‘The Man in the High Castle’ Recap: ‘Baku’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

I have to fully admit, that I was a touch nervous when I settled in to watch the next episode of The Man in the High Castle, because something in my gut told me that the penultimate episode of season three, ‘Baku’, was going to build upon the darkness that permeated the prior tale and well, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the feeling in my gut was one-hundred percent right and my nerves were justified since this turned out to be one stunning and unsettling tale. One that took the sense of danger that lurked behind the story in the last episode to a whole new level by bringing the threat of war back to the forefront of the series.
 
Yet, how it accomplished that was done in the most fascinating of fashion. Because rather than provide us with traditional moments, the kind that see troops mobilize and threats be exchanged, a simple phone call from Trade Minister Tagomi to John Smith solidified the danger at hand because Tagomi proposed a quiet meeting in the Neutral Zone between the two men to hash out the problems facing the GNR and the JPS and while Himmler saw this as a great intelligence opportunity, Smith took this situation quite seriously and provided Tagomi with great respect and the desperation and worry on both of their faces during this meeting, spoke volumes to the threat now looming over both nations.
 
Plus, Juliana’s story only added to the tension since she and Wyatt were able to inspire others to join her cause in Chicago, and eventually, her tiny army, one that featured a few familiar faces from another life, assembled in Pennsylvania, wherein they were able to learn what they are up against at the facility and they came to realize just how dangerous this mission is going to be when they make their move to destroy the dimensional gate and well, the sheer danger present in this part of the story, and the buildup over the fact that Juliana is ready to make her final assault is what made this part of the story so incredibly tense since it did a fine job of setting everything up for the finale and well, the stakes are high are to say the least since the multiverse is at risk here.
 
But, the darkest story in this tale belongs to Frank Frink, who was able to express his beautiful artwork all over key places in the Neutral Zone before disaster struck. Because Kido found out Frank was back in Denver, and he and his lackey were able to corner Frank and bring him to the former site of the Manzanar Internment Camp, wherein it seemed as though Kido and Frank were making peace between one another as they both spoke to their mistakes from last season, and their motivations. But in the end, all Kido wanted was to have an honest discussion with his enemy, and look him in the eye before putting him down and in a stunning moment, we saw Frank’s life finally come to an end at Kido’s hands…
 
So, yeah. I didn’t think it was possible for season three to get darker but here we are, with another character wiped from the face of the story, and the Man in the High Castle in peril since John Smith was able to track him down in the Neutral Zone. And when all is said and done, I find it fascinating that nothing was resolved in this particular tale outside of perhaps Frank’s story. Because the threat of war still looms large, we’ve no idea if Juliana’s plan is going to work and well, that kind of uncertainty is pure genius since we simply don’t know who will survive what will likely be a powerhouse season finale and well, rather than provide conjecture, it’s best to just suck it up and see how it ends, which means it’s time for me to settle in and watch the season three finale and discuss it with you all a little later on. Until next time.

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