In this alternate history, Germany and Japan have won WWII and split occupation of American territory.
In New York, Joe Blake is looking for a job in a factory.
So what is it that Joe is getting himself into?
Credit: Liane Hentscher/Amazon
Mr. Warren is an American working against the ruling Nazi regime.
Just as Joe sets out for his delivery the Nazis storm the place.
While Joe gets away, Mr. Warren is taken captive.
Later that day, Juliana sees her again, but this time Trudy is panicked.
She hands Juliana a package of some sort and tells her that its a way out.
Its a film labeledThe Grasshopper Lies Heavy.
Juliana watches it over and over again, tears in her eyes.
When Frank comes home and sees what shes watching, he flips out.
He says its an anti-war film created by someone called The Man in the High Castle.
Juliana doesnt believe its fiction, though.
She believes the images are real.
When Frank insists the images are fake, she replies, thats what they told us.
Thus,The Man in the High Castlebegins to build its conspiracy theory thriller narrative.
Meanwhile, the Nazis have taken Mr. Warren to Rikers Island, where theyre torturing him for information.
He refuses to give up where Joe was headed, but for the Obergruppenfuhrer, his resistance hardly matters.
That cargo turns out to be another copy ofThe Grasshopper Lies Heavy.
Joe finds it stashed underneath the truck just before he heads into the neutral zone.
The waiter seems ready to do something horrible to Juliana before Joe shows up and pays for her.
The two strike up a conversation, with Juliana introducing herself as Trudy.
You werent looking for anyone named Trudy, were you?
she says, to which Joe says no.
What does Joe want, though?
And how much can Juliana trust him?
In the final scene, its unclear just whose side Joe is on.
He looks at his watch and realizes he has to make a phone call.
Is Joe part of the Resistance and looking to infiltrate the Nazis?
WhateverThe Grasshopper Lies Heavyreally is, its certainly causing a lot of chaos for those closest to it.
