Binge-Worthy with Mary Carnoali: The Man in the High Castle
by Mary Carnoali
Rarely has any title sequence so efficiently captured the overall tone of a television series like the chilling opening to “The Man in the High Castle.” As the Amazon logo fades away, a movie projector rattles to life, casting an eerie glow on familiar, yet unsettling, images: Mount Rushmore, caught in the shadow of falling paratroopers; the Statue of Liberty, her face masked in the contrails of a fighter plane; a map of America, the Third Reich advancing slowly but steadily across the Missouri. All the while, “Edelweiss” plays in the background, its slow and mournful tune in stark contrast to its more hopeful and defiant origin in “The Sound of Music.”
The story is no less bleak. “The Man in the High Castle,” based on the book by Philip K. Dick, takes place in an alternate-reality 1960s America with the Axis powers as the victors of the second World War. Although the political and historical background that the story is built upon is much more complicated, the idea is that America has been broken up into three zones: the Germans in the east, the Japanese in the west and the lawless neutral zone dividing them.
The story opens up with the rumored frailty of the Fuhrer (yes, that one) and the political uncertainty of who will take his place.
The characters of “The Man in the High Castle” are what really sell it. Although the good guys and bad guys are neatly divided before the show even starts (thanks, sixth-grade history class), producers Ridley Scott and Frank Spotnitz waste no time in muddying the waters, until you’re sitting in a dark room asking yourself horrifying questions such as “Is my favorite character a Nazi?” and “Hitler needs to die…right?”
This all comes down to what the show’s main strength really is: backstory. Since the main premise of the show rests on a seemingly in-vain attempt to understand what in the world is going on, the backstory of each character, place and event is fed to you piece by piece, cliffhanger after cliffhanger. So prepare your internet cap, because this is one show that’s almost impossible not to binge.
While this is a great show that’s definitely worth the watch, there are a few places where the acting leaves something to be desired. Juliana Crain played by Alexa Davalos should be an engaging main character who audiences can relate to and root for. Unfortunately, whether it’s the acting, writing or both, Juliana fails to be multi-dimensional when she needs to be, making it difficult to figure out whether you actually like her or not. The better acting is carried in a few characters, such as her boyfriend Frank Frink played by Rupert Evans or (my personal favorite) Obergruppenfuhrer Smith, whose title was created, I’m assuming, by throwing a game of Scrabble into a woodchipper. Played by Rufus Sewell, Smith is everything you want in a cool, classic villain with a little humanity thrown in for good measure. Sewell’s acting sells each dimension of the character in a way that’s often lacking throughout other parts of the show.
Overall, “The Man in the High Castle” was a real success for Amazon’s up-and-coming streaming service, clocking in at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and earning the prestigious-yet-completely-arbitrary Binge-Worthy award for “Most Frustrating Wait Between Pilot and Season Release.” The tone it sets is dark and suspenseful, and any flaws it has can only be improved upon in its second season, which has been announced for Dec. 16 of this year.
Read more Binge-Worthy reviews by Mary Carnoali here.
