The Man in the High Castle

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Season 2
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 2 out of 10
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Critic Reviews

  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Dec 14, 2016
    30
    The show just doesn’t take off. The plots are overly elaborate, the supernatural element is distracting, and, worst of all, the acting isn’t very good. ... A perfect opportunity for timely, mind-bending TV squandered.
  2. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Emily VanDerWerff
    Dec 19, 2016
    20
    It’s the worst TV show of 2016. ... By the end of its second season, The Man in the High Castle has essentially abandoned everything fascinating about its first season in favor of a junky sci-fi drama with reality-hopping characters and a bunch of caricature Nazi bad guys.

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Most Discussed TV Season of 2016

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 125 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 125
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 125
  3. Negative: 17 out of 125
  1. samidabull
    Dec 17, 2016
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. First off, the dialogue was so clique and generic, that i spent about half of each episode just finishing the character's sentences. It was so bad that for a minute I thought that maybe I was missing the whole point and that this was actually an amazingly clever satire of bad tv. (spoiler alert...it's not) What a steaming pile of crap. The whole plot line of the mysterious films and the man in the high castle himself are just gone. All the main characters have been shipped off to the four corners of the world so they have no possibility of ever interacting with one another again, and instead of one main show, we now have many different little, tiny shows that are all independent of each other with no connection whatsoever. The only reason Season One stayed interesting is because as a collective whole, the character's intertwining stories kept the stakes high enough, but these characters aren't strong enough or developed enough to each merit their own story line. This simply was creative suicide. Not to mention that the story lines have turned to soap opera. I see that the writers wanted to switch from a plot-driven story to a character-driven story but it doesn't work when your characters are cardboard cutout caricatures because we have nothing invested in them individualy. The only thing I cared about what how they were driving the plot towards the films and the man in the high castle, and that's just gone. We watch Joe Blake throw a season long tantrum because of daddy abandonment issues, Juliana trying to blend in in the suburbs by living a banal suburb lifestyle, the Trade Minister who crosses into another dimension and the only thing he's concerned about is stopping his wife from divorcing him, and frank frink who's the only story line with any excitement except there's nothing to like about the character at all, so who cares what happens to him. Honestly, who cares what happens to any of them at this point. I can't believe some genius thought that these characters were strong enough to each merit their own story line, as if we're really sitting at the edge of our seat while we watch Joe Blake spend SEVEN episodes pouting because his daddy is rich and powerful and wants to hand him the keys to the kingdom. The worst thing (no, it's all the worst thing actually) is that each episode is a series of cuts from one story line to the next, but it makes no sense because nothing that happens in each story line affects the other. So why is this happening at all? Does no one care anymore how the films were actually made, or how they could actually exist? I realize I'm starting to repeat myself and really am just venting at this point, but this is the biggest disappointment of any second season I've ever seen.… Full Review »
  2. Fairfis
    Dec 18, 2016
    10
    Smart, deep and engaging. Not to mention well filmed. A masterpiece. While some characters may feel a bit shallow (Joe Black, I'm looking atSmart, deep and engaging. Not to mention well filmed. A masterpiece. While some characters may feel a bit shallow (Joe Black, I'm looking at you) the main protagonists are multifaceted and undergo impressive development.… Full Review »
  3. dam1730
    Dec 29, 2016
    10
    After browsing the professional reviews of this show, what I see is a consistent theme: ranting about race and so-called "promotion" ofAfter browsing the professional reviews of this show, what I see is a consistent theme: ranting about race and so-called "promotion" of Nazism. First of all, the races shown in the show are a product of the story. One would expect a Nazi Reich to be all white, non-handicapped people, as everyone else would be promptly killed. There is no promotion of Nazism in this show. What this show illustrates is that all of us are capable of both good and evil, and even Americans can fall into evil if the conditions change. I believe that reviews of this show have been tied to feelings about the election in the United States. It seems that professional critics are expecting this show to somehow denounce the Trump presidency in some way, when obviously it is not intended to do so, nor could it do so considering that the filming obviously did not take place in the month after the election took place (facepalm, duh, stupid professional critics).

    What some reviewers don't seem to get is that this is a strange genre fusion of historical fiction and science fiction. I find it interesting that Westworld (which I enjoyed), which suffers from Lost syndrome, has gotten such high review scores, while High Castle gets knocked for becoming less real. Like another one of the best shows on television, The Americans, High Castle makes the viewer sympathize with characters that you normally wouldn't: members of the Japanese Occupation, children and family of Nazi leaders, etc. If a show can bring humanity to people who we would normally look at as fully evil, it is doing something right.

    Real score: 8/10
    Score I'll give to make up for idiots: 10/10    … Full Review »
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