The Man in the High Castle recap: Kindness

Well, now things are starting to pick up on The Man in the High Castle. Now that we’ve seen parts of this new Grasshopper film, it’s safe to say things are getting rather…trippy? Surreal? Confusing? Scary? Let’s say all of the above, just to be on the safe side.

A lot has to happen before we get to the point of seeing the film, though, so let’s jump back and start with Frank, who’s patiently waiting at the bus terminal for Juliana to show up. Ed is with him and urges him to get on the bus and leave town, saying that he’ll put Jules on a bus later. Frank isn’t sure what’s happened to her, though, and he’s not leaving without her, so he doesn’t get on the bus.

Meanwhile, Joe and Jules are being held captive inside a room down at the docks. It turns out that the Yakuza have kidnapped them, but Jules manages to get free. Or rather, Karen and Lem buy her out of trouble, spending 10,000 yen just to have her free. Of course, Juliana wants to get Joe out, as well. But the price for him is 50,000 yen. Juliana agrees to get it, and it’s clear where she thinks she’ll get the money.

While heading back to her apartment, a waiting Ed steps in and brings her to his house, where Frank is holed up with Ed’s skeptical grandpa. Once there, Juliana details her capture and the need to get Joe out, asking for Frank’s 46,000 yen to get the job done. He very reluctantly agrees but only if he’s the one to deliver the money and bring Joe back.

While the official and unofficial members of the Resistance are trying to sort out how to get Joe and the film back, the Obergruppenführer is still dealing with a potential uprising against him. He visits Erik, the man who was shot when their convoy was attacked many episodes ago, in the hospital and tells him about his suspicions in regards to Heydrich. He hands Erik a note and says that if anything should happen to him, the letter should be given directly to Hitler.

The Obergruppenführer isn’t the only Nazi making plans. Heydrich has had Wegener released from custody in the hopes of exploiting his connection and goodwill with the Führer. After he chastises him for his treason, which involved handing over the plans for a Heisenberg device to the Japanese, he tells him he has a new plan for him. He’s going to Berlin with instructions to kill Hitler. Now this is the show I’ve been waiting for!

Meanwhile, Frank is on his way to hopefully save Joe. Before he meets up with the Yakuza, though, he heads to where he hid the gun he manufactured and takes it back for protection. Better to be safe than sorry when dealing with the Yakuza.

NEXT: What did I just watch?

Frank shows up at the docks, and as it turns out, it’s surprisingly easy to get Joe free. He hands over the 46,000 yen he has, and then Joe is delivered to him. Joe, being as stubborn as Juliana, refuses to leave without the film, though. So, when they’re finally making their way out, Joe snags Frank’s gun and shoots two guards and grabs the film, and the two make a daring escape.

Back at Ed’s place, Frank is ready to finally leave, but with the bus terminals now asking for sufficient identification, he and Jules can’t just get on a bus and leave. Ed gives them some money and says goodbye for now, hoping they’ll find a way out of town.

That leaves Juliana and Frank with only one person to turn to: Joe. They ask him if he can help them skip town, and while he’s reluctant, he agrees to try and figure something out. He calls the Obergruppenführer and tells him that he has the film but that he had to kill two men to get it. That means he needs a way out of the city. The Obergruppenführer agrees, but when Joe asks for safe passage for Juliana and Frank, he refuses.

Plus, the Obergruppenführer has a few other things on his mind. Once he realizes it’s Connolly, under the orders of Heydrich, who planned the hit on his route, he calls to meet with him alone on top of the Reich headquarters. Connolly makes the mistake of actually agreeing to meet him, and the Obergruppenführer throws him over the side of the building and calls it a suicide.

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While the Obergruppenführer is covering his tracks, it turns out that Kido is also involved in his own cover-up. When he meets with the Yakuza boss to talk about Joe and Frank, the boss lets him know that there’s no way Frank was the shooter. Instead, he proposes that Kido is covering up another theory: that a sniper from an opposing tower shot the Crown Prince and that the shooter was a Nazi agent.

He suggests that Kido is covering this up because it’s an act of war, and while the Nazis may want that, the Japanese are not necessarily in a place to engage in a war with them. Thus, Kido has focused on Frank as a scapegoat. But his plans may be for naught, as it seems the Crown Prince, after the assassination attempt, has a renewed interest in taking on the Nazis.

As exciting as all that is, this episode is about that final scene. When Juliana and Frank get to the school they’ve agreed to meet Joe at, they’re stuck waiting around for him. Frank wonders out loud why this film is so different anyways, prompting Juliana to set the film up in an auditorium and watch it.

What they see is fascinating and may just change the entire course of this show. They see devastation and a war-torn country, sure, but then they see a firing squad putting men on their knees in preparation for execution. One of those men, somehow, is Frank. He’s last in line, and as the Nazis execute them one by one, Frank and Jules watch in horror as Frank is executed, too. Then the camera pulls back to reveal the shooter. It’s Joe, dressed in Nazi gear.

I mean, what?! How can this film exist, and what does it mean? I have some trippy theories based on the use of the word Heisenberg and the idea of the uncertainty principle, but everything is so unclear right now. That’s exciting, though, and I can’t wait to tune in for the final episode of the season.