The Man in the High Castle recap: Revelations

For a show about Nazis, conspiracy theories, and propaganda films that could bring down a fascist government, The Man In The High Castle sure is moving at a sluggish pace. When “The Illustrated Woman” ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, with Juliana on the run from the Marshal, I fully expected the next episode to pick up the pace. Alas, “Revelations” is another episode that feels particularly belabored.

“Revelations” does pick up right where the last episode left off though, following Juliana through an abandoned shop in Canon City while the Marshal stalks her. He eventually catches up with her, backing her up against a railing and preparing to shoot her. Joe arrives just in time though and hits him over the head with a two-by-hour, and the two make their escape.

Of course, Juliana is stubborn though and still refuses to leave Canon City before she gets some answers. Her and Joe ask the albino man where Lemmel Washington lives and go to pay him a visit. Juliana tells him everything about her sister and the film, but when Lemmel says he’ll take the film now, Juliana refuses. She wants to meet the man who’s collecting the films. Lemmel reluctantly agrees, telling her that he’ll take them both to meet the Man in the High Castle.

With that plan in place for the next morning, Joe calls the Obergruppenführer and tells him that he’s set to meet the Man in the High Castle. He wants to know what his orders are if he does, and after the Obergruppenführer warns him about how dangerous the Man in the High Castle is, he tells him that is he sees him, he’s to execute him no matter the cost.

In San Francisco, Frank is mentally preparing to assassinate the Crown Prince of Japan. Ed knows something is up so he comes by to try and talk some sense into Frank. When he realizes what Frank’s plan is, he really loses it, telling him that his life will be over if he goes through with the assassination attempt. Frank comforts him though and tells him that he’ll destroy the gun, and that he wasn’t sure where to get bullets anyway. Spoiler alert: He’s totally lying.

While Frank is planning his attack, Trade Minister Togami seems to have plans of his own with the Nazi aid who he’s been plotting with. That man is seen making some sort of vile and putting it into an envelope that he writes “URGENT IMPORTANT” on, because that’s a good way to not draw attention to your top-secret object.

Anyway, Togami tells the Nazi that during the speech he’ll be seated next to the Science Minister and will only have a short amount of time to hand off the vile. It sounds like it’s the only chance to get whatever’s in the vile into the hands of the Science Minister, but why it’s so important is still a mystery.

NEXT: A wannabe Travis Bickle

Back in Canon City, Juliana and Joe wake up the next morning and set off for the Spirit Alley trail, where Lemmel is waiting to take them to the Man in the High Castle. At least that’s what they believe, but when Lemmel leads them into the forest he springs a number of men on them and takes Juliana’s film.

He still doesn’t trust either of them to meet the Man in the High Castle, especially Joe, who he knows is a Nazi because he managed to escape the attack and the Nazi’s never let anyone escape. Joe convinces him that he’s part of the Resistance though when he hands over his own film. Lemmel lets them go, but he warns them that if they go back to town the Marshal will surely kill them.

You would think that another near-death encounter would have Juliana heading home, but no, she wants to go back to Canon City. When she’s eventually chased by the Marshal yet again, Joe intervenes and tells him that he’s working for the Nazis and that if he attacks him, he’ll be reported to the Obergruppenführer.

That gives Juliana time to stage her own death. She drives away in her car, crashes it into a tree, and sets it on fire with the corpse she and Joe found sitting in the driver seat. It’s unclear whether the Marshal buys into the ruse, but for now it gives Juliana some time to plan her next move.

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That move is perhaps changed when she tries to call Frank and gets Ed instead. He tells her what Frank is about to do and that she needs to come home and stop him. It’s all she needs to hear to finally get on a bus back to San Francisco, as she leaves Joe behind and we get a cheesy “hand on the back of the bus window” moment as he fades into the distance.

Whenever Juliana gets back to San Francisco, things are going to be a bit more chaotic than before. Despite Frank’s plan, which even involves buying three illegal bullets from an antiques dealer, he ends up changing his mind and not shooting the Crown Prince when he sees a young boy watching him.

But, the big twist at the end of the episode sees the Crown Prince assassinated anyway, by an unknown shooter. That means that Frank is still a free man (for now), but more importantly, the chaos from the shooting stops Togami’s Nazi friend from getting the envelope with the vile to the Science Minister. I don’t know where everyone goes from here, but something tells me things are about to get a little crazier. At least I hope so.