The Man in the High Castle — Series 1 — Episodes 9 and 10: Kindness and A Way Out

14th August, 2017.

Oh, I hate that when that happens …

You get a phone call … from a withheld number!

And right in the middle of things!

I’m JUST wondering if it was work: calling me in to say I’d misread my rota.

Or possibly regular contributor, Debbi Mack: who I know’s been meaning to try and call for a while.

Blowed if I know!

They withheld their number!

Don’t you just hate that … ?

There’s a couple of upsides, though.

Firstly?

If it wasn’t Debbi or work, it could WELL have some bloody idiot in a call centre, somewhere.

Trying to sell me a boiler.   Or help me with a PPI claim.   Or tell you their records show my PC is working slowly.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that me and the several Macs I’ve had AREN’T going to fall for that one!

The other upside … ?

Was that it didn’t spoil my evening.

Not with the last two episodes of series one of The Man in the High Castle involved it didn’t … 

~≈£≈~

Episode 9 — Kindness — sees time running our for a desperate Frank (Rupert Evans): determined to get on the bus bound for the Neutral Zone, he’s called back into the San Francisco by Juliana (Alexa Davalos).

Juliana?   Has a problem only Frank can solve.

She needs the ¥50, 000 Frank has … in order to get Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank), AND the most recent High Castle film, free of the Yakuza … 

Only for things to go astray … when, without Joe’s knowledge, Frank And Juliana watch the film …

Episode 10 — A Way Out — shows us Inspector Kido (Joel de la Fuente) catching up with the Nazi sniper who tried to kill the Crown Prince.

And, once the sniper is safely dead?   Visiting Trade Minister Tagomi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) to track down their records or Yakuza heroin smuggling.

AND managing to avoid committing seppuku: once Frank’s working gun is found.

Obergruppenführer Smith, however, is in trouble.   He’s been invited on a hunting trip by Reinhard Heydrich* (Ray Proscia): only to find Heydrich … 

Has plans to assassinate the Führer, himself … 

~≈£≈~

Now … 

I’ve called this first series, good, and involving, before now.

Am I right to do so?

I believe I am.

For the past few weeks, the quality of the acting, writing, design work, have kept me engrossed.

The acting in particular, actually: it strikes me the cast have an edge or two on their rivals in American Horror Show, and The Strain.

Right now?   I’m planning to watch something different on my next free night.


I do know Debbi, herself, runs a B-movie group on Facebook: and a change in pace may prove good.


But, as I’ve got access to series two of The Man in the High Castle?

I’m sorely tempted to catch that … 

*        The historical Heydrich?   Was one of the main organisers of the Holocaust: and organised the notorious Wannsee Conference that laid down the Holocaust’s operation.