'The Man in the High Castle' Recap: 'The Road Less Traveled'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As the second season of The Man in the High Castle continues along, it's clear now that there's a different vibe surrounding this show. While season one served as a year filled with discovery and horrific wonder at a world where America was ruled by two alternate superpowers, the second season has become a beacon for desperation. There's a grave new threat growing behind the scenes minute by minute and that is beginning to hang over this series in a good way because it made 'The Road Less Traveled' an absolutely intense story that saw one character after another make powerful discoveries and bold decisions. 

Case in point, let's start with Frank. It's safe to assume that all of us were wondering exactly what would come from his admission to the lawyer that the jewelry purchased from Childan was an absolute fake and well...this was apparently all part of one wild and master plan in Frank's mind to free Ed. By admitting said jewelry was a fake, he was able to garner the attention of the Yakuza, who now see the potential to make some serious money by working with Frank and by offering up his forgery services...the Yakuza were able to call in that favor the Kempaitai owed them regarding the information they provided to Kido that led to the discovery of the real assassin late last season and well...Frank's daring and foolish gambit paid off in spades because Ed was released, and while it was wonderful to see Ed not suffer a horrible fate, there's a fair chance that Frank more or less made a deal with the devil that will come back to haunt him.

Speaking of dangerous deals, what this season is doing thus far with John Smith and Joe Blake is a stroke of genius since well...it seems that in many ways both men are finding themselves a touch disillusioned with the Reich. Joe's disdain for the great empire is far more obvious since he is doing anything and everything he can to avoid working for the Nazis, going as far as to return to his everyman job in construction before spending his evenings working to build an 'Americana' life by coming home to Rita and Buddy every night and while he spent this episode trying to find some semblance of normalcy, John Smith was reeling from his trip to Berlin, and the fact that there was no hero's welcome for his efforts to save the Reich. Just a request from the Führer to find the Man in the High Castle post haste. The lack of appreciation clearly rattled him, but Smith believes he serves a higher cause, that he is meant for something more and he's working to give that same sense of purpose to Joe by sending him to Berlin to meet his father at last...

But while all these moments were fascinating to watch, the centerpiece of the story revolved around Juliana and the discovery she made...the true identity of the mystery man from the films. The face that she could barely remember, belongs to a man named George Dixon and he has some incredible ties to her family. For starters he was her father's best friend back in the day and after her dad died...George provided comfort and intimacy to Juliana's mom, making him Trudy's real father. But more importantly, Juliana was able to discover that he lived in New York City; Brooklyn to be exact which means in order to save the city and millions of people, she would need to make her way to the Big Apple, and with the Resistance still hot on her tail and without any allies left in the city, Juliana made one bold move and surrendered herself at the Nazi Embassy in San Francisco, claiming that she worked with Joe Blake and that she was seeking asylum...

The more time I've had to process this episode, the more I find myself appreciating it for one simple reason...this was in many ways a filler episode, designed to flesh out the all important plot points introduced in the season premiere. Which means that when you look at it all, despite the fact that we learned about George and that Juliana made a bold move to request asylum...the plot really didn't advance a heck of a whole lot...but it certainly didn't feel that way. By tossing in some awesome action and adventure and putting the threat of nuclear war over our heads...this story suddenly came to life and left me dying to know what happens next. Because it's clear now that Juliana is hell bent on finding Dixon and it's almost a foregone conclusion that by dropping Joe's name into the mix she will no doubt find her way to New York and do whatever it takes to save the day. Until next time.

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