
Although The Man in the High Castle is not perfect and has its shortcomings, these faults do not mean that this show should be ignored. On the contrary, The Man in the High Castle is an excellent drama that offers an impressive plot and a fair deal of twists and surprises along with decent action. Hopefully, the show’s minor shortcomings will have been dealt with when season 2 comes out in 2016. All facts considered,The Man in the High Castle will be a great watch for anyone who is looking for a new drama to watch.
Score – 8.2/10
(Written by Nisanth Suresh)
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