The Man in the High Castle

I read the book long ago, don't remember much about it. You can watch episode 1 here if you have an Amazon account. I won't sign up for Amazon Prime just to watch the whole series and I don't order enough stuff during the year to make it worth $99.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RSI5EHQ/ref=atv_pr_c_unkc_1_svod_mithc1?_encoding=UTF8&pf_rd_i=default&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2096408262&pf_rd_r=1JT8JD3EJ3A6PB55C0MZ&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=12805

We must get it. Ben is watching it. I'm sure its an interesting premise but I want some lighter fare just now.

There was a little brohaha when they put the posters for the show (featuring swastikas) on New York subways. Didn't go down well with the population there. They are planning on replacing those posters with ones that don't feature that symbol.

I heard about the poster 'flap'. It would be illegal in Germany to do that. I'm going to watch the free ep now. There are so many choices on Netflik that I'll never get to, I can't add another online service.

After finishing watching Jessica I was surfing around on Netflik and saw something called "Sense8". I've only watched 3/4 of the first ep but it's pretty interesting and still confusing which is gradually being explained. "Their telepathic communication marks them for extinction but may be their best hope for survival".....goes the description. 8 people located all over the world able to "see" each others experiences, but not yet realizing it.

I watched the free first ep on the computer and it convinced me to sign up for the 1 month free trial of Amazon Prime. The photo storage feature may make it worthwhile and the occasional stuff I order from Amazon. But now I have to figure out how to view the movies and TV shows on my TV. I don't want to have to view only on my computer. It says that you can view on the TV, mobiles, Kindle , etc. but so far don't see how to do it on the TV.  Netflik has a channel but nothing popped up on my TV channels after I signed up. Will keep investigating.....

Meanwhile The Man in the High Castle is pretty good. In these period pieces whether S-F or not I always pay attention to the vehicles. How accurate are they for the period, etc. TMINTHC does pretty well and brings in unexpected vehicles. I spotted a Messerschmitt Kabin Roller parked in one of the NYC scenes.....

http://www.bing.com/search?q=1955+Messerschmitt+for+Sale&FORM=QSRE2


Also several Citroens, a 2CV in NYC and a Type 11 in another scene. In 1962 the Type 11 had already been replaced by the DS series. But the 2CV was produced until 1990 in "our world" , so that implies that the French car industry was still operating in "that world", as well as the U.S. car industry on some level.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Traction_Avant




There was a late '50s Chrysler in the late scene where the woman's bag was stolen. There was a brief glimpse in an NYC scene of what appeared to be a Goggomobile. They were never imported except by private individuals and probably only a few.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goggomobil

 Kabin Rollers aren't that uncommon and bring BIG $$ at auctions these days, as do the BMW Isettas. Both those "cars" were built in the 50's as a 'step up' for Germans that still couldn't afford even VWs but wanted a vehicle that had weather protection, which their bicycles and motorcycles didn't,  even if the "cars" were only 2 passenger. The BMW Isettas were imported and sold here in dealers, briefly but the Kabin Rollers were all imported by private individuals as far as I know, at least I've never heard of any dealers in the U.S. back then.

The one big mystery at this point is how the newsreels show the alternate history. Are 'alternate universes' at play ?  I don't remember what the book said about this.....I suppose I could find a copy but I'd rather just watch the TV show and see how it plays out....

An ungodly convoluted system for enabling my TV to receive Amazon Prime streaming content. Got part of it accessed but no luck on getting my Samsung "code" retrieved and loaded into the Amazon system so the TV access page just hangs.....will keep working.....

I'll watch it on the computer, just watched ep3, since I can't get it to work on the TV. After I
finish the series I'll cancel the free 1 mon. Prime. It duplicates a lot of Netflik shows, but if another interesting series comes along I'll sign up for another free month.

Ep 4, will watch 5 & 6 today. A few observations:  The Marshal uses a lever action shotgun. Those aren't very common in "our world" now. They were more popular in the 19th Century when they were invented and early in the 20th Century but pump action shotguns are far more popular now. Also he drives a '51 Chevy in pristine condition. It would be ~11 years old in the episodes and given that he's driving all over poor roads we have to wonder how it is in such good condition. A minor point; the sound track was wrong when he drove away from the burning car, late 30's Buick, ...it sounded like a V-8 not the inline 6 in the '51 Chevy.  Another minor point; in one scene we get a brief glimpse of two BMW motorcycles. They were /5s (slash 5) which weren't introduced until the 1970 model year. In '62 they would have been /2s, I had one...

A bigger point; in '62 it would have been unlikely that the Germans would already have supersonic airliners looking like "Super Concordes". Of course you could say that in "their world" aircraft advances were faster resulting in that aircraft being possible.   But in "our world" in '62 the SR-71 was still under development and the problems it solved for multiple Mach number flights weren't easily transferred to large passenger aircraft. When the Concorde finally did it, its speed wasn't as fast, certainly not "NYC to CA in 2 hours".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

This is a fascinating series, especially for history geeks even though it of course historically "inaccurate" but still allows us to see how accurate the various period representations are. It's not possible for them to keep everything 100% accurate. The most interesting sequences in ep 7, which I just finished, is when the antique dealer went to have dinner with the young Japanese couple. When his taxi drove up to their house we see that it is a Toyopet, the original name for Toyotas, the name was changed later for the American market.

http://www.toyota50th.com/pdf/toyopet.pdf

In their driveway as he walked up to the house we see a 30's vintage American car in the garage , a more expensive model but unfortunately the view wasn't close enough to allow positive ID , but it wasn't a mass market model like a Chevy or Ford. At the side of the driveway we see a green, 4 door sedan. Ah-ha ! easily recognized as a Maserati Quattroporte (4 door). Here the producers and property/set decorators jumped the shark. The Quattroporte didn't go on sale until '64 and is still being produced in contemporary models. But.....it was still interesting to see that they chose that car to represent the Japanese guy's "collectors hobby".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_Quattroporte

Of course the 1860's vintage Colt revolver that the husband showed from his collection (fake, as the antique dealer recognized) was accurate for the Civil War period. The fake Colt replicas that the guys in the factory are making is the "Peacemaker" of 'cowboy' fame and wasn't produced until later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Single_Action_Army

There are some misrepresentations coming up in one of the last 3 eps, don't know which one, that I saw in the trailer, but I'll cover that after I watch the episode.

So in ep 8 we see the arrival of Reinhard Heydrich one of the most infamous nazis in our world who bought the farm at age 38 but lived in that world to become a higher ranking nazi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Heydrich

In ep 9 we see a new film that is inexplicable to Juliana and Frank and we have to wonder if the 'loose ends' can be wrapped up in ep 10, the last one.  I seriously doubt it.....

Wow, plenty of cliff hangers for next season. Wegener chickens out on his assignment to kill Hitler and Heydrich's power grab seems to be foiled for the moment. Joe escapes to  Mexico, will Juliana ever see him again ?   The Trade Ministers experience of sitting down on the bench, then we hear sort of a roar, he opens his eyes and he's in 'our world' in SF in '62. From a purely science-fiction aspect this is inexplicable but it makes for a really great cliff hanger. Guess we'll have to wait until late next year to see S2.

This is a very ambitious project. They have a German unit filming the scenes there, so it's certainly not a cheap production.


The Man in the High Castle (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Alternate history
Science fiction
Thriller

Created by Frank Spotnitz
Based on The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
Starring

Alexa Davalos
Rupert Evans
Luke Kleintank
DJ Qualls
Joel de la Fuente
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Rufus Sewell

Opening theme "Edelweiss", performed by Jeanette Olsson
Composer(s)

Henry Jackman
Dominic Lewis

Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)

Ridley Scott
Frank Spotnitz
Christian Baute
Isa Dick Hackett
Stewart Mackinnon
Christopher Tricarico

Producer(s)

Michael Cedar
Jean Higgins
Jordan Sheehan
David W. Zucker

Editor(s) Kathrynn Himoff
Location(s)

Seattle
Monroe, Washington
Vancouver, British Columbia

Cinematography James Hawkinson
Running time 48–60 minutes
Production company(s)

Amazon Studios
Scott Free Productions
Electric Shepherd Productions
Headline Pictures
Picrow
Reunion Pictures

Distributor Amazon.com
Release
Original network Amazon Video
Original release January 15, 2015 – present
External links
Website

The Man in the High Castle is an American dystopian alternate history television series produced by Amazon Studios, Scott Free, Headline Pictures and Electric Shepherd Productions. The series is based on the 1962 novel of the same name by American science fiction author Philip K. Dick. The story is an alternate history of the world in which the Axis powers won World War II. The United States has been partitioned into three parts: The Japanese puppet state of the Pacific States of America, which comprises the former United States west of the Rocky Mountains; a Nazi puppet state that comprises the eastern half of the former United States; and a neutral zone that acts as a buffer between the two areas, called the Rocky Mountain States.

The pilot debuted on January 15, 2015 and was Amazon's "most-watched since the original series development program began."[1] On February 18, 2015, the series was picked up for a ten-episode season.[2] The remaining nine episodes were released November 20, 2015.[3][4]

Contents

1 Synopsis
2 Timelines
3 Cast
3.1 Main
3.2 Recurring
4 Episodes
5 Background
6 Production
7 Controversy
8 Reception
9 References
10 External links

Synopsis

The central characters are Juliana Crain, Frank Frink, Joe Blake, John Smith, and Nobusuke Tagomi, and the series takes place in 1962.
The US divided into three parts: the Japanese Pacific States in the west, the Greater Nazi Reich in the east and the Rocky Mountain States (or the Neutral Zone) in the middle, as shown in the pilot episode.[5]

Juliana Crain is a San Francisco woman whose half-sister Trudy has just been killed almost in front of her by the Kempeitai. Just before she dies she hands Juliana a film reel that contains newsreel style footage depicting an alternate history in which the Allies won World War II and Germany and Japan were defeated. The film is entitled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, and is part of a series of similar newsreels being collected by someone referred to as "The Man in the High Castle". Juliana believes the newsreel reflects some sort of alternate reality, and that it is part of some kind of larger truth about how the world should be. Her boyfriend, Frank Frink (who keeps his Jewish roots hidden in order to avoid extradition and death at the hands of the Nazis), believes that the newsreel has no relation to real-life events. Juliana learns Trudy was carrying the film to Canon City, Colorado, in the Rocky Mountain States, where she was going to meet someone. Juliana decides to travel there in Trudy's place to find out what her half-sister's mission was. When she arrives in Canon City, she encounters Joe Blake.

Blake is a 27-year-old New Yorker who seeks out the resistance in order to volunteer to help them, purportedly as an effort to continue his patriotic father's legacy. However, he is secretly an agent working for the Nazis. After contacting and being accepted by the resistance he agrees to drive a truck full of "coffeemakers" to Canon City from New York, where he will make contact with another resistance member. In Canon City he enters a diner and befriends Juliana, who has been waiting there in hopes of meeting Trudy's contact. Meanwhile, in New York, the resistance men Blake earlier met are seized and tortured to death by the Nazis, headed by Obergruppenführer John Smith. Though the resistance members do not talk the Nazis already know that the truck dispatched by the resistance is going to Canon City, and why, which hints that it might be a trap.

Nobusuke Tagomi is a high-ranking Japanese official in San Francisco. He meets in secret with Nazi official Rudolph Wegener, who is traveling incognito as Swedish businessman Victore Baynes. Tagomi and Wegener are concerned about the power vacuum that will exist when the Reich's Führer Adolf Hitler dies, or is forced to step down due to his worsening Parkinson's disease. Wegener explains that Hitler's successor will want to use the Reich's nuclear bombs against Japan in order to gain control of the rest of the former United States. Currently, however, Japan and the Third Reich are engaged in a cold war full of tension but no open warfare, with the Japanese starting to lag behind the Germans technologically.
Timelines

What is a key thread in the story is the histories shown in these newsreels that keep appearing. The importance of these histories is not clear but getting them is one of the main goals of the resistance movements, the man in the high castle, the Nazi security forces and Hitler. These newsreels show a variety of timelines, which differ from our own such as a nuclear bomb attack on San Francisco in the 1960s in episode 9 and Stalin alive in 1954 in episode 10.
Cast
Main

Alexa Davalos as Juliana Crain, a young woman from San Francisco who is outwardly happy living under Japanese control; she has become an expert in aikido and is friendly with Japanese people living in San Francisco. Her mother harbors hatred of the Japanese, as they killed Juliana's father during the war.
Rupert Evans as Frank Frink, Juliana's boyfriend. He works in a factory creating fake pre-war antiques that are prized by Japanese collectors, while on his own time he creates original jewelry. When Juliana vanishes just after the police kill her sister Frank is taken into custody, which is particularly dangerous since he is secretly of Jewish ancestry, a crime punishable by death.
Luke Kleintank as Joe Blake, a new recruit to the underground American resistance who is actually an agent working for the SS under Obergruppenführer John Smith. He transports a copy of the forbidden film The Grasshopper Lies Heavy to the neutral Rocky Mountain States as part of his mission to infiltrate the American resistance.
DJ Qualls as Ed McCarthy, Frank's co-worker.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Nobusuke Tagomi, the Trade Minister of the Pacific States of America.
Rufus Sewell as John Smith, an SS Obergruppenführer investigating the Resistance in New York.
Joel de la Fuente as Chief Inspector Kido, the head of the Kempeitai stationed in San Francisco.

Recurring

Carsten Norgaard as Rudolph Wegener, a high-ranking Nazi official who trades secrets with Tagomi.
Rick Worthy as Lemuel "Lem" Washington, the owner of Sunrise diner in Canon City and a member of the Resistance.
Camille Sullivan as Karen, leader of the Pacific States branch of the Resistance.
Lee Shorten as Sergeant Yoshida, Inspector Kido's right hand man.
Arnold Chun as Kotomichi, Tagomi's assistant.
Ray Proscia as SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
Chelah Horsdal as Helen Smith, Obergruppenführer Smith's wife.
Quinn Lord as Thomas Smith, Obergruppenführer Smith's son and the eldest in the family.
Gracyn Shinyei as Amy Smith, Obergruppenführer Smith's eldest daughter.
Genea Charpentier as Jennifer Smith, Obergruppenführer Smith's' youngest daughter.
Daniel Roebuck as Arnold Walker, Juliana's stepfather and Trudy's father.
Macall Gordon as Anne Crain Walker, Juliana's mother who is still bitter about losing her husband in World War II.
Conor Leslie as Trudy Walker, Juliana's half-sister. She is killed by the Kempeitai after handing a film reel to Juliana.
Christine Chatelain as Laura Crothers, Frank's sister.
Darren Dolynski as Bill Crothers, Laura's husband.
Callum Seagram Airlie as John Crothers, Laura's son.
Carmen Mikkelsen as Emily Crothers, Laura's daughter.
Allan Havey as the Origami Man, a Nazi spy sent to Canon City to eliminate members of the Resistance.
Burn Gorman as The Marshal, a bounty hunter searching for concentration camp escapees.
Shaun Ross as the Shoe Shine Boy, a young albino man living in Canon City.
Rob LaBelle as Carl, a bookstore clerk in Canon City who is revealed to be a concentration camp escapee named David P. Frees.
Geoffrey Blake as Jason Meyer, a Semitic member of the Resistance.
Brennan Brown as Robert Childan, an antique store owner who makes secret deals with Frank.
Louis Ozawa Changchien as Paul Kasoura, a wealthy lawyer who collects pre-war American memorabilia.
Tao Okamoto as Betty, Paul's wife.
Amy Okuda as Christine Tanaka, an office lady who works in the Nippon building.
Hiro Kanagawa as Taishi Okamura, the leader of a Yakuza based in the Pacific States.
Daisuke Tsuji as the Crown Prince of Japan
Mayumi Yoshida as the Crown Princess of Japan
Wolf Muser as Adolf Hitler.

Episodes

The pilot and the second episode were screened at a special Comic-Con event. The season premiered on November 20, 2015.[6][7]
No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 "The New World" David Semel Frank Spotnitz January 15, 2015
The series starts in 1962. The first episode follows the lives of three people: Joe Blake, a young man in the Greater Nazi Reich, who is later revealed to be an SS covert agent tracking the transportation of a subversive banned newsreel in which the Allies won World War II; Frank Frink, a jewelry designer who lives in the Japanese Pacific States and conceals his Jewish roots, and Juliana Crain, a young woman who also lives in the Japanese Pacific States and a former fiancée of Frank. Crain makes her way to the Neutral Zone to deliver the film as part of a mission by the resistance. Along the way, her bag gets stolen leaving her with no money. Blake and Crain eventually meet in the Neutral Zone, while Frink is apprehended by Inspector Kido of the Kempeitai and may be extradited to Nazi America, where as a Jew he will be summarily executed.
2 "Sunrise" Daniel Percival Frank Spotnitz October 23, 2015
While working in the Canon City diner, Juliana meets a man folding a paper crane and assumes he is the contact. Joe, having watched his own copy of the film, finds out from Smith that the contact is a Sicherheitsdienst agent trying to stop the resistance, and is ordered not to intervene. When Juliana meets the origami man at the nearby dam to pass on the film, he attacks her. Joe arrives to try to save her, but she uses her knowledge of aikido to throw the SD agent over a dam railing to his death. Smith himself is ambushed on his way to work, narrowly fending off his attackers. Meanwhile, in the Pacific States, Frank's sister and her two children are taken into custody by the Kempeitai and Frank is told they will be killed along with him for being Jewish if he does not cooperate. A prisoner in a neighboring cell convinces Frank to stand defiant. Just as Frank is about to be shot, the Kempeitai arrest the woman who stole Juliana's luggage. Frank is released. However, Kido informs Frank that this news came too late to save his sister and her kids. Frank is enraged.
3 "The Illustrated Woman" Ken Olin Thomas Schnauz and Evan Wright November 20, 2015
Joe and Juliana must act quickly as a vicious bounty hunter known as 'The Marshal' arrives in Canon City investigating the death of the origami man. Tagomi makes plans with Wegener to pass valuable secrets from the Reich, and Frank plots his revenge against the Japanese.
4 "Revelations" Michael Rymer Thomas Schnauz and Jace Richdale November 20, 2015
Joe is increasingly torn between duty and his growing feelings for Juliana. While Ed tries to stop Frank from making an irrevocable decision, Smith’s investigation is interrupted when he has trouble with his witness, and Tagomi's plan goes awry as events take a dramatic turn at the Crown Prince's speech.
5 "The New Normal" Bryan Spicer Rob Williams November 20, 2015
Juliana returns home, only to discover new clues that lead her closer to unraveling the mystery behind the films. Meanwhile, Joe faces a tough debriefing upon his return home. Kido begins his investigation into the events surrounding the Crown Prince's Speech, while Tagomi and Wegener make a last-ditch attempt to complete their mission.
6 "Three Monkeys" Nelson McCormick Rob Williams November 20, 2015
Joe celebrates VA day at Smith's house. Juliana accepts a job working for Tagomi as she continues her search for answers. Smith, who has received intelligence about Wegener's activities but also happens to be an old friend, intercepts him at the airport and invites him for dinner hoping to probe Wegener for answers. Smith has Wegener arrested. Smith catches Joe sneaking through his files.
7 "Truth" Brad Anderson Emma Frost November 20, 2015
Juliana makes a startling discovery about her sister's death. Frank reflects on recent events and makes an important decision about his future, and Tagomi gains greater insight into Juliana's past.
8 "End of the World" Karyn Kusama Walon Green November 20, 2015
Juliana and Frank make plans to escape the Pacific States, only to be dragged back into danger by Joe as he tries to retrieve a new film. Meanwhile, Smith's loyalty is put to the ultimate test when confronted with a startling family discovery. The episode is named after the song of the same name, which is performed during the episode with Japanese lyrics.
9 "Kindness" Michael Slovis Jace Richdale November 20, 2015
With time running out, a desperate Frank is forced to put his life on the line to help Joe. The pieces finally fall into place for Smith as he uncovers who was behind the assassination attempt. Tagomi is devastated when he is confronted with the consequences of his scheming, and Kido's investigation takes a dramatic turn when he makes an important discovery. Meanwhile, Frank and Juliana, after taking possession of the new film, decide to watch it, but they are shocked to find out that the film describes, apparently in the near future, a nuclear-bombed San Francisco where the SS are routing survivors and executing them; among the executed there is Frank himself, among the SS there is Joe.
10 "A Way Out" Daniel Percival Rob Williams November 20, 2015
Frank and Juliana angrily confront Joe as a Nazi agent. He goes to the Nazi embassy with the film. Joe learns that Heydrich is preparing a trap. Kido acts on the information from the Yakuza and kills the Nazi sniper that shot the Crown Prince. Ed is caught with Frank's gun and is used as a scapegoat for the attempted assassination of the Crown Prince, averting the need for Kido to commit seppuku. Heydrich demands Smith's loyalty ahead of Wegener assassinating Hitler. Wegener says goodbye to his family and travels to Hitler's alpine castle, but after confronting Hitler, kills himself instead. Smith captures the traitor Heydrich and reports such to Hitler. Joe evades Lem's ambush and boards a boat to Mexico in Juliana's place. Frank finds out that Ed has been arrested and returns to the Kempeitai headquarters to find him being detained. Tagomi goes to Union Square to meditate with Juliana's charm and opens his eyes to find himself in an alternate 1962 where the Allies won World War II.
Background

The show has been in development for a number of years at a number of venues.

In 2010, it was announced that the BBC would co-produce a four-part TV adaptation of The Man in the High Castle for BBC One together with Headline Pictures, FremantleMedia Enterprises and Scott Free Films. Ridley Scott, who directed Blade Runner, a loose adaptation of another Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, was to act as executive producer of the adaptation by Howard Brenton.[8]

On February 11, 2013, Variety reported that SyFy was adapting the book as a four-part miniseries, with Ridley Scott and Frank Spotnitz as executive producers, co-produced with Scott Free Prods., Headline Pictures and Electric Shepherd Prods.[9]

On October 1, 2014, Amazon.com began filming the pilot episode in Roslyn, Washington,[10] for a new television drama to be aired on their Prime web video streaming service.[11] This has been adapted by Frank Spotnitz and is being produced for Amazon by Ridley Scott, David Zucker and Jordan Sheehan for Scott Free, Stewart Mackinnon and Christian Baute for Headline Pictures, and Isa Hackett and Kalen Egan for Electric Shepherd.[citation needed] The pilot episode was released by Amazon Studios on January 15, 2015.[12] Amazon Studios' production process is somewhat different from those of other conventional television channels. They produce pilot episodes of a number of different prospective programs, then release them and gather data on their success. The most promising shows are then picked up as regular series. On February 18, 2015 Amazon.com announced that The Man in the High Castle was given the green-light along with four other series, and a full season would be produced.[13]
Production

Production for the pilot episode began in October, 2014. Principal filming took place in Seattle, with the city standing in for San Francisco and locations in New York, as well as Roslyn, Washington, which was the long-time shooting location for Northern Exposure. Sites used in Seattle include the Seattle Monorail, the Paramount Theatre, a newspaper office in the Pike Place Market area, as well as various buildings in the city's Capitol Hill, International District, and Georgetown neighborhoods. In Roslyn, the production used external shots of the Roslyn Cafe which featured prominently in Northern Exposure along with several local businesses and scenery.[10][14]

In April 2015, filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the downtown area of West Georgia Street, along the promenade of the Coast Capital Savings Building.[15] In May and June 2015 filming also took place at the University of British Columbia.[16] Exterior shots of Hohenwerfen Castle were also used in September 2015. [17]
Controversy

As part of an advertising campaign for the release of the first season, an entire New York City subway car was covered with Nazi and Imperial Japanese imagery as seen in the show, including multiple American flags with the Nazi eagle emblem in place of the 50 stars. In response to criticism of the ads, The Metropolitan Transit Authority's (MTA) released a statement saying that there were no grounds to reject the ads due to neutral content subway ad standards only prohibit advertising that is a political advertisement or disparages an individual or group. MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz stated that, "The MTA is a government agency and can't accept or reject ads based on how we feel about them; we have to follow the standards approved by our board. Please note they're commercial ads." Spokesperson Adam Lisberg said, "This advertising, whether you find it distasteful or not, obviously they're not advertising Nazism; they're advertising a TV show." After complaints from riders as well as New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, initial reports indicated that Amazon pulled the advertisement from the subway. It was later announced that the MTA pulled the ad due to pressure from Governor Cuomo, not Amazon.[18]
Reception

The Man in the High Castle received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 96% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "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."[19] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20]

Meredith Woerner from io9.com wrote, "I can honestly say I loved this pilot. It's an impressive, streamlined undertaking of a fairly complicated and very beloved novel."[21] Matt Fowler from IGN gave 9.2 out of 10 and described the series as a "a superb, frightening experience filled with unexpected twists and (some sci-fi) turns."[22] Brian Moylan of The Guardian was positive and praised the convincing depiction and the complex but gripping plot.[23]
References

"The Man in the High Castle". IMDB. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Tartaglione, Nancy. "Amazon Orders 5 Original Series Including ‘Man In The High Castle,’ ‘Mad Dogs’". Deadline. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
Spotnitz, Frank. "Frank Sponitz on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Fienberg, Daniel. "Daniel Fienberg on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
map (stylized)
"A New Trailer for ‘The Man in the High Castle’ and Episode Two Preview". 13 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
Jarvey, Natalie (August 3, 2015). "'The Man in the High Castle' Creator Frank Spotnitz on Creating Alternate Histories". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
Sweney, Mark (7 October 2010). "Ridley Scott to return to work of sci-fi icon for BBC mini-series". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 October 2010.
Marechal, A.J. (10 February 2013). "Syfy, Ridley Scott, Frank Spotnitz set miniseries". Variety. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Muir, Pat (5 October 2014). "Roslyn hopes new TV show brings 15 more minutes of fame". Yakima Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
Andreeva, Nellie (24 July 2014). "Amazon Studios Adds Drama ‘The Man In The High Castle’, Comedy ‘Just Add Magic’ To Pilot Slate". Deadline. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
"Amazon.com: The Man in the High Castle: Season 1, Episode 1". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
"Amazon Greenlights Full Seasons of Mad Dogs, The Man in the High Castle, The New Yorker Presents, and Children’s Shows Just Add Magic and The Stinky & Dirty Show". 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
"Amazon builds film sets around DJC Building". Daily Journal of Commerce. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
"Shoot: The Man in the High Castle's American Nazi John Smith (Rufus Sewell) Films at Vancouver’s Arthur Erickson-Designed Concrete Tower". yvrshoots.com. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Hauen, Jack (1 June 2015). "The Man in The High Castle is filming at UBC". The Ubyssey. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
"Hakenkreuzflagge flatterte auf der Burg Hohenwerfen". www.salzburg.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
"'Man In The High Castle' Subway Ads, Featuring Nazi Symbols, Removed From Trains". CBS New York. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
"The Man In The High Castle Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
"The Man in the High Castle: Season 1 reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
Woerner, Meredith (16 January 2015). "Man In The High Castle Is Wildly Different From The Book But Still Great". io9. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
"The Man In The High Castle: Series 1 Review". IGN. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
"The Man in the High Castle: the Nazis win, but so do viewers". The Guardian. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-22.

The TV series deviates from the book quite a bit but uses the same characters and basic plot.

So if there is a season two they will have to come up with entirely original plots since Dick never wrote a complete sequel. But there is enough in the 2 chapters he did write to produce a very interesting S2.  The time traveling aspects provide an explanation for the films but it will take some talented writing and production to pull it off.  


In a 1976 interview, Dick said he planned to write a sequel novel to The Man in the High Castle: "And so there's no real ending on it. I like to regard it as an open ending. It will segue into a sequel sometime."[21] Dick said that he had "started several times to write a sequel",[22] but progressed little, because he was too disturbed by his original research for The Man in the High Castle and could not mentally bear "to go back and read about Nazis again."[22] He suggested that the sequel would be a collaboration with another author: "Somebody would have to come in and help me do a sequel to it. Someone who had the stomach for the stamina to think along those lines, to get into the head; if you're going to start writing about Reinhard Heydrich, for instance, you have to get into his face. Can you imagine getting into Reinhard Heydrich's face?"[22]

Two chapters of the proposed sequel were published in a collection of essays about Dick titled The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick.[23] The chapters describe Gestapo officers reporting to Nazi Party officials about their time-travel visits to a parallel world in which the Nazi conquest has failed, but which contains nuclear weapons, available for the stealing by the Nazis back to their world. Ring of Fire,[citation needed] describing the emergence of a hybrid Japanese–American culture, was a working title for the novel.[citation needed]

On occasion, Dick said that 1967's The Ganymede Takeover began as a sequel to The Man in the High Castle, but that it did not coalesce as such. Specifically, the Ganymedans occupying the Earth began as the Imperial Japanese occupying the conquered US.[citation needed]

Dick's novel Radio Free Albemuth also is rumored to have started as a sequel to The Man in the High Castle.[24] Dick described the plot of this early version of Radio Free Albemuth—then titled VALISystem A—writing: "... a divine and loving ETI [extraterrestrial intelligence] ... help[s] Hawthorne Abendsen, the protagonist-author in [The Man in the High Castle], continue on in his difficult life after the Nazi secret police finally got to him... VALISystem A, located in deep space, sees to it that nothing, absolutely nothing, can prevent Abendsen from finishing his novel."[24] The novel eventually evolved into a new story unrelated to The Man in the High Castle.[24] Dick ultimately abandoned the Albemuth book, unpublished during his lifetime, though portions were salvaged and used for 1981's VALIS.[24] The full book was published in 1985, three years after Dick's death.[25]

Forgot to mention this earlier.....

Their attention to alternate history detail was good.  For example in ep 10 where Wegener arrives in Berlin and is driven to the HQ, in the high shot of his car driving along the road, in the background we see an enormous domed structure. That was part of Hitlers plan to rebuild Berlin into a world architectural wonder. I don't remember the specs of the building but it would have been the largest domed structure in the world. Here's what it would have looked like:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Hitler%27s+Berlin+Model&FORM=RESTAB

Großer Platz

At the northern end of the avenue on the site of the Königsplatz (now the Platz der Republik) there was to be a large open forum known as Großer Platz with an area of around 350,000 square metres (3,767,369 square feet). This square was to be surrounded by the grandest buildings of all, with the Führer's palace on the west side on the site of the former Kroll Opera House, the 1894 Reichstag Building on the east side and the third Reich Chancellery and high command of the German Army on the south side (on either side of the square's entrance from the Avenue of Splendours). On the north side of the plaza, straddling the River Spree, Speer planned to build the centrepiece of the new Berlin, an enormous domed building, the Volkshalle (people's hall), designed by Hitler himself. It would still remain the largest enclosed space in the world had it been built. Although war came before work could begin, all the necessary land was acquired, and the engineering plans were worked out. The building would have been over 200 metres (656 feet) high and 250 metres (820 feet) in diameter, sixteen times larger than the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Albert Speer was put in charge of the project. Of course it never got off the ground.  He spent 20 years in Spandau prison rather than the hangmans noose, post-Nuremburg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Speer

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/hand-of-god/amazon-renews-man-in-the-high-58353.aspx

When season 2 starts I'll sign up for the free , one month 'trial' and cancel again after I watch all the eps. The rest of the new productions I wouldn't walk across the street to see, if they were free.

I watched the entire season during the free month trail. Interesting series. Looking forward to season two. One thing I found interesting is the older Hitler is almost a "moderate" in his views on further military aggression compared to others in the Nazi military. Those in the Nazi party see as weakness and want to take power. There seems to be many layers of evil on the German and Japanese sides.

Did Germany have supersonic aircraft in the late 50's/early 60's? Their rocket looks like a sinister Concorde.

The 'historic' Hitler had what most historians/medical observers/close associates at the time, think was rather obvious Parkinsons. So by '62 he would have been in much worse shape than his portrayal in MINTHC .

The only supersonic aircraft that the Germans had in that time period in 'this' world was this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-104_Starfighter

They lost 110 pilots in crashes in that plane. The USAF used it only for a brief time. It was tricky to fly and the Germans operated it in poor weather conditions and at lower altitudes than it was designed for.

That 'Concorde-looking' aircraft on the show wouldn't have been possible at that time period if we extrapolate possible aircraft development from 1945 to the early 60's. The Germans did pioneer swept wing designs during WWII but engines/fuel/and control systems weren't up to that level by the early 60's.

Also, you're right about the 'infighting' and general suspicions among the Nazi high command later in WWII, which would have likely intensified post-'45.
Clear back to the early days of the 3rd Reich, Hitler had Ernst Rohm's 'organization' wiped out because he regarded him as a dangerous rival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_R%C3%B6hm

That undercurrent of suspicion bubbled along in Hitler's thinking until his last days. In the bunker in Berlin in  '45 he was ranting about 'betrayal'.

I've done a lot of reading and study of those lunatics, there were so many of them, and of course have not been able to 'put a finger' on their psyches any more than the professional historians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch

During this "episode" Hermann Goering caught a bullet in the groin. The pain caused him to be addicted to Morphine for the rest of his life, although he committed suicide in prison (Cyanide capsule smuggled into his cell in a jar of cold cream.)

You may have already seen this, it's considered to be one of the most "successful" documentaries of all time by historians. Leni Riefenstahl lived into her 90's This is the full version, 1:40:00. It gives a "feeling" of their thought processes, as much as can be deduced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gVcHE2HcU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl