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[Fbh]

I know it's not that current anymore but I need to vent.

Got prime again for the Boys S2 and I also wanted to see the final season of The Man in the High Castle which was pretty enjoyable up until now.

This season was shit though and felt really rushed:
-The trade minister, one of the best characters, dies in between seasons and has literally zero screen time.
-Kido pulls a GOT and goes from being 2 steps ahead of everyone to being 3 steps behind.
-After 3 seasons of there being this one big "resistance" there's now a lot of screen time dedicated to this "Black Communist Rebellion" which comes out of nowhere and magically seems to be a lot better and more effective than the regular resistance at pretty much everything.
-The way Smith ends up dying was really underwhelming and rushed
- The actual ending was ....I don't even know what it was. When they showed the portal acting up at the beginning I thought maybe it would end with the "other world" attacking first, or even some shitty (but still better) twist ending where we see a Soviet version of Smith walk through the portal or something. But nope, what looks like random people just start walking out of it, Abendsen is like "it's happening" with no further detail...and that's it?
I think it's the first shitty ending where I then try to google some explanation and can't find any other than some shitty excuse from the producers saying something like "they wanted people to have their own interpretations".

 

[Compsiox]

Yeah they probably got the cancellation notice late in the game. I think they did the best they could. I mostly enjoyed the season probably because I love Inspector Kido and Smith.

I wish they didn't get cut short.

 

[Goro Majima]

I got whiplash from Smith's heel > face > heel character progression. He was the best character on the show by far and they gave him a really weird and abrupt ending. I'm not sure if it's because they realized that they somehow made the biggest Nazi on the show relatable and feel like one of the good guys or what?

Joe Blake and Tagomi leaving the show probably should have been the canary in the coal mine for the eventual awful ending. Frank's death was really one of the very few that felt inevitable yet poignant.

The BCR should have been implemented into the show in like season 1 for any of their story to feel like it had any payoff.

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

Black Panther lite was so tedious. Everytime that strand was on screen I wistfully longed for The Nazis. Such a shame, the Year Zero cliffhanger in S3 could have gone given us some chilling scenes and storylines. Or perhaps Hollywood didn't want to remind us it's already doing Year Zero

 

[Walter Matthau]

Really bad season and finale. I'm guessing the whole thing had to be rushed. There's no way their plan for Tagomi all along was an unceremonious death and all of the plot twists, conflicted characters, and random new plotlines felt like padding.

 

[Fbh]

I got whiplash from Smith's heel > face > heel character progression. He was the best character on the show by far and they gave him a really weird and abrupt ending. I'm not sure if it's because they realized that they somehow made the biggest Nazi on the show relatable and feel like one of the good guys or what?

Yeah the show was definitely weird in that the good guys (Juliana in particular) are kinda unlikable and boring, so the best characters by far end up being a Nazi, the head of the Kenpeitai and an Imperial Japanese minister lol.

Anyway, the jump from Smith sort of being at the top of the US to suddenly dying was way too quick. They definitely should have cut some of the unnecessary plot threads from the season in order to at least have 1 or 2 full chapters with him in command.

 

[frostyxc]

When the finale finished, I laughed and said (to myself because I'm super cool): "Wow, that was a waste of time."

This show had so much potential! I'm going to say it peaked at season one, followed by a slow decline through season three, and then it splatted into the wall by the end of season four. I'd almost rather have them do a whole series on the war in this The Man in the High Castle alternate universe; it would be cool, but expensive.

 

[Herr Edgy]

Reading this makes me glad I stopped watching a couple episodes into season 3.
Loved season 1 and 2, Smith was great and it was one of the rare times I felt like struggle being only human and hitting everyone alike, no matter if Nazi or regular potato, was conveyed really well.
I found Juliana always to be boring, Joe Blake as well, but Tagomi and Smith and that other Japanese dude of the kenpetei were carrying hard. For some reason the start of season 3 just didn't grip me, and I just stopped.

 

[Cycom]

Thought S1 was compelling. Started season 2 and it was clearly inferior. Stopped watching.

 

[Compsiox]

Reading this makes me glad I stopped watching a couple episodes into season 3.
Loved season 1 and 2, Smith was great and it was one of the rare times I felt like struggle being only human and hitting everyone alike, no matter if Nazi or regular potato, was conveyed really well.
I found Juliana always to be boring, Joe Blake as well, but Tagomi and Smith and that other Japanese dude of the kenpetei were carrying hard. For some reason the start of season 3 just didn't grip me, and I just stopped.

Lmao I know everyone but those 3 was a snorefest. I guess it's not exactly great if the whole time you're watching the show you're awaiting their appearances.

 

[iconmaster]

Thought S1 was compelling. Started season 2 and it was clearly inferior. Stopped watching.

The first season ends where Phillip K. Dick’s story ended. After that they were on their own

 

[Cycom]

The first season ends where Phillip K. Dick’s story ended. After that they were on their own

Makes sense. Like GoT when they ran out of the source material.

 

[Frito_Pendejo]

I quit watching after Joe Blake left. He was my favorite character on the show and was kinda bummed the route his character took.

 

[isual]

season 4 was horrible. not sure why, but as someone mentioned, probably late cancellation? too bad really, i liked the lead actress.
just not sure where things happened

 

[Trogdor1123]

Wasn't a fan of season 4 either. It felt like they wanted to make Smith the bad guy too fast after giving him a different path for the previous 3 seasons.

The trade minister disappearing was... Stupid.

The inspector became exactly what he wouldn't have ever became.

The end made literally zero sense. I took it that Julianna was totally crazy after what happened to and that nothing actually happened after she was in prison still and this was the only way she could mentally manage it.

The communist stuff literally made no sense.

Pretty bad ending to a very good show.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Stopped at Season 3. It got progressively boring.

 

[Revolutionary]

I've been thinking about watching this show, but from what I'm gathering in this thread, I should just watch the first season and stop?

 

[The Cockatrice]

I've been thinking about watching this show, but from what I'm gathering in this thread, I should just watch the first season and stop?

It's cliffhanger'ish at the end. People stopped not because the story can be enjoyed with just a season, but because characters started doing dumb nonsensical shit and it just got boring but the entire show is a story. Better to just avoid it I guess.

 

[Catphish]

I finished this last night. I loved it through Season 3. I won't bother enumerating the reasons, but I really enjoyed it. A lot. However, I'll echo the prevailing sentiment: Season 4, and the ending in particular, sucked.

Losing Tagomi like that stunted everything from the outset. The feeling that something was inherently wrong persisted with me through the entire season. Apparently, the actor (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) couldn't continue with TMITHC because of obligations to Netflix's Lost in Space. How the fuck does that even happen?

And, yes, the showrunners were notified at the end of season 3 that they were being cancelled, and season 4 would be the last. So, presumably, they crammed in as much shit as they could to wrap it up. And you could tell. It felt more rushed than the last season of GoT.

The whole BCR thing felt manufactured and shoehorned in. A seasoned, organized resistance that appeared out of fucking nowhere? Sure, ok. It did give a lot of soapbox opportunities, though...

The breakneck pace of Smith's rise gave me whiplash. The shifts in his character were confusing. The coup at the end was totally non-sensical and absolute plot-convenience.

And the masses pouring through the portal made no goddamned sense whatsoever. How do these people know what they're doing? Why would such a massive group show up? What happened to the ones that tried to cross that weren't dead on the other side? Did they not explode into goo at the attempt? Would that not dissuade the FUCK out of other people thinking of coming through? How did they even know about the portal? You go from zero people crossing over to suddenly the population of a small town just trundling the fuck through? Why is no one awe-struck or at least asking any fucking questions when they arrive? It's like they just strolled across the fucking quad.

Open to interpretation they say? I interpret it as lazy, banal, saccharine bullshit.

Gah, I'm so pissed I wasted 40 hours on this shit.

What I don't get is, TMITHC was supposed to be Amazon's first big foray into television. Why cancel it? Finish it properly, make it quality, and let it be something that draws people to it over time. It's not like they don't have the money. The show had the potential (like so many others) to be something truly unique, but was never given the opportunity to develop and mature. Horseshit.

Sigh, what could have been.

If you haven't seen it, don't bother. Unless you liked how you were treated by Lost, GoT, OA, etc...

 

[poppabk]

Pretty sure the cancelation fucked it. Shame because it was an interesting show that I think had more in it.

 

[Valonquar]

Yeah I hated everything they did to every character that season. So dumb. I'll watch anything with Rufus Sewell but that final season was just terrible every which way.

 

[AJUMP23]

I stopped watching during the second season.

 

[BadBurger]

The books didn't end satisfactorily either. Possibly even more confusing.

As for the TV show, I tapped out around episode 4. I found it boring and the actors really wooden.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Everytime that strand was on screen I wistfully longed for The Nazis.

 

[Doczu]

Thank you for reminding me how bad it ended OP...

I really liked the first two seasons, third one was taking a hit in quality, but season 4? My oh my...

I just started rooting forcthe Nazi's, hoping it would have a twist ending where the baddies win in this universe...

 

[Tams]

Yeah, seasons one and two were great, though not perfect. The world that they put on screen was very compelling.

Season three was pretty weak, but not bad.

Season four was prime bullshit and the ending an utter disgrace. I hope whoever come up with that ending never works in TV again.

Amazon don't seem to have learned much though going by the stinker that Rings of Power is. At least The Boys is still good.

 

[Shadowplay1979]

This show was good until PKD's story ran out ...ie season 1ish

 

[Denton]

I loved the show. Yes last season was weak and ending was lame, but journey was great, even if the destination wasn't.

 

[UnNamed]

I think the worst season was the first one, with few characters that go back and forth for no reason. I almost dropped the serie after the first season, but I stayed and I enjoyed the rest of the show. Probably the best season was the second season, the show could ended there with no problem.

Strangely the two most interesting characters are the ones created specifically for the serie, John Smith and Kido. Joe Blake was useless, Juliana boring but she improved during the seasons.

I like the ending, probably not the best ending but it had much sense if you think about it, pay attention a bit and see every characters arc.

 

[Catphish]

I like the ending, probably not the best ending but it had much sense if you think about it, pay attention a bit and see every characters arc.

Please explain how the people swarming through the portal made any sense at all.

 

[UnNamed]

Please explain how the people swarming through the portal made any sense at all.

No, that part was truly useless. But I find Kido and Smith arcs pretty convincing.

 

[ahtlas7]

It had promise in season 1 but became a slow train wreck into obscurity.

 

[BadBurger]

I tried to get into it, but it lacked the odd and somewhat disarming vision of the future from the book, and took too long to get to the point. Given that it was adapting what was barely more than a novella, I think it would have been a far better adaptation if it was a limited series of about eight episodes.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I've finally watched the whole thing and I'm super disappointed. Seasons 1 & 2 of the show were awesome. You can sense the producers and writers were told to make the show more 'progressive' in season 3. Suddenly we got a lesbian AND a gay relationship, the show cried about the Jews a lot more and got rid of Joe in a poorly made scene. But that's still nothing compared to the trainwreck of season 4:

- For fuck's sake YOU DON'T KILL THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER OFF CAMERA and expect you're gonna get away with it. I assume there were some issues with the actor's contract, but they've picked the worst route, even switching the actor for this role would've been a better outcome.
- The way they injected the 'BLM movement' storyline was just hilariously bad - I'm supposed to care about a bunch of unknown characters and be convinced they were able to force the Japanese invaders to leave their lands. Not to mention they're being pictured only as the good ones who won't allow for stuff like executing Kido on the spot for the terrible things he's done in the past.
- Kido's son storyline was the worst kind of filler, Childan's was only slightly better.
- I actually enjoyed the (short) confrontation between Juliana & Smith, but the very last scene was dumb. Why not have some representative of the other side go through the portal? Heck, they could even use that opportunity to bring back someone like (another) Smith or Tagomi and I'd be okay with that.

Honestly if I knew what would happen with seasons 3 & 4 I'd just stop watching after season 2. It has a good final episode which could work as a series finale assuming you're okay with leaving the alternative realities stuff to your imagination.