The Man in the High Castle season 3 review: sci-fi mayhem abounds – but the Smiths still steal the show *Spoilers for The Man in the High Castle seasons 1-2* Multi-stranded, ensemble dramas have become a popular feature of the […]

*Spoilers for The Man in the High Castle seasons 1-2*

Multi-stranded, ensemble dramas have become a popular feature of the modern TV landscape. But when a TV show returns after a lengthy period of time, catching back up with its various players and plots can take some getting your head around.

And that’s before you even throw parallel realities, and ‘travellers’ between those realities, into the equation.

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In its more sci-fi orientated third season, alternative history thriller The Man in the High Castle starts to push deeper into the inter-dimensional promise of its core concept, and Philip K Dick’s source novel, in a way that raises interesting possibilities – while also understandably creating a certain degree of narrative mayhem.

Even the show starts to poke fun at the head-spinning concept of hanging out with your sister from another reality, when she’s dead in yours and you murdered her father in this one (are you with us so far?).

No wonder Amazon released a fully half-hour long recap to help get viewers back up to speed. But fortunately, there are several core stories and characters that rapidly ground things. And one absolutely riveting story in particular.

A couple in crisis

For various reasons, Rufus Sewell’s calculating American SS chief John Smith has arguably become the drama’s most engrossing presence. And as we re-join a 1960s world where the Nazi Reich reigns over much of the US, the conflicted turmoil of John and his wife Helen (equally excellently portrayed by Chelah Horsdal) once again steals the show.

John now has a slightly beefed up version of that memorable officer’s title to his name, after becoming a ‘hero’ of the Reich last time around. But all the salutes, money and power in the world cannot un-do the fate that (voluntarily) befell his beloved son Thomas at the end of season two.

The Smiths’ new surroundings directly reflect Helen and John’s more hollow, empty mental state. They have dutifully exchanged their cosy suburban home for a lavish but cold penthouse apartment. Ostensibly, they have moved up in the world. But Helen finds herself drawn back to the house they left behind – and the window of her departed child’s bedroom.

The son they fought so desperately to protect, meanwhile, is now a martyr to a regime whose ideology they have begun to doubt; a propaganda tool wielded to instill even greater, disturbing indoctrination in America’s youth. Indoctrination that itself compelled Thomas to the course of action he took.

Both Sewell and Horsdal give incredible subtle performances during a pivotal ceremony scene; every facial twitch an explosion of silent suffering and inner emotional agony.

As a bonus, the machinations of a slippery, conniving J Edgar Hoover (hello William Forsythe!), and the smarmy Reischsmarschall Lincoln Rockwell, add even greater intrigue to this sub-plot. You’ll want to keep your eyes on those two.

Resistance, propaganda and a brutal ‘re-education’

Away from this, your mileage with the other key strands may vary.

Juliana Crain is being positioned as a sort of anointed ‘Chosen One’; the common link in every reality’s secret film-reels, increasingly handy at wielding a firearm in the name of the resistance (or at least, a resistance she feels comfortable aligning with), and teaming up with the ever solemn but endearing Trade Minister Tagomi to unravel the mysteries they pose.

Japanese secret police supremo Kido is short-changed on screentime at first, but he remains every bit as interesting as Smith. As he sets about hunting down the rest of those responsible for the HQ bombing, a new half-Japanese, half-White American subordinate lends an interesting aspect to proceedings.

The way in which Kido teases and confronts the man over his mixed heritage, but ultimately gives him a chance to prove himself, sums up the Inspector’s engaging duality. Just as his continued attempts to thwart war between the Empire and the Reich sit alongside the ongoing, bloody civil battle he is waging.

Joe Blake, put through a horrifying 1984-style ‘re-education’ process of psychological and physical torture, is rendered traumatised, haunted and ambiguous. Complicating matters, his charming yet inevitably dangerous sort-of-girlfriend Nicole is now a crucial propaganda agent, keeping the US brainwashers on their toes having jetted over the Atlantic from Berlin.

Not quite Back To The Future yet

At first, we skip between characters, sub-plots and places so swiftly it feels as though we are ourselves tearing into other dimensions at breakneck pace, and it can be confusing, but eventually things start to settle more into focus. And they do so solidly.

As for the sci-fi elements themselves, the opening episodes lay the groundwork for an aspect that will no doubt become more and more vital as the season progresses. But it’s not quite jumping into Back To The Future, Quantum Leap or (God forbid) Cloverfield Paradox style imagery just yet.

The Man in the High Castle remains at its strongest when exploring the difficult, uncomfortable conflicts that exist in a world where authoritarian oppression, overt racial discrimination and violent suppression have become the status quo. When its tensions and moral dilemmas find compelling ambiguity in a struggle that should be black and white.

When the drama is serving up cheesy exchanges in bars with Irish cowboys named Wyatt, things lose their lustre a little. But thanks to some strong performances and effectively nightmarish dystopian world-building, Amazon’s series remains a compelling saga to dive back into yet.

The Man in the High Castle season three is out on Amazon Prime Video now.

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