‘The Man in the High Castle’ Recap: ‘Imagine Manchuria’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​One of the many reasons that I fell in love with Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, is its incredible pacing when it comes to storytelling. It always seems to know how to properly ebb and flow between action and exposition and considering how low key and chill the season three premiere of this series turned out to be, I was fully expecting the next episode in this grand and sweeping tale, ‘Imagine Manchuria’, to provide us with something a little more fast paced. So, imagine my surprise when I came to discover another relaxed episode, that focused heavily on character development and getting us up to speed on where everyone is at, months after the powerhouse season two finale.
 
Granted, I should add a caveat, in that, this kind of slow pacing isn’t a bad thing by any means, just…unexpected for a series that’s always building toward something more, which means I get the funny feeling this season is going to be pushing toward just that as the season rolls on. But until that point, we are going to be treated to this slow burning approach and well, that allowed for us to see that Ed and Childan are alive and well and thriving in the Neutral Zone as they waited for things to cool off in San Francisco. Plus, this slower approach also helped us to see that there might be something wrong with Joe after all since he was oddly detached upon his arrival in San Francisco, and oddly comfortable with the orders that came his way. 
 
But while I get the feeling there will be more to discuss and see when it comes to Joe’s story in the coming days, Juliana and John Smith really took the center stage in this particular tale since Juliana once again found herself in hot water with the Kempaitai since Kido was able to arrest her, and Trudy…again, putting Kido on a collision course with Admiralty since Tagomi made a point to intervene and have the sisters released into his custody and well, Kido’s confusion and surprise over Trudy’s return may lead to trouble down the line since he’s now taken an interest in the Trade Minister as well, and matters will no doubt be complicated further by the fact that Trudy was finally able to travel back to her home universe. 
 
However, while the stage was being set in San Francisco, John Smith dealt with more complications in New York when it comes to Hoover and Rockwell since both of these men were operating without John’s knowledge when it comes to the hunt for Abernathy and of course their shady plan to discredit Smith in the papers was slowly coming to fruition and all of this was motivated out of the fear that Smith was being groomed to replace Rockwell as Reichsmarshall. But John isn’t one to lie down and let people push him around, and he put plans in motion to ensure that further problems with these two men will be headed off at the pass. But unfortunately for John, keeping control over the controversies brewing around his family won’t be an easy task, especially when one considers that Helen managed to kill Adler’s widow during a brief confrontation at the Adler estate.
 
In the end however, I have to admit that this continued slow burn approach when it comes to the story is actually quite compelling. After all, it’s the little things that matter and every single moment here feels as though it really is laying the foundation for greater moments and well, I’m thoroughly enjoying this new and improved storytelling design for the series and I have to know more as to what exactly comes next, especially in regard to the matter involving John’s wife because her grief and her anger are clearly out of control and that’s not an insult, because she has every right to grieve, it’s more so…is there any way she can find a balance in a nation that expects is citizens to be strong at every waking moment? Time will tell of course, but rather than wait too long to find out, I think it’s high time to settle in and watch the next chapter of this harrowing tale…

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