It would have been better if they just destroyed the portal.I didn't get theast scene of all the people coming... "from everywhere" anyone care to explain?
It would have been better if they just destroyed the portal.I didn't get theast scene of all the people coming... "from everywhere" anyone care to explain?
Yes... You see, it has to do with...I didn't get theast scene of all the people coming... "from everywhere" anyone care to explain?
It really destroyed the whole theme that just played out where Helen said to John right before the crash they don't deserve to raise Thomas. You make hard choices and you either build good character or bad and the resulting consequences. Now they open the portal to endless other alternative realities and if you make horrible life choices you just go to another world. In my ending the portal is destroyed and they rebuild America.Yes... You see, it has to do with...
No clue. That made no sense to me. At all.
Which is too bad, because I thought it was a decent season with better acting especially. But that ending...
Fwiw, I liked the alternate universe here- no rejection. And I don't remember that being the common complaint about the show. Just thought much of it wasn't well done- the writing, casting and acting particularly.This is random hippling in Christmas Day as I enjoy a nice Bell’s stout between staging to my in laws arriving...
However I watched this (S1 & some of S2) after watching Stranger Things S1, and I’m surprised people so much liked the alternate universe in ST but so rejected it here. I realize the serious reality of WW2 makes it jarring - the viewer has to buy in to the alternate ending of the war, then they are asked to buy in to an alternate to the alternate, then within that you have to absorb the reason for that may be otherworldly.
The pacing is awful, I’ll say that. The guy playing Smith is the best of the lot IMO.Fwiw, I liked the alternate universe here- no rejection. And I don't remember that being the common complaint about the show. Just thought much of it wasn't well done- the writing, casting and acting particularly.
He carries the show, for sure.The pacing is awful, I’ll say that. The guy playing Smith is the best of the lot IMO.
Japanese trade ambassador imo... Thought he was stellarThe pacing is awful, I’ll say that. The guy playing Smith is the best of the lot IMO.
Yeah...I don't remember well at all. I think they were a part of previous seasons, but more as plot device (smugglers?) than plot driver. Even if in there, nothing like and no hints of the major factor they are this season.I’m about half way through the final season and have a question - the BCR - did I miss something in earlier seasons? Or did they literally come out of the blue this season? The whole thing is disjointed that a group that changes everything so much comes out of nowhere but already has such a massive organization.
I think there was plenty of explanation offered, in the PTSD of Kito's son and his hinted at experiences in Manchuria. Rather than commit more genocide (after fifteen plus useless years of it in Manchuria) at the price of their young they chose to leave. It would have been more believable if we had seen more signs of the ennui and PTSD issues in seasons past. It's as if the writers only realized that the Japanese had to contend with China without nuclear weapons only this season. It waould also have been nice to have the BCR exist in prior seasons (Lemuel knew them obviously, but had chosen to work for the man in the high castle)BCR out of the blue takes the Japanese out, who seem to give up for little reason.
The Emperor's speech made it sound like they were giving up the JPS to focus on the fight in Asia. Maybe I missed it or forgot something from previous seasons, but there seemed to be a disconnect. The focus of the show is how Kido's son has PTSD and he's starting to become delusional on why they are there/fighting for the JPS. The Crown Princess seems to follow that line and lean in a pacifist way. The BCR kills several leaders who lean her way. Then the BCR blow some things up and the Japanese just up an quit. And the reason is to keep fighting in Asia.I think there was plenty of explanation offered, in the PTSD of Kito's son and his hinted at experiences in Manchuria. Rather than commit more genocide (after fifteen plus useless years of it in Manchuria) at the price of their young they chose to leave. It would have been more believable if we had seen more signs of the ennui and PTSD issues in seasons past. It's as if the writers only realized that the Japanese had to contend with China without nuclear weapons only this season. It waould also have been nice to have the BCR exist in prior seasons (Lemuel knew them obviously, but had chosen to work for the man in the high castle)
Count me in the camp that doesn't understand the ending except perhaps as a political statement concerning the US today.
IIRC the Japanese invaded China (Manchuria) in 1931, which obviously predates the conflict withe the US by ten years. Look up the sacking of Nanjing as an example of the atrocities perpetrated there. So by the time the show is on we're in 1962 or so, with that conflict still going so that is a generation lost for Japan, at the very least.Andrew74 said:The Emperor's speech made it sound like they were giving up the JPS to focus on the fight in Asia. Maybe I missed it or forgot something from previous seasons, but there seemed to be a disconnect. The focus of the show is how Kido's son has PTSD and he's starting to become delusional on why they are there/fighting for the JPS. The Crown Princess seems to follow that line and lean in a pacifist way. The BCR kills several leaders who lean her way. Then the BCR blow some things up and the Japanese just up an quit. And the reason is to keep fighting in Asia.
Was it a war between countries or were the Japanese fighting rebels in conquered territories? I had assumed the latter from maps, etc., in the show.
I can see the reasoning behind the show but it requires (to me) a lot of assumptions and filling in the blanks. Seemed like a rush job to wrap everything up. Overall I thought the show was fine.
I think the Japanese were wanting to leave because they were stretched too thin, especially with- based on the sons description- a losing effort in Asia.Andrew74 said:The Emperor's speech made it sound like they were giving up the JPS to focus on the fight in Asia. Maybe I missed it or forgot something from previous seasons, but there seemed to be a disconnect. The focus of the show is how Kido's son has PTSD and he's starting to become delusional on why they are there/fighting for the JPS. The Crown Princess seems to follow that line and lean in a pacifist way. The BCR kills several leaders who lean her way. Then the BCR blow some things up and the Japanese just up an quit. And the reason is to keep fighting in Asia.
Was it a war between countries or were the Japanese fighting rebels in conquered territories? I had assumed the latter from maps, etc., in the show.
I can see the reasoning behind the show but it requires (to me) a lot of assumptions and filling in the blanks. Seemed like a rush job to wrap everything up. Overall I thought the show was fine.
Not as such, but of the toll it was taking on the Japanese youth (young men) - exemplified by the obvious losses and PTSD. A realisation that if your young men are broken or dead, you are losing anyway? As said before it would have been stronger had they hinted at troubles before this seasonI think the Japanese were wanting to leave because they were stretched too thin, especially with- based on the sons description- a losing effort in Asia.
But seemed counter culture to just tuck tail and run when attacked in the US. I'd have figured they'd do something to save face instead.
Eta... I didn't see them leaving because they felt bad about atrocities.
The Nazis would drop lines like, “they are on the verge of collapse”, but without any confirmation, I assumed it was all hyperbole/self delusion/master race thinking.msommer said:Not as such, but of the toll it was taking on the Japanese youth (young men) - exemplified by the obvious losses and PTSD. A realisation that if your young men are broken or dead, you are losing anyway? As said before it would have been stronger had they hinted at troubles before this season
That was a skin-crawling moment when it showed the population estimates, camp sites, gas chamber blueprints, etc.Obergruppenführer John Smith reviewing detailed plans for concentration camps across America gave me chills.
It's almost inconceivable to think that kind of atrocity is based on reality.
It most definitely affected me emotionally seeing how everything was planned out like it was nothing more than a bridge being built.That was a skin-crawling moment when it showed the population estimates, camp sites, gas chamber blueprints, etc.
This Twitter handle is a good follow (@RealTimeWWII) - I know the history well but the events that happen never cease to shock me.
I feel like his alt world death may have finalized his conversion to the dark sideI kept waiting for John Smith to turn back to the good side. His arc with the flashbacks to when the war ended, Daniel, etc and then going to see Thomas in the other reality seemed to suggest he was heading down that path. Then he becomes the leader of America and I'm thinking, yes, this is it. His right hand man has already made statements that they could take back the country. Now he has the power and means...yet he orders the strike on SF? His answer to Helen when she tells them that they can change...."I don't know how." That really said a lot.
I really thought we were going to find out that he was taking the country back (especially after what happened in Berlin), only to have Helen turn him over to the rebellion and they kill him before he could put it into motion. Or that the strike he ordered wasn't on SF but either top Nazi bases in America or Berlin.
Juliana did not kill out of revenge, she killed out of necessity. So she would not be concern with hunting him down in other alternative worlds.I think an ending that would have made more sense is that John Smith makes it back to the portal, jumps in, only to find that he failed at saving Thomas in Vietnam. John then determines he is going to continue to seek alternate universes until he can find one where he can bring him back (only to fail every time). Juliana decides to follow Smith through the alternate universes as she tries to kill him.
First season was good but now I find myself hitting the “advance 10 seconds” button frequently to just see how this plays out.Finally finished this. I love this show and every part of it. The end of episode 9 should have been a fine ending for me.