High Castle

As usual, a wonderful glimpse into another time, with Foyle demonstrating the best of human nature. My only complaint is with the portrayal of the Clayton delMar character. His attempt at an American accent and demeanor is very distracting to the story and inaccurate to the extent this story reflects the activities of Standard Oil Company. Note to British actors/casting directors: most Americans do not affect a Texas accent and swagger. In this episode, it would have been more accurate for delMar (as the son of a rich industrialist based in New York) to have the "General American" accent. I watch a great deal of British-based television and it makes me a little mental that the Texas accent is the "go to" form.

I love Foyle's War and gave it 9 but must point out that whisky barrels would never have been left spaced apart and unsecured on a ship that was set to sail. Must be the fourth time we've watched this one.

The episode starts in 1942 with two young men trying to siphon off some whiskey from a ship bound for America.

We then move to London in 1946 when a dead man is found with the address of Clayton Del Mar who runs an American oil company. Del Mar has powerful contacts in Britain and elsewhere. He is working with middle eastern governments to get them to reduce being reliant on the Soviet Union and talk up British interests. Foyle is tasked by MI5 to investigate.

The dead man was involved in the Nuremberg trials as a translator. He had travelled from Germany to meet Del Mar. There seems to be some links between Del Mar's companies and helping the Nazis during the war.

Foyle sends Sam undercover to look after Clayton's infirm father who thinks his son may not have what it takes to run a powerful oil corporation. Foyle goes to Germany to find out more about the dead man who was a professor.

There is weakness in the writing of this story which is already overstretched. Sam needs to be a live in carer as she goes undercover. Sam just conveniently walks in on her husband consoling a young lady in the house who has lost her job. This enables to walk out of the house. The whole Soviet agent subplot in London was unnecessary. Some of the acting was a bit iffy. Both Rupert Vansittart as the MI5 Head and Nigel Lindsay as Clayton Del Mar were one dimensional

This episode is loaded with spy versus spy implications. It involves a man who has the skills to negotiate for Iranian oil. He is an evil man who is taking over his father's petroleum business, but who has no sense of morality. He is willing to step on anyone who gets in his way. His father (actually, the man who played Frazier Crane's father on that show) is an invalid and knows what his son is doing. In his own day he probably left a few bodies scattered around. Sam and her new husband aren't seeing eye to eye on the rights of women (though it is exacerbated by her pregnancy). She finds her husband in the arms of a female constituent who has asked for help and runs of in a huff. He was merely consoling her. She then takes a job, spying on the oil guy be reading to his father and then snooping around. At times it's hard to know the good guys from the bad. Foyle has become a pain in the ass of the leader of the investigative group he is working for. Of course, he will land on his feet, but it isn't always that's simple.

Loved 'Foyle's War' and was immediately hooked when first getting into it. Love it even more now, on re-watches things that didn't quite make sense at first are clearer and things that were not noticed or appreciated before are and much admired. Everything that came over as brilliant on first viewings still are brilliant on re-watches.

"High Castle" is the first episode of the sadly last season of this wonderful series and while it is a decent episode it's a long way from being one of the best 'Foyle's War' episodes. To me it's a lesser episode, that it's far from bad is a strong indication of how good 'Foyle's War' is and how fantastic the best episodes are in the series' prime. "High Castle" could have been better. Two of its biggest problems is the over-obviousness too early of the killer, written in such an over-the-top way that one knows that they're involved in some way from the start (the only other 'Foyle's War' episode to have a too obvious denouement is "Bleak Midwinter"), and Nigel Lindsay's hammy and one-dimensional performance (also sporting the single worst accent of the series).

Could care less for the flat underdeveloped character of Adam and there are parts of the story, like agreed the Vera subplot, that feel incomplete.

Still, there is a lot to like about "High Castle". Just had to get that mad clear before one got the impression of me disliking the episode. Which is further from the truth. The quality of the production values are high. with beautiful costumes, the evocative way the characters are made up, the look of the houses and cars, pretty locations and authentic-looking scenery. The music is in keeping with the mood and doesn't overpower the drama while still making an impact.

Writing is intelligent, sophisticated and thought-provoking while the story is suitably complicated (apart from the denouement, which is disappointing because most endings of 'Foyle's War' are very surprising) and intrigues.

One thing that wasn't picked up by me but now is and admired hugely is the tackling of what was seen as truths but some really misconceptions and seeing British during and after the war in a new light. This was a bold move and dealt with a lot of honesty and tact. The character tensions were also handled very well and added a lot of intrigue.

Michael Kitchen is truly superb as Foyle, subtle, intensely determined, commanding and above all human. One of the most interesting television detectives there's ever been and Kitchen has rarely been better. Honeysuckle Weeks is charming and loyal, am really liking that she is becoming more developed and coming into her own even more, and Hilda and Arthur are worthy regular characters, if not yet as interesting as Milner (missed but not enough to wish for his return).

It is a pity that Lindsay is not up to snuff, because the rest of the supporting cast do solidly. In particular John Mahoney who plays his father, he is excellent and like in 'Frasier' one can easily mistake him for an American (he may live in America, but he was actually born in England, that shocked me when first finding out).

To conclude, a decent episode with a lot of good things but considering the high calibre of 'Foyle's War' in general "High Castle" could have been much better. 7/10 Bethany Cox