What I'm Watching: The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle: Season 1, Episode 4 “Revelations” (B)

As this show continues, I'm still intrigued and invested enough to keep watching, but it hasn't yet reached the point of must-see TV that I feel other series have. In a sense, its growth is stilted by the fact that it's supposed to be digested in a short period of time, and therefore its relatively slow pace and character development might perhaps be attributed to its format. Episode three brought us a bounty hunter who seemed like he might become a regular player but would probably be better suited to a short arc that showed how far Joe was willing to go to protect Juliana under the guise of carrying out his mission. It's interesting to see just how easily Joe lets slip his true intentions, or at least what he purports them to be, since it's rarely the truth. He gave up the film footage to Lem so that they wouldn't be executed because he suspected of being a Nazi spy, which he is, and then he threw his Nazi allegiance in the Marshal's face to ensure that his number one mark wouldn't be taken out by the bloodthirsty hitman. The scene with Juliana rushing to start the car and the Marshal slowly walking towards her felt like something out of an old-fashioned thriller, which is very much what this show is designed to be. Frank's insistence on revenge can't lead anywhere good, and locking his friend in the closet after he tried to stop him only led to something bad nearly happening, though what we saw indicates that Frank wasn't the one who pulled the trigger. I imagine we'll know soon enough, though this show is in no rush to provide too much information.