Watch the man in the high castle season 1 episode 1

As the narrative comes to a head, Season 1 should be speeding up, becoming stripped down to race towards a climax, but The Man in the High Castle does the opposite: it continues to pause and make things more nuanced and more emotional. Wegener, of course, is HeydrichвЂ™s choice of assassin to dispose of Adolf, whoвЂ™s getting older and more frail by the day. His young boy is reading a comic book: вЂњRanger Reich.вЂќ ItвЂ™s never said out loud, but the programme gently suggests that thereвЂ™s no difference, in some ways, between us and these characters they just grew up indoctrinated into a world that was built around different (horribly different) values, whether thatвЂ™s through law and order or kidsвЂ™ graphic novels. When Heydrich arrives to take Rudoph Wegener into custody, as punishment for selling industrial secrets to Japan, we see RudolphвЂ™s family too. SmithвЂ™s brother suffered as a child in a wheelchair he doesnвЂ™t want the same thing to happen to his son. The thing is, as we learned early on, the Reich will kill the infirm without a second thought. SmithвЂ™s son, we learn, has a congenital disorder, which means that heвЂ™ll get weaker and weaker until he dies вЂ“ a brief glimpse of him falling down the stairs at home is the kind of innocuous example that reinforces the relatable day-to-day nature of it all. вЂњDonвЂ™t let that man near our children.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s the kind of detail that humanises his Nazi enforcer so horrifyingly well. вЂњIf I donвЂ™t come back alive,вЂќ he tells his wife. Smith is cautious, not just because heвЂ™s loyal, but because heвЂ™s unsure about where this path is leading. HeвЂ™s summoned by Heydrich to go hunting, where heвЂ™s informed that the Fuhrer is weak and Heydrich plans to depose him. But Sewell, undoubtedly the most menacing man in a cardigan since Tom Hardy in Lawless, increasingly emerges as uncertain as the rest of them. The girl, of course, is Juliana Craine (Alexa Davalos), whoвЂ™s sucked into the resistance and whose relationship with Joe continues to blossom, much to the displeasure of her husband, Frank (Rupert Evans). вЂњI know youвЂ™ve been lying to me,вЂќ Smith informs his double-agent, Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank).

He has the intimidating air of a man who knows everything.

Compared to his recent role in ITVвЂ™s Victoria, the actorвЂ™s as unrecognisable and versatile as he is relentless charming. Rufus Sewell has been key to that, his ObergruppenfГјhrer John Smith becoming more complex and nuanced with every minute he spends on screen. The mystery surrounding the film reels has only grown as the season has continued, a puzzle thatвЂ™s as ambiguous as the Nazis we see on screen. вЂњTake this,вЂќ Juliana was told way back at the start of the show, as she was handed a film reel by someone in the resistance. But the very act of world-building is precisely what the people within this world are doing Imperial Japan and the Reich are both crafting their empires amid an unseen Cold War, determined to stop the people on the ground asking that same question. It dares to ask the question вЂњWhat if?вЂќ вЂ“ and then it answers it too. Ever since its opening episode, with its jaw-dropping shot of Time Square, world-building has been the biggest strength of the series, creating something creepily believable and wonderfully immersive. From there, itвЂ™s possible to really admire just how gigantic this world is. Yes, thatвЂ™s where the end of Season 1 of AmazonвЂ™s gripping, fascinating, disturbing alt-history thriller takes us вЂ“ all the way to the top of the Reich, in more ways than one. The fact that heвЂ™s saying it to Adolf Hitler only adds to the weight of it.

вЂњA wise man once said to me, fate is fluid, destiny is in the hands of man,вЂќ says Rudolph Wegener as The Man in the High Castle comes to a close. With Season 2 of The Man in the High Castle on the way, we look back at the final episodes of Season 1.

Watch the man in the high castle season 1 episode 1