When the 6th episode begins, Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank) arrives at Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith’s (Rufus Sewell) house for dinner. He brings flowers to Smith’s wife, Helen (Chelah Horsdal). Meanwhile, Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) and Frank (Rupert Evans) chat about meaningless things, before Juliana heads to work. John Smith’s son, Thomas (Quinn Lord), gives Joe a tour of the house. During the tour, Joe discovers a stack of classified files, which are inside of a cabinet. When Joe attempts to open the cabinet and obtain the files, Thomas pulls out a shotgun and chats about his father’s hunting obsession.

Juliana makes it to work, while Joe throws ball with Thomas. The duo speak about Thomas’ desire to make his country a better place. John Smith arrives, aggressively tosses the ball in his son’s direction and whisks Joe away to the airport. Meanwhile, Juliana is taken to Tagomi’s office and ordered to work with him. During the visit, she sees the necklace on Tagomi’s desk. Inspector Kido (Joel de la Fuente) learns about the make of the gun and quickly goes on the hunt. Frank receives a visit from Juliana’s father, who seems worried about his daughter. At the airport, John Smith confirms that Helen’s mother was delayed. However, they do conveniently meet up with Rudolph Wegener (Carsten Norgaard), who has just arrived back in town.

Rudolph and Smith chat about the Crown Prince, before Rudolph agrees to return with Smith for dinner. Meanwhile, Juliana serves water to the Nazi and Japanese, during a crucial meeting. They chat about Trade Security. On the way back to Smith’s place, the trio talk about the future of the Reich and John’s ability to keep the resistance at bay. Next, the antique dealer, Mr. Childan (Brennan Brown), gets a visit from the Inspector, who questions about the bullets. He attempts to pretend that the bullets were purchased by a Mr. Matsuda and the Inspector seems to believe it. However, Childan’s fireman license is threatened.

Meanwhile, the Smith family has dinner with John and Rudolph, as they celebrate the holiday. Rudolph asks about John’s boat. John admits he hasn’t been out on the water for a long period of time. At work, Frank is confronted by his boss. The boss asks, if Frank’s employee record is accurate, because they’ve been requested. Next, Joe tells Helen about his complicated relationship, while she reveals John’s troubled past, due to the Crash. Helen manages to convince Joe to spend the night, so he doesn’t need to travel back into the city. Inside, John asks Rudolph about his mission in the Pacific States. John seems suspicious and doesn’t believe Rudolph was sent there for trading purposes only.

Next, Juliana is ordered to go to Mr Eto’s (Richard Ching) office, so she can get her employee badge. She is given 15 minutes to get there and back. Meanwhile, the Smith family sits around and watches a speech from Adolph Hitler (Wolf Muser). Unfortunately, the man looks nothing like the Fuhrer. Juliana stops in the middle of the hallway and digs the card out of her pantyhose. On the back of it, the card reads Sakura Iwazaru. She shoves it back into her pantyhose and continues on her way. Meanwhile, Joe heads to get pretzels for the family and attempts to break into the cabinet, which is now locked. He fails to do so and returns with the pretzels.

Juliana goes sneaking around and gets caught by Christine Tanaka (Amy Okuda). Christine helps her obtain the security pass, before Juliana asks about Sakura Iwazaru. She is told it means Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil and Cherry Blossom. Despite lingering around for a long time, Juliana manages to beat the 15 minute limit. Next, Tagomi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) is visited by the Inspector, who tells him that Rudolph is a Nazi. When asks about Rudolph fleeing, Tagomi insists there must be an innocent explanation. Tagomi is also questions about his diplomatic visa, but he refuses to tell who he gave it to. Before the Inspector leaves, Tagomi agrees to do everything he can to help.

Meanwhile, the Smith family shares a little wine. When John lifts the bottle, he exposes a key. Joe witnesses this and takes note. Rudolph chats with John about his admiration for the Japanese and his disgust for the concentration camps. Despite this, John insists they did what needed to be done. Joe eventually interrupts with a well timed Sieg Heil. Meanwhile, Frank receives a visit from Childan, who tells about the Inspector’s visit. They argue and both admit they rely on one another to remain safe. At the end of the work day, Tagomi thanks Juliana for her assistance. She tells him about SS Officer Oliver Diels (Alex Zahara) and insists she believes he was lying during the meeting.

Afterwards, Juliana returns home and argues with Frank, who blames her for almost everything. She reveals she has gotten a job at the Nippon. Frank gets angry and questions why Juliana would work for the government, which killed Trudy. Eventually, she tells about the S.D. agent trying to kill her in Canon City. Of course, Frank gets angry, when he learns that a man from the East Resistance provided her with assistance. Meanwhile, John confronts Joe and tells him that Rudolph is lying. He asks what he should do. He admits he wants to take him out into the woods and put a bullet into his skull. Afterwards, we see Rudolph preparing to leave. When the door is opened, Nazi soldiers await him outside.

Afterwards, Juliana sneaks into the Nippon building, after discover the answer to the riddle. She speaks with Christine and seeks a few additional translations. Christine helps, despite some concerns and fear of losing her job. Meanwhile, Frank heads to Mark Sampson’s (Michael Gaston) house for a Jewish prayer session. Juliana makes her way into a secret room, which seems to be spying on people’s conversations, while Joe prepares to break into John’s cabinet. Juliana steals information and rushes out, while Joe opens the cabinet and discovers that the papers are all blank. The light flips on and we see that John Smith is standing right behind him.

 

The Man in the High Castle Review

Unfortunately, this was probably the worst episode of the season thus far. It is somewhat mind boggling to think the writers believed it would be a good idea to transform the show into a love triangle between Juliana, Frank and Joe. The conveniences tallied up in this episode, as well. At times, it felt like the episode was pieced together by an invalid.

Although some aspects were good and the Smith family was definitely intriguing, the episode fell flat. A 6 out of 10 is probably generous. Check out other recaps of The Man in the High Castle right now.