The original post: /r/television by /u/avidpretender on 2025-02-24 07:08:09.
Did not like it. 3 stars out of 10 if I’m being charitable. I often found myself rooting against the main characters because they operated in such a nonsensical way. Juliana in particular was very bland and Joe Blake was a deceptive Nazi that you’re encouraged to sympathize with as a viewer. And Juliana just eats it up which is frustrating more than anything. She lies constantly without even having a clear understanding of why she’s lying.
Obviously they’re gearing it towards Joe quitting the Nazi life in the end but they could’ve handled it a bit better. Frank Frink (what a name) had a somewhat interesting arc but even he was annoying to deal with. If he shot the prince he would been alright in my eyes. But no he cowers and decides to live in the grey until he’s wanted by pretty much every major organization. Just a fall guy who never did anything important.
John Smith and the Japanese leadership carried the show as far as the show could be carried. The angle with John’s son getting a serious illness in a society that doesn’t allow for it would make for something interesting in future seasons I’m sure. But don’t even get me started on the random bounty hunters in the neutral zone… Maybe it gets explained in the later seasons but there was no loose ends tied up as far as all that went. Nazis without any ties to the Nazi party?
And the one dude trying to melt a gun instead of just hiding it or tossing it somewhere was beyond stupid. His whole character was so pathetic to me. He shoots his friend and then takes the fall for the assassination without even really knowing what it meant. Boo. Dude needs better friends.
All in all there were very few moments where the acting, shot composition, lighting, plot devices, or pacing ever impressed me. Tagomi and Wegener had the best acting in the show, especially when they were together. It’s an amazing concept by an amazing writer, but the execution in TV format was laughably bad. So repetitive and boring. I’ll be experiencing the rest of the story via an hour-long YouTube breakdown so I get the rest of the story without hours more of disappointment.