The Man in the High Castle (TV Series) The Illustrated Woman (2015) User Reviews

Enjoying the show for the most part

[Steve7701-626-376885 · 8/10 · 21 August 2018]

I'm coming to the show 3 years late, mostly enjoying it. Not thrilled with the "Marshall" character, who's a bit too much of a comic book villain. Good actor, but I hope they tone him down a bit as the show moves on.

The Marshall will find you

[zahorskyakos-97981 · 8/10 · 6 August 2020]

After OGF. Smith we get another great foe in Burn Gormans Marshal, who really reinforces the wild-wild west setup for the neutral zone. I so far like the plot very much, it has just the right amount of conspiracy, and quite enough mystery. The somewhat bland main characters are perfectly aided by the side characters.

In general good, except few annoying issues

[deimosian · 6/10 · 23 December 2021]

After 3 episodes, the visuals still great. They manage to give the look of 60s America with the dark shadow of tyranny over it. But then come those huge buildings of the Nazi HQ and Nazi embassy which look bit too much. They are so huge they kimd of ruin the consistent look of the city. Like those huge building of Star Wars Coruscant.

Then there are some silly scenes that ruin the sense of realism or factualism the viewer supposedly emerged in. For example when the line faced man struggles to throw Juliana off of the bridge, but then she with a tiny unclear push makes him flying over the fence and falling down under the dam. Or when Juliana and Joe coming back to the city and the Marshal's car suddenly appear infront of them! I mean how did he know they are coming, he was just having those pork chops.

Such small details makes you feel like come on.. You don't really to put such cheap scenes that ruins the mood.

Just Killing Time

[mbloyd · 8 August 2017]

Three episodes in, and the show still has no direction. The Illustrated Woman offers little new of interest. There is, however, one major addition who sticks out like a sore thumb. That addition is a spaghetti western character complete with Stetson and rasp. He's essentially a bounty hunter/terminator of the Neutral Zone. He does not fit in tonally with the other characters, and would be more suited for a fantasy or sci-fi show. However, as broad as the Marshal is, at least he isn't boring. This is a contrast with the other, more prominently featured characters. Joe can be whatever you want him to be, because the writers and performance have given us nothing. Juliana is only slightly more developed, since we have seen evidence of her personal stake in the drama. There is no emotional weight behind anything Joe says because it all may be a lie. Frank is a much easier character to grasp. Plenty of potential speculation for his future plans by episode's end. The episode does show signs of life in its final minutes, with the scene in Copper Gulch Mine. The cliffhanger ending feels desperate, but at least something is happening. When the show was more dense and immersive, the flawed characters could be overlooked, but now that the budget has been lowered, the productions elements have been scaled back. Now its the same sets, with exteriors primarily confined to Canon City. The show will have to compensate for the lack of visual feast with more compelling drama.

Lots of plot holes & loose ends

[arclinecreative · 3/10 · 21 March 2020]

The trend seems to be to omit substance (Lost, Westworld, X-files, etc) . So many flaws i can't begin to list them. Philip Dick was a genius. The writers of this show, regardless of their credits, don't do this justice. Sorry, but it's very very thin with good visuals, but lost potential.