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The Man in the High Castle — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Setting

The Man in the High Castle is set in 1962 in an alternate history in which the Axis powers have won World War II in 1946 after Giuseppe Zangara assassinates the president-elect of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933. A series of developments follow that include the Germans dropping a nuclear weapon on Washington, D.C. (now renamed "District of Contamination") in late 1945. The Japanese launch a ground invasion of the U.S. West Coast. The American federal government surrenders, though it takes another year for the Axis and their American collaborators to pacify the country. The Germans build concentration camps for the enslavement and eventual extermination of Jewish Americans and African Americans and commit massacres in cities such as Cincinnati.

By 1962, the German Reich extends to Europe and Africa and the Empire of Japan comprises Asia and Oceania, but most of the series is set in the former U.S. and in Germany proper. Adolf Hitler is dictator of this German Reich, and the emperor of Japan rules most of the rest of the world. Although the real-world Axis included Fascist Italy under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, only the Japanese and German factions of the Axis are depicted. There are no Italians in the scenario, nor is Mussolini accounted for, except as an image in one of the mysterious newsreels with the Führer.

Western North America, the "Japanese Pacific States", is occupied by the technologically less advanced Shōwa-era Empire of Japan, which has imposed its hierarchical society on their part of the former United States. The Empire treats non-Japanese as subjects with fewer rights and little prospect of advancement in Imperial society, although some upper-class Japanese are fascinated by pre-war American culture. Japan's trade and science ministers work in the Pacific States' capital, San Francisco, California. The Yakuza wield extensive influence in Japanese America and are largely tolerated by the Kempeitai. In season 4, an organization calling itself the Black Communist Rebellion takes up arms against the Japanese, gaining ground as the Empire's strength wanes.

Eastern and Midwestern North America is a colony controlled by the Greater Nazi Reich (GNR) under an aging Hitler. Headed by a "Reichsmarschall of North America", it is commonly referred to as "Nazi America" or "the American Reich" and its capital is New York City, which survived the war and invasion largely intact. The Nazis continue to hunt minorities and kill the physically and mentally ill. Fictional developments of 1960s technology, such as video phones, live surveillance video (CCTV), and supersonic airliners that were technologically available in the 1960s but never commercially produced, are seen in the series.

Japan and Germany have left the Rocky Mountains to serve as a buffer zone between the Japanese Pacific States and Nazi America due to Cold War–like tensions between the two powers. The Neutral Zone has no substantial government, economy, or armed forces, and is left to fend for itself while the two rival empires pursue their ambitions. Resistance groups use the Neutral Zone as a haven and the Germans and Japanese intermittently send spies into the region, both to monitor the Neutral Zone and each other.

Films collected by the "Man in the High Castle" are newsreels depicting numerous other Earths, including some where the Allies were victorious, some featuring executed Allied leaders (such as Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin), and some where an American resistance is doing well. The events depicted include real history and possible alternative timelines.

Main

Alexa Davalos as Juliana Crain, a young woman from San Francisco who is outwardly happy living under Japanese control. She is an expert in aikido and is friendly with the Japanese people who live in San Francisco. As Juliana learns of the Man in the High Castle and his films, she begins to rebel.

Rupert Evans as Frank Frink (seasons 1–3), Juliana's boyfriend. He works in a factory creating replicas of prewar American pistols, and creates original jewelry and sketches on his own time. Frank's grandfather was Jewish, making him a target of discrimination. When Juliana vanishes just after the police kill her sister, Frank is taken into custody. Soon after, he turns against the state and works with the American Resistance.

Luke Kleintank as Joe Blake (seasons 1–3), a new recruit to the underground American Resistance who is actually an agent working for the Schutzstaffel (SS), under Obergruppenführer John Smith. He transports a reel of the forbidden film The Grasshopper Lies Heavy to the neutral Rocky Mountain States as part of his mission to infiltrate the Resistance. He meets Juliana and quickly falls in love with her, leading to him questioning his allegiance to the Reich.

DJ Qualls as Ed McCarthy (seasons 1–3), Frank's co-worker and friend. He closely follows politics and cares very much about Juliana and Frank's well-being. It is revealed in season three that Ed is gay.

Joel de la Fuente as Colonel Takeshi Kido, the chief inspector who is the ruthless head of the Kempeitai stationed in San Francisco

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Nobusuke Tagomi (seasons 1–3), the Trade Minister of the Japanese Pacific States. His true loyalties are ambiguous throughout the first season.

Rufus Sewell as John Smith, an SS Obergruppenführer, later promoted to Oberst-Gruppenführer, and then to Reichsmarschall of the colony of North America (near series end becoming Reichsführer of a newly autonomous North American Reich) who is investigating the Resistance in New York. He is a natural-born American who had served in the US Army Signal Corps before taking the Reich's offer to join them. He initially lives a comfortable suburban life with a wife and three children but subsequently moves the family to Manhattan.

Chelah Horsdal as Helen Smith, John Smith's wife and a socialite in New York City. A natural-born American before the war, she plays an enormous role in John Smith switching allegiance to the Nazis. She later faces a crisis about the consequences of that decision when her own son gives his life for the regime and her whole world collapses.

Brennan Brown as Robert Childan, an antique store owner who makes secret deals with Frank

Callum Keith Rennie as Gary Connell (season 2), leader of the West Coast Resistance movement and enforcer for Abendsen

Bella Heathcote as Nicole Dörmer (seasons 2–3), a young Berlin-born filmmaker who crosses paths with Joe, and moves to the American Reich in the third season

Michael Gaston as Mark Sampson (seasons 1–3), a Jewish friend of Frank's living in San Francisco, who later relocates to the Neutral Zone

Jason O'Mara as Wyatt Price, also known as Liam (seasons 3–4), an Irishman who is a black market supplier of information to Juliana

Frances Turner as Bell Mallory (season 4), the leader of the Black Communist Rebellion (BCR) in San Francisco

Recurring

Officials

Aaron Blakely as Erich Raeder (seasons 1–3), an SS-Sturmbannführer, John Smith's right-hand man

Carsten Norgaard as Rudolph Wegener (seasons 1, 3), a disillusioned high-ranking Nazi official who trades secrets with Tagomi and is friends with John Smith

Bernhard Forcher as Hugo Reiss (season 1), the German ambassador to the Japanese Pacific States

Aubrey Deeker as Kurt Scausch (season 1), a member of the SS working alongside Hugo Reiss

Neal Bledsoe as SS-Captain Connolly (season 1), an American SS officer serving under John Smith, later revealed to be a spy working for Reinhard Heydrich

Raresh DiMofte as Karl Müller (season 1), a SS-Sturmbannführer who was sent to San Francisco in order to assassinate the Japanese crown prince to provoke a war between the GNR and JPS

Sebastian Roché as Martin Heusmann (seasons 2–3), a high-ranking Reichsminister in the Nazi government and Joe Blake's biological father

Adrian Hough as Carl Weber (season 3), the Nazi ambassador to the JPS, replacing Hugo Reiss

Eric Lange as General Whitcroft (season 4), John Smith's second-in-command

Marc Rissmann as Wilhelm Goertzmann (season 4), an Obergruppenführer from Berlin

Civilians

Jessie Fraser as Rita Pearce (seasons 1–2), Joe's lover, who leaves him after finding out about Juliana

Carter Ryan Evancic as Buddy Pearce (seasons 1–2), Rita's son, who viewed Joe as a surrogate father

Kevin McNulty as Dr. Gerald Adler (seasons 1–2), John's family doctor who diagnosed Thomas

Gillian Barber as Alice Adler (seasons 2–3), Gerald's wife, who begins to become paranoid of the Smiths

Emily Holmes as Lucy Collins (seasons 2–3), a friend of Helen's and Juliana's

Kurt Evans as Henry Collins (season 2), Lucy's husband, who was executed during a broadcast for revealing Hitler's death

Giles Panton as Billy Turner (seasons 3–4), a Nazi Reich American advertising executive who is working with Nicole Dörmer to erase the memories of the former U.S. from the minds of the citizens in the Nazi Reich America

Laura Mennell as Thelma Harris (season 3), a closeted lesbian gossip column reporter in New York City

Jeffrey Nordling as Daniel Ryan (season 3), a Jungian therapist employed to treat Helen Smith's grief following the death of her son Thomas

Diane Greenwood as Fatima Hassan (season 3), a traveler from a parallel world who was captured by the Nazis

Charlie Hofheimer as Daniel Levine (season 4), John's Jewish friend who was executed after the Nazis took over America. In the alt-world, he is alive.

Rachel Nichols as Martha (season 4), Helen Smith's "wife-companion" assigned by the Reich to keep an eye on her

John Smith's family/household

Quinn Lord as Thomas Smith, John and Helen's son and the eldest child. A member of the Hitler Youth, it is later revealed that he has inherited a form of muscular dystrophy (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy) from his father's side of the family. Learning this, he turns himself in to the Reich Sanitation Services and is euthanized. In season 4, Lord plays Thomas in an alternate universe in which the Axis lost the war.

Genea Charpentier as Jennifer Smith, John and Helen's daughter

Gracyn Shinyei as Amy Smith, John and Helen's daughter and youngest child

Meg Heus as Bridget (seasons 3–4), a maid of the Smiths in their new apartment

Rudolph Wegener's family

Stefanie von Pfetten as Kathrina Wegener (seasons 1–2), Rudolph's ex-wife

Jara Zeimer as Klaudia Wegener (season 1), Rudolph and Kathrina's daughter

Luke Roessler as Otto Wegener (season 1), Rudolph and Kathrina's son, who has an estranged relationship with his father

Officials

Lee Shorten as Hiroyuki Yoshida (seasons 1–2), a sergeant and Inspector Kido's right-hand man

Arnold Chun as Kotomichi, Tagomi's aide-de-camp, who came from the parallel world after his hometown, Nagasaki, was destroyed by an American atomic bomb

Daisuke Tsuji as the Crown Prince of Japan (season 1)

Mayumi Yoshida as the Crown Princess of Japan (seasons 1, 4)

Amy Okuda as Christine Tanaka (season 1), an office worker working in the Nippon Building

Tzi Ma as General Hidehisa Onoda (season 2), a leading member of the Japanese Army

Bruce Locke as General Yamori (season 4), a hardline Japanese general in favour of continuing the occupation of the JPS

Akie Kotabe as Nakamura (season 3), a Japanese-American sergeant of mixed ethnicity who works under Kido as Yoshida's replacement

Eijiro Ozaki as Admiral Inokuchi (seasons 3–4), an admiral and the head of the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet stationed in the San Francisco Bay

Sen Mitsuji as Toru Kido (season 4), Inspector Kido's son who suffers from PTSD

Rich Ting as Iijima (season 4), a Japanese captain

Civilians

Jack Kehler as Harlan Wyndam-Matson (season 1), the owner of the factory where Frank and Ed work

Frank C. Turner as Jim McCarthy (season 1), Ed's grandfather who dislikes the American resistance

Michael Eber as Doni (season 1), a person in the same aikido class as Juliana, who seems to have a crush on her

Hiro Kanagawa as Taishi Okamura (seasons 1–2), the leader of a Yakuza based in the Pacific States

Louis Ozawa Changchien as Paul Kasoura (seasons 1–2), a wealthy lawyer who collects prewar American memorabilia

Tao Okamoto as Betty Kasoura (season 1), Paul's wife

Michael Hagiwara as Okami (season 4), a Yakuza boss operating in the JPS

Chika Kanamoto as Yukiko (season 4), Childan's assistant and later wife

Juliana Crain's family

Daniel Roebuck as Arnold Walker (seasons 1–2), Juliana's step-father and Trudy's father

Macall Gordon as Anne Crain Walker (seasons 1–2), Juliana's mother who is still bitter about losing her husband in World War II

Conor Leslie as Trudy Walker (seasons 1–3), Juliana's half-sister who is shot dead by the Kempeitai. However, she is shown alive at the end of season 2, revealed in the third season to be from an alternate timeline in which it was Juliana who died.

Frank Frink's family

Christine Chatelain as Laura Crothers (seasons 1–2), Frank's sister, who is gassed in an attempt to pressure Frank into a confession

Darren Dolynski as Bill Crothers (season 1), Laura's husband and Frank's brother-in-law, who blames Frank for the death of Laura

Callum Seagram Airlie as John Crothers (seasons 1–2), Bill and Laura's son, gassed alongside his mother

Carmen Mikkelsen as Emily Crothers (seasons 1–2), Bill and Laura's daughter, gassed alongside her mother

Nobusuke Tagomi's family

Yukari Komatsu as Michiko Tagomi (season 2), Nobusuke's wife

Eddie Shin as Noriaki Tagomi (season 2), Nobusuke and Michiko's son, who is Juliana's husband in a parallel universe

Tamlyn Tomita as Tamiko Watanabe (seasons 3–4), an Okinawan-Hawaiian painter who befriends Tagomi

Mark Sampson's family

Yael Yurman as Clara Sampson (seasons 1–3), Mark's daughter

Ruairi MacDonald as Charlie Sampson (seasons 1–3), Mark's son

Allan Havey as the Origami Man (season 1), a Sicherheitsdienst (SD) operative sent to Cañon City to eliminate members of the Resistance

Burn Gorman as the Marshal (season 1), a bounty hunter searching for concentration camp escapees

Shaun Ross as the Shoe Shine Boy (season 1), a young albino man living in Cañon City

Rob LaBelle as Carl (season 1), a book store clerk in Cañon City who is revealed to be a concentration camp escapee, David P. Frees

Geoffrey Blake as Jason Meyer (season 1), a Jewish member of the Resistance

Shannon Day as Katie Owens (season 1), a woman who stole Juliana's bag at a bus stopover, which contained fake films

Janet Kidder as Lila Jacobs (season 3), one of the many Jews protected in a Catholic commune in the Neutral Zone, and also Mark Sampson's love interest

James Neate as Jack (season 3), a man in the Neutral Zone with whom Ed McCarthy becomes romantically involved

Michael Rispoli as Don Warren (season 1), the manager who gave Joe the mission to go to Cañon City, who is later executed by John Smith

Geoffery Blake as Jason "Doc" Meyer (season 1), a member of the American resistance working with Don Warren

Rick Worthy as Lemuel "Lem" Washington, the owner of the Sunrise Diner in Cañon City and member of the Resistance

Camille Sullivan as Karen Vecchione (seasons 1–2), a leader of the Pacific States branch of the Resistance

Hank Harris as Randall Becker (season 1), a member of the Pacific States branch of the Resistance

Cara Mitsuko as Sarah (season 2), a Japanese American Resistance member, Frank's confidante and a survivor of the Manzanar concentration camp

Tate Donovan as George Dixon (season 2), Trudy's biological father and a member of the resistance in New York City

Michael Hogan as Hagan (seasons 2–3), an ex-priest and leader in the San Francisco Resistance

Stephen Root as Hawthorne Abendsen / the Man in the High Castle (seasons 2–4), the head of the American resistance who formerly served the US Army Signal Corps, creating films set in other worlds

Ann Magnuson as Caroline Abendsen (seasons 3–4), Hawthorne Abendsen's wife

Clé Bennett as Elijah (season 4), Bell Mallory's lover and one of the members of the BCR

David Harewood as Equiano Hampton (season 4), the leader of the BCR

Wolf Muser as Adolf Hitler (seasons 1–2), the leader of the Greater Nazi Reich

Ray Proscia as Reinhard Heydrich (seasons 1–2), SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer

Keone Young as Shunroku Hata (season 1), a field marshal

Kenneth Tigar as Heinrich Himmler (seasons 2–4), Reichsführer-SS and later the new Führer

Lisa Paxton as Eva Braun (season 2), Hitler's wife

David Furr as George Lincoln Rockwell (season 3), the Reichsmarschall of German-controlled America

William Forsythe as J. Edgar Hoover (seasons 3–4), the director of the American Reich Bureau of Investigation (the counterpart of the Federal Bureau of Investigation)

John Hans Tester as Josef Mengele (seasons 3–4), the head of studies about trans-universe travel

Gwynyth Walsh as Margarete Himmler (season 4), Himmler's wife and the head of the Reich Red Cross

Timothy V. Murphy as Adolf Eichmann (season 4), SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer

Hiromoto Ida as Hirohito (season 4), the Japanese emperor

Reception

The pilot was Amazon's "most-watched since the original series development program began". The first season received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 95% based on reviews from 62 critics, with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "By executive producer Ridley Scott, The Man in the High Castle is unlike anything else on TV, with an immediately engrossing plot driven by quickly developed characters in a fully realized post-WWII dystopia." Metacritic gives the first season a score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Meredith Woerner from io9 wrote, "I can honestly say I loved this pilot. It's an impressive, streamlined undertaking of a fairly complicated and very beloved novel." Matt Fowler from IGN gave it 9.2 out of 10 and described the series as "a superb, frightening experience filled with unexpected twists and (some sci-fi) turns". Brian Moylan of The Guardian was positive and praised the convincing depiction as well as the complex and gripping plot. The Los Angeles Times described the pilot as "provocative" and "smartly adapted by The X-Files' Frank Spotnitz". The Daily Telegraph said it was "absorbing", and Wired called it "must-see viewing". Entertainment Weekly said it was "engrossing" and "a triumph in world-building", cheering, "The Man in the High Castle is king." After the season, Rolling Stone included it on a list of the 40 best science fiction television shows of all time. Amazon subsequently declared it the service's most-streamed original series and renewed it for a second season.

The second season received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 64%, based on reviews from 25 critics with an average rating of 7 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "Although its plot is admittedly unwieldy, The Man in the High Castle's second season expands its fascinating premise in powerful new directions, bolstered by stunning visuals, strong performances, and intriguing new possibilities." Metacritic gave season 2 a score of 62 out of 100, based on reviews from ten critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The third season was met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 86%, based on reviews from 21 critics with an average rating of 7.4 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "The crafty addition of minor sci-fi elements and a terrific William Forsythe to the show's already engrossing narrative make The Man in the High Castle's third season another worthy binge." Metacritic gives season 3 a score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The fourth season received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 92%, based on reviews from 13 critics with an average rating of 7.2 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "The Man in the High Castle finds something close to closure, wrapping up major threads to bring everything full circle in sufficiently dramatic fashion."