‘The Man in the High Castle’ Recap: ‘Mauvaise Foi’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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There comes a point in all of our lives, wherein we face quite the reckoning. This is that moment when every rough and poor choice we’ve ever made, comes to the forefront of our minds and we are forced to face them for various reasons. It could be to reconcile the loss of a loved one since our poor choices could have robbed us of the opportunity to say goodbye, or it could be related to the fact that we’ve never dealt with these choices in the first place, and the universe will no longer allow for us to bury and run from them. But what matters the most in regard to this particular moment; is how we respond to the powerful reflection that has been presented to us. And this is on my mind today, simply due to the fact that it serves as the focal theme of the next episode of The Man in the High Castle.
 
For ‘Mauvaise Foi’ forced John Smith to look at the life he’s lived to this point and reconcile some of the bad choices he’s made. But before we dive too deeply into that, we do need to take a moment and discuss another powerful plotline present in this tale. Because that secretive meeting between the BCR and the JPS took place in this episode and it was… an unmitigated disaster. Not because the Admiral and Hampton didn’t get along, but because of influence from interested parties. Because the order to follow the Admiral closely, made him appear to be a traitor to Inspector Kido, and having the enemy this close to a member of the Imperial Navy was too good an opportunity to pass up for the Kempeitai and they were quick to assassinate Hampton and arrest the Admiral for treason. Leaving this entire situation in a terrible place since some in the Empire are clearly interested in keeping war alive, and the BCR is now without any hint of senior leadership.
 
But while things went astray in San Francisco, John Smith was getting a taste of the good life in Virginia. Because an alternate Helen was happy to see him and filled with passion for her husband, and Thomas was alive and well and for a brief moment there, it seemed as though John was finally finding peace and unlocking the best parts of himself that he locked away as a member of the Reich. But it didn’t take long for the reckoning in question to come into play. For the arrival of an old friend from the service, immediately forced John to reflect on those early days after the fall of the United States. Wherein he was quick to join ranks in order to feed his family and keep his friends, safe. Well, most of his friends, since this particular pal was Jewish, and John let the Reich take him away to a concentration camp rather than try and save his life.
 
Which was a chilling moment to see for certain, since it spoke to how quickly people adapted to this new life in the hopes of eating a meal once again and really, the hope here was that John would see the error of his ways and the reckoning would take hold. But alas, John exposed his cowardice once again, and doubled down on his past decisions as the only correct way and ruined a dead man’s life in the process. For he alienated his alternate son and pushed Thomas into the Marine Corps by offering him a cold view of the world, the view of a Reichsmarschall in fact, and his inability to handle interpersonal relationships anymore put him on the outs with Helen. And while one should feel pity for the man after something such as this, I think all we can feel at this point, is satisfaction that this visit rattled John, because he outright deserved this.
 
After all, he’s had opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing and set the world on a better path. But time and time again he falls back into what he knows best and it’s cost him so much and it’s about time he finally felt a little pain and a little fear over having things not go his way, and it should be interesting to see what impact this little visit to our world will have on John in the weeks to come. And speaking of the future, the loss of the BCR’s top boss also has me worried for the movement. Because an organization with a lack of leadership at the top could lead to disaster as cells do their own thing or disband out of fear and well, kudos to this episode when all is said and one. For it was powerful and devastating and perfectly in line with what this season is trying to accomplish and well, I am quite curious as to what the fallout is going to be from all of this. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to head back to my couch and my Xbox so I can see where this ugly story is headed. Until next time.

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