Tag: resistance rises

Join the Resistance!

Posted on by in Grasshopper Nation, High Castle

It is finally here, and I am thrilled to own one of the Man in the High Castle promo packages from 2017 at long last!

Resistance Radio Promo from 2017
Resistance Radio Promo: Inside the paper record player

I remember when everyone was posting their photos of it on Twitter, and though I knew there was a 0% chance that I’d be surprised by one in the mail, I still checked every single day in hopes of mysteriously finding one inside my mailbox. In my, oh so fan, defense, they had my mailing address already. I won a signed promo poster for Season 2.

I’ve mentioned how much I wanted one before (and let’s just say how much = A. LOT. A hell of a lot.), and I still cannot believe I was able to get my hands on one. Yes, I really have longed for one over the past four years. 

I’m still blown away by the creativity behind it. It was such a clever way to slip Resistance Radio inside a fictitious GNR songbook, immersing you into the world of Philip K. Dick. It honestly feels like a traveler from their universe brought it to ours!

Let’s dive into the closeups
  • Record sleeve: On the surface it looks like it’s GNR propaganda…
  • Back of the record sleeve
  • Promo Package Record: Side A
    The Resistance slipped something inside!
  • Promo Package Record: Side B
    Yes, this is a real, playable 45.
  • The paper record player and needle
  • Back of the paper record player
  • Resistance Radio Promo from 2017
    Resistance Radio Promo: Inside the paper record player

Mine did not come with the fold-able leaflet with the convention details on it or the original box (you’ll see photos of them in the link below). I haven’t used the paper record player (I am terrified of damaging the record with the needle, ha ha!). I am looking at used record players as I write this.

As I poked around the Internet, reminiscing, I stumbled about on great blog post by Christy Dena. She gives a full (and detailed!) account of receiving hers, trying to play the record, and finding references to Resistance Radio in season 2. 

The Man in the High Castle S3 Trailer!

Posted on by in High Castle

I’ve been meaning to make a recap post ever since they dropped that badass trailer, but every time I sit down and think about it, I change my S3 theories and have more and more questions.

Here is the trailer for those of you who haven’t seen it yet or just want to enjoy 2 minutes of badassary:

Season 3 Official Trailer

I don’t even know where to begin! There are so many things going on in a multiverse of directions, that my head hurts (in a good way)! One thing is for certain: Season 3 is going to differ greatly from the previous two seasons. Is that good or bad? Only October 5th can tell.

My Takeaways:

1. The Resistance plays a huge role in this season with Juliana at the helm, gathering support, sharing the films, and lighting a fire under people who were otherwise complacent.   

2. There is a growing movement against Chief Inspector Kido that turns violent at one point (the clip they played at SDCC made it look like they were angry about fuel prices, but it seems to be more than that).

3. Someone new is controlling things at the Reich now that Hitler’s dead, someone even more insane—or so it appears, because the destruction of American artifacts like the Statue of Liberty looks like it came straight out of the mind of a comic book villain (my other theory is that the “Americans” decide to do this as some warped display of loyalty).

4. Joe’s loyalties remain ambiguous, but that’s the strength of his character.

5. John has a much more powerful role now (not that he wasn’t powerful before).

6. John is directly involved with the multiverse machine and may even travel to one of the other realities.

7. What is this possible war John mentioned? You could hear the fear in his voice as he spoke to Helen. Is the Japanese empire going to head for war after all? 

8. A nuke explodes in the trailer, and my guess is that it is a test because of its location. The Japanese empire got the blueprints for building nukes all the way back in Season 1.

A book based theory:
If you’ve read the book, you know what happens to Joe Blake at the end. I have a gut feeling that Jason O’Mara’s character ends up being like the book version of Joe. It makes so much sense from clips of him I’ve seen.

1. He’s very friendly with Juliana
2. He knows she can get to the Man in the High Castle
3. It makes sense that someone would send a spy into her circle

Here’s to October 5th! 
I want to go back and look at my theories after S3 airs and see if I’m spot on, barely missed the mark, or am completely and utterly off base.

High Castle Awakens

Posted on by in High Castle

After two long years, we finally have a release date for Season 3!
October 5th, 2018

Before I delve into the panel at SDCC and the trailer, I want to give a huge thank you to @nerdeeklife for live tweeting it.

As I sat down to put my thoughts together (with High Castle, there are always a million different thoughts running along side each other—sort of like the multiverse!), I decided to organize them into three parts:
Takeaways from the panel
Takeaways from the trailer
Thoughts, theories, and questions

Takeaways from the panel

  • Smith is in a difficult, dark place and commits even further to the Reich. He finds out about the multiverse, and it becomes an obsession (remember the clip from NYCC? The expression on his face says it all). 
  • The resistance plays a prominent role.
  • When asked to describe Season 3 in three words during his takeover of @AmazonVideo IG stories, Jason O’Mara said, “Resistance. Twists. Turns.” 
  • Juliana becomes a leader and a fighter within the resistance. 
  • We will see a lot more of the neutral zone (I mean, it goes without saying since the Resistance will be heavily featured throughout S3). 
  • There will be a larger sci-fi element because of the multiverse. 
  • We’ll learn more about Hawthorne. 
  • High Castle has been renewed for a 4th season!

Takeaways from the trailer

I was speechless after the first time I watched it. I don’t want to admit how many times I’ve seen it since! 
  • The Pacific States are mobilizing their Navy (you can see the Yamato with a fleet of ships near the golden gate bridge). 
  • There is a fuel/gas shortage in the Pacific States, and it is so bad that the citizens are protesting and lashing out against their occupiers.
  • A lot of action involving Juliana and the resistance (guns and explosions).
  • The Reich has a multiverse machine of some sort that Juliana wants to destroy. 
  • Joe says something in favor of the Reich expanding in one flash, and in another, he’s taking a swing at Smith’s aid, Erich Raeder. 
  • Smith is rewarded for his actions in S2. Smith is shocked beyond belief at the end of the trailer. 
  • Juliana is in a prison cell.

Thoughts, theories, and questions

I don’t even know where to begin. After two years of silence, we were showered with news, clues, and clips of Season 3 all within the span of an hour!

I knew Smith would get obsessed with the multiverse from the clip shown at NYCC. My theories for him still stand.

At the panel, Alexa Davalos said that she loves playing Juliana because everything she does is from a place of love. I hope this means that she will change the resistance and mold it into something worth rooting for. I have a gut feeling she will because of the teaser trailer where we see someone sewing a Reich flag into a symbol of peace instead of just tearing it apart like we’ve seen in other shows/movies a million times. Juliana destroyed the films about Thomas’s illness, after all!

As for the scene at the end of the trailer where it looks like John walks into Juliana’s cell and is shocked to see her there, it it is either a clever editing combo of two very different scenes or something more. I can’t help but wonder if Juliana dies and then a Juliana from another universe travels to his, or he sees her disappearing into another reality before his very eyes–I have so many questions!

With all that being said, it is clear that the resistance will be one of the major players (right up there with the Reich and Pacific States). TMITHC thus far has been a unique, creative show which paints characters in realistic shades of grey. I have high hopes that they will continue to produce great content—that teaser trailer.

They could have just had a resistance fighter burn it and shout something cliché like “Freedom!” but no. They showed someone sewing it into something that represents good. I’ve never seen that done before, and that, my friends, is why I have high hopes for Season 3.

I couldn’t fit everything I wanted to say in one post, which means there will be more posts in the future!

After two long years, I look forward to what is in store for us.

I’ll leave you with a bit of fanart I drew ages ago when I thought they were going to announce S3’s release date (you don’t want to know how long ago that was, ha ha!):

Which one do you feed?