Revisionist history shows hadn’t really been done often when The Man in the High Castle premiered on Amazon back in 2015. The Jeff Bezos-owned platform couldn’t help tapping into the much-used Philip K. Dick literary file.
The latter author has been mined to death in the way of his novels and short stories turning into major sci-fi movies and TV shows. He was clearly way ahead of the curve on sci-fi subjects like this, though the old Fox show Sliders was one of the few exceptions in exploring the alternate timeline theory.
The Man in the High Castle postulated an alternative outcome for WWII where Nazi Germany and Japan had won the war. It became a haunting premise that caught on thanks to complex, innovative plots. After a successful season four this fall, though, fans have been wondering if a season five will ever really happen.
Where does ‘The Man in the High Castle’ stand after season 4?
Those who’ve watched the show from the beginning know it began in 1962 when a new American resistance was beginning on the U.S. East Coast where the Nazis were occupying. The main protagonists have gone through numerous plot developments since, including possessing films from a time portal that show alternative versions of WWII events.
Even one of the Japanese characters, Nobusuke Tagomi, finds himself transported to our own reality of 1962, where the allies won WWII and the country is in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
By the end of the fourth season this year, the plot had gone full circle in the East Coast finally overcoming Nazi rule (to some degree), plus the Japanese relinquishing control of the West Coast. At the end was a visitation to the portal Nazis had built to travel to alternate timelines.
Many critics were baffled with the passive people coming out of the portal in the final episode, though. There was no way to figure out whether these were individuals from alternate timelines or from somewhere else since they never explained themselves.
There won’t be a fifth season of ‘The Man in the High Castle’ to explain the ending
Unfortunately, The Man in the High Castle was cancelled after season four completed. For some, it’s a major shame since there was still a lot of fascinating story to tell. Despite one of the main SS villains (John Smith) killing himself, a lot of developments within the American Reich were left up in the air.
Trying to explain who those people were coming out of the portal is also driving more than a few people mad. According to some critics, it was simply meant to be ambiguous so the audience could decide for themselves what was going on.
In fact, this is what the show’s producer David Scarpa said when trying to explain things. He said the portal would remain open, essentially creating a bridge between two different worlds as some form of peace and normalcy. Not that anyone will know for sure since the show won’t be back, unless it’s ever revived later.
For other critics, the portal plot confusion kind of ruined the ending of the show with far too many questions. Everyone’s seen similar scenarios before in past show finales.
Will ‘The Man in the High Castle’ ever reboot, or did it run too long?
Bringing ambiguity in a show finale might seem like a cop-out in many cases. The Man in the High Castle perhaps didn’t have enough time to consider a more detailed explanation if they received a cancellation notice while filming.
Perhaps this opens the doors to a revival later. However, this alt-history show really worked better as a limited series concept. If the story could have continued in a million different directions thanks to the alt-reality territory, it can also get bogged down in too many scientific details.
No wonder we don’t see too many shows similar due to the potential of writers hitting a brick wall in plot complications. It’s a safe bet the streaming shows replacing The Man in the High Castle will be set firmly in our own reality, one that needs fixing on its own.
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