Bitter opinions about The Man in the High Castle Season 4
It's been a week since I watched the finale and I'm still processing. There are things I need to say, good and bad, about this show, which used to be my favorite.
Overall, the rhythm was fine, episode 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 worked especially great. The sets are fantastic and the acting is perfect. So I'll only focus on characters and storylines from now on.
This season went deep into Kido's character and I loved that. I loved his relation to his son, to his duty and to his beliefs. More than that, he had the best arc over the series, his evolution was smooth, believable, with memorable moments (with Toru, Gina, Frank, Tagomi and John mostly). His ending is also very satisfying and into character.
Now let's talk about the Smiths as a family, an other amazing part from this season. Amy is scary as hell, brainwashed, opposite to Jennifer, finally questionning her parents, heartbreaking to watch. And there are Helen and John graviting to protect them as they're both becoming very dangerous to themselves and that was great to watch! Bonus for alt Thomas being so similar to the one we knew, so keen to sacrifice himself for what people say is the right thing.
What about Helen? Guys, Helen is full of guilt and her redemption arc is well done, complexe, so satisfying to watch. Her final scenes were especially moving and I loved her alt self being her true nature.
Let's move to John. Ah. Things are getting complicated, you too can feel it. Most of his scenes were great, especially with Thomas, omg, these were really emotional. But he's also getting deeper than ever in his power madness in the last episode when everyone believed in his redemption. Is it good or bad? That's up to you to decide, but in my opinion, he stayed into character and that's what matters most. He doesn't care about the cost of anything, of anyone, as long as his family is safe. That's John. That's all he is.
Gray area : Childan. Not happy or unhappy with his arc, I found him boring and not funny as he was before. His relationship with a japonese woman was interesting enough and his ending quite good, but I wasn't invested. It also applies to Wyatt, which I found quite boring and repetitive in his actions. But that's subjective.
Now we're getting into bitter stuff and I'm not happy. I'm really not. This is why this show has failed me in the end.
MISSING CHARACTERS. I repeat for everyone in the back, they erased important people! Ed, Nicole, Gina, Thelma, Trudy, Jack, Juliana's parents... We followed them over two of three seasons to what. Forget about them? Pretend they never existed? This is far from okay. You don't do that. You don't create major characters to never talk about them again. I'm mad. Let's move on before I scream into frustration.
The BCR. Interesting. But. Introduced. FAR TOO LATE. We never heard about them before and now they're taking down the regime? This is not how storytelling works, this is deeply frustrating for a viewer to see a great idea wasted in a final season and taking all the screentime from the characters you already care about.
Oh, and Hawthorne is pretty much useless. They did something interesting with him working with nazis but it never goes far enough to have a real impact.
Also... Guys... Tagomi's death doesn't make ANY SENSE. Period.
Same for Joe's. Come on. And the films are barely used, even the one in the mines. This is waste. The entire show is about these films and nobody talks or acts about it anymore.
The worst is yet to come. The worst is Juliana. My favorite character has here been reduced to an almost passive character and this doesn't make any sense to do that to the MAIN CHARACTER. Hawthorne said she was the key. The key to what? Do nothing? I'm really angry about this, you have no idea, they just dismissed her and treated her like a girl who needs to have a man at all times (Frank, Joe, now Wyatt? Come on, let her grieve). She used to be the quiet badass. Here she was just quiet. It broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
The finale itself was confusing. Beautiful in its meaning, all the people sent by nazis coming back home, but somehow you just watch it feeling empty. Down. Disapointed. It falls too soon to be really understood or accepted.
We had two AMAZING first seasons, a great third season and a bitter fourth. I'm sad it ended like this, I still love this show, but not as much as I used to because of how it ended. And for that, I think I'm still a bit mad today.
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