'The Man in the High Castle' Recap: 'Travelers'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

One of the more fascinating aspects of The Man in the High Castle is the incredible amount of world building that goes into this show. It's what made season one so appealing to watch, because every single episode gave us incredible insight into the inner workings of the Pacific States and the Greater Nazi Reich, and often times those little tidbits about this disturbing alternate reality served as a lovely escape from the overall dark and powerful story as we pieced together the events that led to the downfall of the United States of America. 

But thus far, season two has managed to shy away from a lot of that alternate historical storytelling and with good reason...there's been some bigger fish to fry. However, clearly the series decided it was high time to return to its roots so to speak, because not only did 'Travelers' slow down the pace storytelling wise...it took us back into the inner workings of the Reich, courtesy of Juliana and Joe's stories respectively with Joe headed to Berlin and Juliana finally arriving in New York City and well...what I personally found fascinating about both of these stories is the strange parallel between the Greater Nazi Reich and the United States of America we know and love because as it turns out...the GNR is also viewed as a beacon, shining bright, where people can find a better way of life.

Case in point, Juliana's encounter with a South American immigrant in NYC. This man spoke of horrors in his home country, the lack of safety within its borders as well and how he and his family were hoping to use some Aryan genealogy in his wife's bloodline to find sanctuary in the GNR and that was just the beginning of the show's attempt to try and paint for us a Norman Rockwell-esque, Americana view of the Greater Nazi Reich, since after John Smith approved her asylum (with plans in mind to get more information out of her about the Man in the High Castle of course), she was handed a new identity for her own safety, shown a sliver of NYC to help her understand how clean and safe the city is under Nazi rule before being handed a brand new apartment to live in.  It was simply stunning to see Juliana enjoy some peace and quiet for a change, and while she tried her best to adjust to it, her story was just the beginning in this strange attempt to show us how wonderful life is under Hitler's rule.

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Because on the other side of the world in Berlin, Joe Blake finally came face to face with his estranged father and well...he was quite the interesting man to meet. He was more or less an aristocrat, one who was proud of the Reich and its forthcoming accomplishments, going so far as to show his son an ambitious project that was going to feed starving people in Africa. However, such deeds did not impress Joe so dear old dad went one step further, inviting his son to his posh estate to hob nob with the Reich's elite and once again demonstrate what a wonderful world the Reich is building. Of course, Joe bought into zero of this, but as this episode continued along...part of me began to wonder why this particular tale was trying so hard to make us love the Reich and respect it.  

But the fact of the matter is...it wasn't. This story was a sound reminder that the Reich is evil and that by plunging us into the conspiracy plot at the end of last year where we in essence rooted for John Smith (and in turn the Reich) to save lives by getting the warmonger Heydrich behind bars...we lost sight of that for a moment and our icy refresher of their evil came by way of Smith's journey this episode where the Doctor who sat on Thomas Smith's diagnosis made a house call to let John know to end his son's life or he would have to file an official report on the matter. That revelation led to some of the most heartbreaking storytelling of the night where we learned exactly what kind of man John Smith truly is as he wrestled with the decision to murder his son for the glory of the Reich and well...it turns out he's a good man after all. He simply couldn't do it and to protect his son and his family and their future...he put down the good doctor instead.

It's a decision that is stunning to say the least because in that moment, John Smith, the man who has always been proud to wear the Swastika on his arm and salute the GNR flag and the Führer and preach to the wonder of the Reich and what it has done for mankind...turned his back on its ideals and its machinations and who knows what consequences and changes in John's attitude will come from this. Either way, this was an outright wonderful episode, one that grew many of the characters in subtle or direct fashion and one that served as a fine reminder that it won't be enough to simply save San Francisco from destruction, that all of mankind still has a greater threat to deal with...the Nazi regime and their fairy tale perspective of the world. Either way, we can only hope that Smith's insurrection in this story leads to bigger and better things for those in need as season two rolls on. Until next time.

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