This October brings season 3 of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, and with it a much more action-packed storyline, as made evident by the new trailer. The series has been on a strange trajectory after original showrunner Frank Spotniz left during season 2. The result was an uneven second season that wavered at times between an exploration of the spread of fascism throughout the world, and telling a much more conventional good vs. evil story, amplified by an array of science fiction elements poised to pin its narrative ambitions on dimension-hopping Nazis.
With the show’s third season set to premiere in a few weeks’ time — and a fourth, possibly final season, already ordered — it has become increasingly clear where the series intends to go. The newest trailer follows in the footsteps of the first, showing Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) and newcomer Wyatt Price (Jason O’Mara) on the front lines of a campaign to overthrow the U.S.’s Nazi oppressors, and in doing so, expose the truth about alternate dimensions — i.e., ones where the Axis powers were defeated in World War II.
More: Disenchantment Review: Matt Groening Returns, But The Magic Isn’t Quite ThereThe new trailer shows a more focused series than in seasons past, one that’s loaded with incendiary images, like the Liberty Bell being melted down and what appears to be the Statue of Liberty being toppled. But it also shows a growing resistance movement taking to the streets in defiance of the fascist regime. But what would an alternate history, science fiction narrative be without a bunch of evil Nazis building a machine to gain entry to alternate dimensions, with the intention of conquering them, naturally.
Season 3 is in stark contrast to the previous two seasons of The Man in the High Castle, though, oddly enough, it feels like one of several different avenues this series could have ventured down on its way to a conclusion. Though it seems unlikely that Spotniz (or author Philip K. Dick, for that matter) ever intended to take this story down such a deliberately science fiction-y path, at least the series has found a clear strategy in terms of what it plans to do with the narrative.
With its cover of U2’s Pride (In the Name of Love) and shot of Juliana’s face emblazoned on what appears to be a revolutionary flag, the trailer flirts some mawkishness in its storytelling ambitions. Nevertheless, viewers will get to find out where the series is headed this October.
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The Man in the High Castle season 3 premieres Friday, October 5, 2018 on Amazon Prime Video.
