‘The Man in the High Castle’ Recap: ‘Now More Than Ever, We Care About You’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​Few shows have piqued my curiosity like The Man in the High Castle, simply because it is such a different and dynamic series when compared to just about everything else on television. It’s bold, since it shows us a terrifying world in every sense of the word and its chilling setting has made for plenty of uncomfortable and squirmy moments, but I have to admit that after season two, I was quite curious as to where exactly this series this was headed. Because the danger that was present between the Greater Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States was resolved at last, meaning that an uneasy peace was coming to this world which seemed odd for a story that was grounded in conflict from the get go.
 
Which means that the series three premiere, ‘Now More Than Ever, We Care About You’, was quite the different affair. One where we saw a fair majority of the characters settling in to everyday life once again. Juliana was living in the Neutral Zone with her alternate sister and scraping by like always. John Smith was enjoying his new promotion and all the lavish benefits that come with it, despite the fact that his home seemed a touch empty without his son present and really, the only person seemingly in conflict was Joe, who was tasked with a tough request from the Reich in this opening tale since it was either put down his father as penance for the coup d’etat that almost happened last season, or face his own certain death. 
 
So, suffice it to say, it was supremely off putting and odd to see the people in this world return to a sense of normalcy and well, I was quite curious if this was going to be the new norm for the saga. But thankfully, this was all a painful and unsettling ruse, for there is still conflict brewing everywhere and it would seem this fragile peace is going to shatter at some point or another, and things eventually became uneasy for the characters as the story rolled on. For Juliana, her conflict and respective struggles came about when unique assassins (later revealed to be Lebensborn) tried to get to her and Abertnathy in the Neutral Zone, putting her on the run and on a collision course to meet with Trade Minister Tagomi to learn more about her fate in this world and other dimensions.
 
It would also seem that trouble is brewing in the Reich as well since John Smith’s idyllic lifestyle is about to move from a simmer to a boil since there are others in the Reich who seemingly are jealous and untrusting of John, to the point where they are looking for ways to discredit the hero of the Reich and plans are being set in motion to make him look like quite the fool, something that will push his loyalty to the Reich to the limit, no doubt. Plus, Joe it would seem, has finally had enough of his past and the Reich altogether. Because despite going along with his superiors’ plans, Joe made quite the bold decision to put down Smith’s right-hand man before fading into the night and really, it seems as though a genuine resistance to everything these two nations stand for is rising.
 
Which quite frankly, is not a bad thing. Because it’s been two years of uncomfortable visuals when it comes to how the GNR and JPS operate and for some time now, I think we’ve all been dying to see someone stick it to the Nazis and the Empire. Which means that the question before us now, is how exactly that resistance will come together. Because what existed before was grounded in vengeance over freedom and that’s why it wasn’t effective, but here, it would seem the three key characters we just discussed might be the key to destabilizing everything, and it really does seem as though this was the grand setup to give this trio the opportunity to do the right thing at last and it should be interesting to see if they rise to the occasion. Until next time.  

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