The Man in the High Castle (TV Series) Hexagram 64 (2019) User Reviews

The way he is taken out is weak

[BruceWayne3 · 6/10 · 28 November 2019]

Tagomi escapes from the Nazi's only to be killed by drive by? He couldn't sense it was coming? But he could sense the guy in the park in season 3??? Come on He was a solid character Hate to see him go.

Confusion reigns

[virtual-93888 · 7/10 · 20 November 2019]

Perhaps it's been too long since the last season but I feel a bit lost. Beloved old characters are killed off pretty randomly and too many new ones have been added. It really reminds me of one of the recent "Star Wars" films. The new characters include members of a black resistance movement that we have never heard of previously and seem to have been added mainly for the Japanese occupiers to demonstrate their extreme racism towards. They seem to have taken the place of Juliana's original triad of friends who were all subjected to Japanese incarceration and torture. There are more than a few scenes of brutality directed at the new characters and, while it does get the point across about the Japanese oppression, it happens very suddenly in the episode, before we really know who the characters are yet. I'd say the plot line is still basically the same, with all of the same parties in conflict, but it just feels out of sync. Juliana has popped up in new universe and appears to have gained immediate new friends and employment. No pause to examine what must have followed after she appeared in the road injured in this new dimension. Her new story seems to be a happy one, finally, and I have to wonder if she's taking a "vacation". Will she go back? I was hoping for a redemption arc for John Smith but it remains to be seen. It's good to see MItHC again, like an old friend, but I am hoping it didn't run out of steam.

More of the same

[rlinsk-786-224562 · 7/10 · 27 November 2019]

The new season opens with just enough intrigue about the characters to hold a viewers' interest, even as the writing and directing remains as flat and wooden as before.

A dull start to the final season

[TheDonaldofDoom · 19 November 2019]

So this episode mainly focuses on introducing new characters and plotlines, and that's okay, but it doesn't do it particularly well. It hasn't made me interested in where it's all going to go. The main problem is that a lot of it feels purposeless. No interesting themes are conveyed, there's very little subtext throughout most of the scenes, and the new characters haven't got much of a thematic purpose. For example, what's the point of the Tagomi murder investigation plot and the new characters it introduces? What ideas is it trying to convey? It feels like it's just... there. With no real reason to exist, other than to set up some plot movements further down the line. And that isn't great writing.

As for John Smith's role, the conflict between him and his wife is pretty bland and uninteresting, because it just seems the most obvious thing for the writers to do. It's obvious this conflict will lead to Smith questioning his loyalties to the Reich. The way it's done it's downright predictable, and just not very engaging.

Juliana's scenes are alright but they're not terribly engaging. Instead of the meditation and vision scene where she sees Tagomi, we could've got an insight into what it's like to be in this alternate reality and the implications it has on her character.

In summary this is too plot-driven, not enough thought given by the writers to how to explore any themes and why they're even making the show. Therefore it just feels bare.

Not a great start to the final season

[ceburaska-64750 · 4/10 · 20 November 2019]

One year time jump...retconned BCR...off screen killing Tagomi...more boring Wyatt...Juliana doing nothing in another universe...none of these were good decisions. It's still the same show, just about, but in a final season there were too many new characters (inc. Kido's son) and some worryingly bad action scenes. Also, Helen's escape gets reversed immediately, again thanks to the time jump. Really, I'm still off by the terribly executed killing of Tagomi in the first minute or so. This should have been done at the end of last season, doing it now just seems cack handed. Good bits? Rufus Sewell is excellent, and the scenes with Kido are fine. I'm hoping that Juliana's universe hop has more meaning than Tagomi's or her sister's, both of which were pretty pointless. Oh, and Wyatt, the most boring character ever, is still here. Urgh, they killed off Joe Blake but kept Wyatt? Praying that it gets better from the next episode.