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

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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I’ve spent a lot of time as of late in my recaps of The Man in the High Castle pondering upon the fact that this series really has changed in its tone and design, since season three has started off in such slow and methodical fashion, and that I’ve been quite curious as to when the story was planning to kick into overdrive and well, I kind of, sort of got the answer to my question. Because episode four of this season, ‘Sabra’, seems to be a bit of a turning point for this saga, since this particular tale does start to move things forward in bold fashion, but not in the manner that one might normally expect.
 
Because there were no earth-shattering moments to be found in this one, just…a hovering tension that permeated the entire fabric this episode, and grew as the story chugged along and really, much of came about from the reintroduction of Frank. Who we learned is alive and mostly well and living in a Jewish community hidden away in the Neutral Zone and this badly burned resistance fighter has changed his stance on violence, instead opting now to inspire change through art and he is the man who drew the symbol that we’ve seen popping up all over the Pacific States, and while his newfound perspective on violence didn’t exactly cause the tension in question, his art has certainly taken on new life and brought forth some serious unease and change back home.
 
After all, people are starting to march in the streets now for the supplies they desperately need from the Reich and well, the folks we saw protesting here, used that symbol as their unifying rally cry and despite the fact that their protest was broken up in violent and horrifying fashion, that symbol rattled Kido when he saw it once again and it is fascinating to see people in the Pacific States make the effort to risk it all in this fashion and the desire to resist and be free seems to be going from a simmer to a light boil. But while all of this, and Smith’s continued cat and mouse game in New York, were fascinating in their own right, the centerpiece of this tale was Joe’s journey to say the least.
 
For our newfound spy continued his assassination run, this time going after GNR defector Howard Wexler. But his mission here didn’t just involve bloodshed, Wexler was in possession of some fascinating plans, ones that if I had to guess, are related to the Reich’s desire to visit other dimensions, which is scary in its own right. But really, what matters more here is that this episode more or less confirmed that Joe is a lost soul at this point, one dedicated to the Reich and nothing more, because Joe finally made his move on Tagomi in this episode, following him in the dead of night and well, the way this one ends, leaves us wondering as to whether or not we will be saying goodbye to the Trade Minister in the opening moments of the next tale.
 
Either way, I like the fact that the series started to ramp things up in this tale, and honestly, if I had to guess, I would venture to say that this particular tale serves as the grand setup to something more, as if the series is poised to make quite the jump in the next couple of episodes to blast this plot wide open and well, I am still hooked. Because this episode, and every single one that came before it, have done a phenomenal job of weaving together a beautiful tapestry and I simply have to know more. So, on that note, I’m diving back in to see if the next chapter in this tale, is going to be the moment when everything starts moving at a breakneck pace. Until next time.   

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