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

The Man in the High Castle: Season 1, Episode 5 “The New Normal” (B)

This episode’s title is very fitting since its characters are now all back to where they started, and they’re finding that adjusting to the new state of things isn’t too easy. So much for the Marshal pursuing Juliana and Joe sticking with her – now Juliana is back in the Pacific States with Frank, who is not happy to see her at all. Going in to play dumb and pretend that she wasn’t doing anything wrong didn’t work out too well, and I did like how her being questioned was edited together with Joe being grilled and told that he hadn’t even come close to completing his mission. I’m back to a point of feeling that this show’s overarching concept is much greater than its actual characters and plot, and I’m hoping that the next episode will contain a bit more excitement that can move the plot forward than a turncoat Nazi being on the run and Juliana getting a mysterious visitor who sent her to an undercover job that she really shouldn’t take. Frank is in very bad shape, but the consequences of his time spent in Japanese custody continue to have frightening reverberations that underline just how frightening a world this is. With Juliana back on the West Coast and Joe back on the East, it’s becoming harder and harder to have a centralized storyline, and I’m eager to see things come together for a more cohesive and enticing second half of this season, which I’m hopeful will happen.