The Man In The High Castle Episode 1 Review: A Frightening Look At A Difference WWII Outcome

"The Man In The High Castle" is currently available on Amazon Prime (along with several other pilots). Viewers can vote on which deserves to have a full season. "High Castle" (as I will call it here for brevity's sake) is based on a book by Phillip K. Dick. Other movies based on his novels/short stories include; "Bladerunner", "Total Recall", "Minority Report", etc. In this version of history, the Allies lost WWII because the Axis built the bomb first and nuked Washington DC.

An Alternate United States Of America

In the opening credits we hear Edelweiss as see a US map showing the West is governed by the Japanese and the east by the Germans. Various American landmarks such as Mount Rushmore and the Statue or Liberty are also shown. This is Axis propaganda but also lets the viewer know what world we are just entering..

Just Seeing These Uniforms Gives Me The Creeps

The year is 1962. We meet a man in New York City (which is part o the Greater Nazi Reich). Joe Blake wants to join the resistance and barely escapes capture during his first mission. He is to drive a truck of coffee makers (and we dont know what else) to Canon City, Colorado. He later finds a film hidden under the truck.

Next Julianna is practicing Aikido in San Francisco (which is in the Japanese Pacific States). She briefly encounters her sister Trudy who is acting strangely. Trudy approaches Julianna several days later in the street and hands her something saying it's "a way out". Then Trudy is promptly shot dead.

Good Thing Julianna Had A Projector

The mysterious item is a news reel labeled "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy". It shows the Allies (instead of the Axis) winning WWII. She emotionally watches the movie over and over again. Frank says its "The Man in the High Castle". Apparently a person (or persons) makes these movies to rouse the resistance. Possessing such films is considered an act of treason. Frank wants Jules to go to the police. Instead she takes the reel (and included bus ticket) and leaves town.

On the bus Jules meets a woman named Penny. They are on their way to the neutral zone . It's a very large region between Japanese and Nazi territory. Penny later steals all of Julianna's belongings. Bad Penny!

Mr Tagomi and Mr Wegener

Officials in both governments discuss the fuhrer's ailing health. He has Parkinsons and may die soon. When he does, that will leave a power vacuum in the German ranks. His successor may be even more fanatical and drop a bomb/bombs on the Japanese. Several people on both sides secretly work to change the outcome.

The Most Disturbing Scene In The Pilot

Joe's truck has a blowout on the side of the road. A nice police officer helps him change it. Joe sees what looks like ashes floating through the air and asks what it is. The cops says "Oh its the hospital...Tuesdays they burn cripples, the terminally, ya know dregs on the state". Oh dear.

Just Two Kids Enjoying An Orange Soda

Jules arrives in Canon City but has no money for her meal. Joe volunteers to pay for her. She tells him her name is Trudy (instead of Julianna). They begin to chat. He will give her a ride. Elsewhere we see the resistance fighter that Joe first met being tortured and killed. They know about Joe (but he doesnt now what has happened). We also see Frank has been beaten and arrested. He of course knows Julianna has the tape but doesnt now where she is. Being innocent wont save him (or anyone else).

Time Square In The Greater Nazi Reich

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). I just learned that "High Castle" has been green lighted for a full season which is great news before this episode was EXCELLENT. I thought it was perfect in every way-- from the opening credits (very effective), to the acting, to the cinematography, to the compelling story, to the attention to detail (just as the Nazi swastika on the pay phone booths). If done correctly, this could be another big hit for Amazon (at least with the alt history/sci fi crowd).

Disclaimer: I did not read the Phillip Dick novel so I cant compare it to the source material. However, the most frightening thing about the pilot to me was the relative calm lives of the average citizens. There is no mass hysteria in the streets. The war has been over some 20 years. But underneath this calm exterior we see the horrors that exist. Joe's contact is brutally tortured and killed. Frank is beaten and imprisoned. And most frightening is the calm way the highway patrolman tells Joe that the ashes floating through the air are from people being killed every Tuesday at the hospital. Who knows what other horrors exist in this world that we havent seen yet.

There are also a number of familiar faces among the cast: Alexa Davalos (Julianna) was Kyra in "The Riddick Chronicles", DJ Qualls is Citizen Z on "Z Nation", and Joel de la Fuente is Dr Johann Pryce on "Hemlock Grove" (to name only a few).