ALTERED STATE
How season three of The Man In The High Castle promises to increase its sci-fi quotient
It’s been almost two years since The Man in the High Castle left us dangling with cliffhangers like John Smith (Rufus Sewell) rising in the ranks of the Reich while Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) escaped New York to the Neutral Zone, where Hawthorne Abendsen (Stephen Root) revealed to her that alternate realities exist.
Now the third season arrives to further embrace the Philip K Dick of it all as Juliana is awake to worlds that could be infinitely better, or maybe worse, than the fascist one she’s only known. “It’s such an incredibly broad landscape and there are so many ways we can go with it,” actress Alexa Davalos tells Red Alert. “There are endless possibilities since there are infinite realities happening simultaneously so there is this incredible tapestry we can play with. Season three dives much deeper into the mythology, and into PKD and his notions of reality; how much of reality is out there, and then in your head. Juliana starts to syphon these visions and actually have memories of these other places.”
new world order
Davalos says that new awareness will make her more proactive in shaping her own destiny. “She now has an entirely different playing field, and a different deck of cards because she has this awareness,” she explains. “Having [her sister] Trudy put in front of her by Abendsen was, in my interpretation, to open the door of perception so she can see what is too abstract to grasp otherwise. It’s possible and real. So, she has a lot of breadcrumbs and she’s learning a lot that is hard for anyone to understand.” She’ll also have a new ally in Wyatt Price played by Jason O’Mara. The actor teases that, “He’s an Irish immigrant who came to the States and has escaped to the Neutral Zone. He’s set up a black market business in Denver and offers goods and services. He’s thriving and making the best of a bad situation. And without giving away too much, he then meets Juliana and his life is changed forever when they meet. I’ll say they get along very well.”
Meanwhile, Rufus Sewell says John Smith is now ostensibly commanding the Reich with Himmler. “For me, [this season] is a continuation of what was already happening, which are his doubts about this pact that he made which he felt was morally the right decision. He sided with Himmler because he felt either we let the Nazis’ nuke every city, or he uses capitulation to save his family. I think what’s happening with his son and his family informs everything he does at all times. As far as he’s concerned, that’s why he does everything. So now, he’s hitched his wagon to something that, in order to protect his family, has now turned around and said, ‘We’ll have your children one at a time.’ He is the example of good people who do bad things. Smith represents Nazism, which is obviously bad, but within that, he’s a human being. Or, at least I’m trying to make him a human being.” TB
The Man In The High Castle returns to Amazon Prime Video on 5 October.