The 2015 premiere of The Man within the Excessive Fortress on Prime Video marked the primary time the younger streaming service had produced an authentic sci-fi collection, setting the stage for larger hits like Fallout and The Boys. Greater than a decade later, the alt-history collection set in a world the place the Axis powers received World Struggle II is out there to stream on Netflix for the primary time, opening it up to an enormous new viewers.
In the event you’re fascinated by watching The Man within the Excessive Fortress you completely ought to, however there’s a catch. Whereas the collection ran for 4 seasons, do your self a favor and cease watching after season 2, when the present’s sci-fi components began to get in the best way of the wealthy character tales.
Collection creator and season 1 showrunner Frank Spotnitz does an outstanding job introducing the world of The Man within the Excessive Fortress with a Video games of Thrones-style opening sequence. Set to a creepy model of The Sound of Music tune “Edelweiss,” it exhibits a map of america carved into the Larger Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States, with a Impartial Zone in between that hugs the Rocky Mountain vary. The present’s first scene is a propaganda quick taking part in in a U.S. theater. Its photos of a bald eagle, joyful suburban households, and the house program wouldn’t really feel misplaced in the actual 1962. However when the American flag unfurls, there’s a swastika on it.
Philip Okay. Dick’s 1962 e-book The Man within the Excessive Fortress was totally targeted on an alt-history San Francisco, however the present’s finest innovation is to additionally spend loads of time within the Reich. The Man within the Excessive Fortress feels disturbingly prescient at a time when the president of america has dined with white supremacists, authorities social media accounts are sharing Nazi slogans, and Younger Republican leaders are declaring their love for Hitler. It’s a present about how simple it’s to just accept the established order if it advantages you personally, and what it takes to snap folks out of their complacency.
By season 1, Japan and Germany have settled into an uneasy Chilly Struggle in an echo of how the U.S. and the Soviet Union went from World Struggle II allies to fierce rivals. Germany received WWII by nuking Washington, D.C., and Japan continues to be making an attempt to get nuclear weapons for themselves.
The alt-history geopolitical tinderbox is compelling sufficient, however then issues get bizarre. Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) appears to be having fun with her life in Japan-occupied San Francisco when she’s given a mysterious bundle by her sister, who is instantly killed by Japanese authorities. The bundle seems to be a newsreel that exhibits footage of the Allies celebrating their victory in World Struggle II.
That unattainable movie and her sister’s dying instantly radicalizes Juliana, setting her on a quest to assist the resistance get the footage to a mysterious determine often called the Man within the Excessive Fortress (Stephen Root). The movie represents a world the place the Nazis will be defeated, and the Reich is understandably very motivated to cease any extra folks from seeing it. Juliana’s reckless pursuit of her new objectives additionally has dire penalties for her boyfriend, Frank Frink (Rupert Evans), a manufacturing unit employee and aspiring artist. His tragic story is a testomony to how badly fascist makes an attempt to crack down on dissent can backfire.
There’s a variety of very heavy and transferring materials in The Man within the Excessive Fortress – a secret Jewish neighborhood’s use of the Mourner’s Kaddish as an act of each grief and resistance is some of the highly effective moments within the present — however the collection doesn’t wallow in dystopian torture porn as a lot as The Handmaid’s Story. The present is at instances very humorous, notably with scenes involving the snobby vintage retailer proprietor Robert Childan (Brennan Brown), who’s himself radicalized as soon as he realizes the Japanese will all the time see him as inferior.
However the very best story arc belongs to the present’s wholly authentic character, Obergruppenführer John Smith (Rufus Sewell). Smith lives the American dream along with his lovely household on Lengthy Island, largely detached to the truth that their residence was as soon as occupied by Jews the Nazis murdered. He’s principally involved with Nazi intrigue and politics, till he discovers his son, a proud member of the Hitler Youth, has muscular dystrophy – a dying sentence due to the Reich’s views on incapacity. That plot reaches a fantastic conclusion within the season 2 finale, and the present by no means achieves that emotional top once more.
The Man within the Excessive Fortress had a special showrunner for every of its 4 seasons. Erik Oleson, who went on to helm Prime Video’s Carnival Row and the ultimate season of Netflix’s Daredevil, skillfully took the reins in season 2. However there’s a steep drop off in high quality in season 3, when Treme co-creator Eric Overmyer took over. The present nonetheless has some robust moments, notably involving the story of Frank and his co-worker/buddy Ed McCarthy (DJ Qualls), however the plot shifts too removed from human-driven tales into the workings of the multiverse. It additionally unnecessarily ups the already excessive stakes with a Nazi scheme to invade different realities.
In the event you’re a completionist, you possibly can watch all of The Man within the Excessive Fortress, however for the very best expertise you possibly can simply benefit from the first two seasons. And in the event you’re nonetheless left craving extra alt-history tales of Nazis in America, go watch David Simon’s prescient alt-history miniseries The Plot In opposition to America on HBO Max.
The Man within the Excessive Fortress is streaming now on Netflix, Prime Video, and MGM Plus.
