What I’m Watching: The Man in the High Castle (Season Premiere)

The Man in the High Castle: Season 2, Episode 1 “The Tiger’s Cave” (B-)

I’ve always wanted to like this show a lot more than I have, since I think it has unmeasurable potential to be great but hasn’t lived up to that in any way so far. Part of that has to do with its two protagonists being relatively unengaging people, and this opening installment didn’t help that at all. For the entirety of the episode, Julianna was closer to answers than she’s ever been but squandered the opportunity, instead revealing just how little she knew and ended up nearly getting taken out before escaping from a car trunk into what should be the definition of enemy territory. I still can’t grasp what’s going on here with these films and what the Trade Minister experienced when he closed his eyes and woke up in a different dimension, but I do like the casting of the reliable Stephen Root, whose credits span from “Office Space” to “True Blood,” as Abendsen, who seems to be the closest thing to that figure that we’re going to get for the moment, exempting Lem, of course. And then we have Frank, who is determined to make things right in some way and is going about that in a very brash way, bringing along a character I really don’t like, Robert, who it now seems will be taking on a much more significant role in the show’s plot. I’m much more intrigued by Smith and his visit to see Hitler, who is quite worried about the films and their continued existence. I’m hopeful that this show improves its excitement level and general storytelling over the next few episodes, since I’m not sure I’ll be able to stick with it much longer otherwise.