Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 179

Manifest 1.3: The Murdered Passenger

A fairly interesting Manifest 1.3 tonight, centering around the murder of a passenger on the flight that skipped forward in time, Kelly.   It turns out that her death was apparently just a run-of-the-mill murder - by a significant other who didn't like how Kelly was treating her after the return - but the end of the episode provided a more important payoff for the overall narrative.  Or, rather, a question: why did the Feds take her body?

And just prior to that, we get the reveal that the survivors have a strange element in their blood, thought to be brought on by near-death experiences.   So where do those two factors leave us?

Are the Feds hiding evidence because they don't know or understand what happened to the flight, either?  Or are they the architects of what happened?  And while we're on the subject of knowing, do the passengers themselves have some kind of repressed memories of what happened?

Unfortunately, all of this moves so slowly on network television, interrupted by commercials, that it's hard to maintain interest.   Add to that a slew of acting that's close to robotic - a common problem with the network television (think of The Crossing or Somewhere Between for recent examples).  All of which leaves Manifest as an excellent idea, with a development that could be twice as astute and compelling.

But sucker for anything time travel that I am, I'll keep watching and reviewing it.

See also Manifest 1.1: Canterbury Voices ... Manifest 1.2: Arthur C. Clarke's Magic

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The Man in the High Castle 3.7-10: The Metaphysics of Alternate Realities

The Man in the High Castle saved its crucial metaphysical reveal until nearly the last scene of the last episode, where Abendsen (the actual man in the high castle) explains to Smith that you can travel to an alternate reality only if you're no longer alive in that alternate world.  This means Smith can bring back his son Thomas to his/our world (in which the Nazis and Japanese won the Second World War), Juliana can escape our reality to the one in which she saw herself killed (which she presumably does, also near the end), Joe can come back to our world (in which Juliana killed him) - though I hardly missed him in these last four episodes - and kinds of similar possibilities.

But precluded in this metaphysics is Himmler's fevered dream of Nazis marching into all alternate realities via Mengele's transport, which Himmler is not likely to get too upset about if he doesn't survive the surgery.  I hope he doesn't - good for Wyatt/Liam for shooting him.  Maybe Goebbels will succeed him.  He was smarter, anyway - with a PhD from the University of Heidelberg - and less of a ranting lunatic, but just as evil.

As I said in my previous review, though, the movement of people through alternate realities deprives death of its meaning.  So if Himmler dies, he can still come back to our point-of-view reality, as could Hitler himself for that matter.   But so could Frank.   The portals are equal opportunity conveyors of people who are bad and good.

This third season of The Man in the High Castle was one good piece of work, lifting the overall series to the best science fiction I've ever seen on television.   The iconic scene of the Statue of Liberty going down typifies the pull-no-punches cinematography of this series.   And the interjection of people from our real history such as J. Edgar Hoover, especially in the New York story, was just outstanding, as I noted earlier.  Hey, maybe we'll see Fred Trump in 1962 Nazi New York next season.

I'll be watching and reviewing it whoever's in it.

See also The Man in the High Castle 3.1: Real People in Alternate History ... The Man in the High Castle 3.2-3: Alternate Realities, Frederic Brown, and Rockwells ... The Man in the High Castle 3.4-6: "Tis Death that's Dead"
And see also The Man in the High Castle 2.1-2.3: My Heimisch Town ... The Man in the High Castle 2.4-2.6: Rails and Realities ... The Man in the High Castle 2.7-2.10: Alternate Reality to the Rescue, Literally

And see also The Man in the High Castle on Amazon ... The Man in the High Castle 2-10: Timely Alternate Reality Par Excellence ... The Man in the High Castle in Reality - Well, on NYC Subway Cars


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The Man in the High Castle 3.4-6: "Tis Death that's Dead"

The Man in the High Castle episodes 3.4-6 contain the biggest stunner of the series.   It's so unexpected, and handled so well, that I won't say what it is, on the slim chance that you're reading this and haven't yet seen these three episodes.

I will offer this proviso:  when you're dealing with intersecting alternate realities, as The Man in the High Castle is most surely doing this season, anything that happens in our point-of-view reality can be reversed or undone, or at very least deprived of its impact, by the same character or characters from another reality popping into ours (or arriving by whatever means).  Or as the poet Shelley wrote about Keats in our reality, "tis death that's dead not he".

And the potential for undoing or reversing animates everything and everyone in the multi-verse that this season of The Man in the High Castle has become.  All that remains in question in which things or people.

Meanwhile, the action in our reality -- that is, the point-of-view alternate reality in which the Nazis and the Japanese won the Second World War -- remains taut and excellent.  I said in an earlier review that ARBI (American Reich Bureau of Investigation) Director J. Edgar Hoover would always act in his own best interest, and that's just what he does in these episodes, as Smith, always one step ahead of the game, uses Edgar to turn the tables.  The consequent killing of George Lincoln Rockwell (I never said there would be no spoilers at all in these reviews) is a satisfying touch, since Rockwell was in fact murdered in our off-screen reality, in which we won the war.  And speaking of deft details, we also learn that in this alternate history John Wayne left the screen to fight with the Americans (of course) and lost his life in the "Battle of Dayton," and Joe DiMaggio plays for the "New York Valkyries" (I hope they whip Boston, whatever their name).

Smith continues to be a riveting character - brilliantly played by Rufus Sewell (all the parts are well acted, but William Forsythe's sieg heiling J. Edgar also warrants special kudos) - and now we're tasked to wondering what he'll do about his wife. I just can't see him killing his wife, as Himmler told Smith he would have to do if she displayed any more weakness, but you can never be 100% sure about these things.

The final scene in episode 3.6 was one of the most effective and iconic of the series: Smith getting a ticker-tape parade, Nazi-style, in New York to mark his promotion, intercut with Frank Frick's bar mitzvah (yes, he's alive) in Denver.   That says it all about the resilience of freedom in the face of overwhelming power.

And I'll be back here soon, likely after I've seen the concluding four episodes of this superb season.

See also The Man in the High Castle 3.1: Real People in Alternate History ... The Man in the High Castle 3.2-3: Alternate Realities, Frederic Brown, and Rockwells ... The Man in the High Castle 3.7-10: The Metaphysics of Alternate Realities
And see also The Man in the High Castle 2.1-2.3: My Heimisch Town ... The Man in the High Castle 2.4-2.6: Rails and Realities ... The Man in the High Castle 2.7-2.10: Alternate Reality to the Rescue, Literally

And see also The Man in the High Castle on Amazon ... The Man in the High Castle 2-10: Timely Alternate Reality Par Excellence ... The Man in the High Castle in Reality - Well, on NYC Subway Cars


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The Man in the High Castle 3.2-3: Alternate Realities, Frederic Brown, and Rockwells

The Man in the High Castle episodes 3.2-3 go full bore into alternate realities, including -
Dr. Mengele in New York schooling a shocked Smith about them, with Smith even remarking that this sounds like something out of "Frederic Brown" - a real science fiction writer in our reality, known mostly for his humorous science fiction stories, but author of the 1949 What Mad Universe, a novel with plenty of humor but also alternate universes.  (The mention of Brown continues the weaving of elements from our reality into the alternate history of the Nazis and Japanese winning the Second World War that is the central story of The Man in the High Castle, with elements of our reality seeping through.)Smith, later watching one of the movie clips, sees his son Thomas alive and well, giving him a far deeper than professional stake in getting into or to the bottom of these alternate realities.Out West in Japanese California, the access to alternate realities is more mystical than scientific, as they are in the Nazi East Coast of America.  This mysticism, by the way, is more consistent with Philip K. Dick's approach, but I like the way it's expanded to laboratory science in this third season of the story.Julianna's sister Trudy - the one who wasn't killed in her reality, but was in ours, now back in our reality alive and with Julianna - is discovered by Kido, the Japanese inspector who happened to kill her.  This creates an unacceptable situation.  Although Tagomi gets her and Juliania freed, they need to do something about the sister, given Kido's understandable desire now to find out what's going on.  Fortunately, I Ching is just thing to send her back to her reality in a flash.So we have the alternate realities on center stage now.  But the backdrops are excellent, too.  The Japanese Admiral realizes that the Japanese could benefit from working with Americans, rather than killing them, in the Japanese attempt to fend off the Nazis.   Kido is instructed to go "lightly" in his enforcement - "persuasion" rather than "punishment" - and to use punishment only when needed.  This should make for a more interesting storyline than just lining up captured Americans and shooting them.

Last - for now, before I go back to Prime to watch more episodes - I'm liking Robert's character more this season, too.  He gets off a good line, talking about the Rockwells - Norman the painter and George Lincoln the Reichsmarshall of North America - underlining the ubiquitous mixing of realities in this compelling third season.

Back soon with more review.

See also The Man in the High Castle 3.1: Real People in Alternate History
And see also The Man in the High Castle 2.1-2.3: My Heimisch Town ... The Man in the High Castle 2.4-2.6: Rails and Realities ... The Man in the High Castle 2.7-2.10: Alternate Reality to the Rescue, Literally

And see also The Man in the High Castle on Amazon ... The Man in the High Castle 2-10: Timely Alternate Reality Par Excellence ... The Man in the High Castle in Reality - Well, on NYC Subway Cars

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The Man in the High Castle 3.1: Real People in Alternate History

With the kick-in-the-gut news of the all-but-certain confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U. S. Supreme Court today, I only managed to see the first episode of the third season of the brilliant Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime tonight.  Its alternate history of the Nazis and Japanese winning the Second World War was much more enjoyable than the real news in our reality.  Herewith a review of that first episode, with more to come as I see the rest over the weekend.

I especially like the mix of real people from our own reality into the American Reich in 1962.  J. Edgar Hoover, unsurprisingly, fits right into Nazi New York, collecting all kinds of "scheiße" for the Reich, and, if he's anything like our J. Edgar, for himself to use to maintain his power as well. George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party in our reality, is the North American Führer in Man in the High Castle.   He and Edgar will no doubt cause Smith a lot of trouble, even with his promoted status, and vice versa.

Leni Riefenstahl, the brilliant Nazi film maker (Triumph of the Will) who lived to be over a 100 years old in our reality, gets a shout-out - and a put-down - as being more than 60 in this episode by a dazzling blond Nazi film maker who has some talent with the camera herself.   And Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love" gets sung in the Neutral Zone by someone who reminded me a bit of Buddy Holly, but probably isn't.

So the first episode comes packed with lots of things that make alternate reality storytelling so much fun.   And, speaking of alternate realities,  there's also a hint that they'll play a much bigger role - literally interacting with and bumping into one another - than they did in the first two seasons, with Juliana talking to her sister about the different realities they each inhabited, one of which, as we know, had the sister dying.

The story is now moving well beyond Philip K. Dick's novel, but still true to its intentions, and I'll be back here tomorrow with more.

See also The Man in the High Castle 2.1-2.3: My Heimisch Town ... The Man in the High Castle 2.4-2.6: Rails and Realities ... The Man in the High Castle 2.7-2.10: Alternate Reality to the Rescue, Literally

See also The Man in the High Castle on Amazon ... The Man in the High Castle 2-10: Timely Alternate Reality Par Excellence ... The Man in the High Castle in Reality - Well, on NYC Subway Cars

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I Also Blame the FBI

There are ample causes of the miscarriage of democracy that happened in the U. S. Senate today - the anti-democratic Electoral College that put Trump in office in the first place (while Hillary Clinton won the popular vote), the anti-democratic set-up of the Senate itself (as Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out on his show The Last Word tonight), with populous and non-populous states getting the same number of Senators - but I also blame the FBI.

Yes, I know that the background investigation the FBI was tasked to conduct is not the same as a straight-up investigation.  I get that background investigations are constrained from the outset.  But given what has been going on in this country, the intense controversy over the charges raised against against Brett Kavanaugh, the FBI had an obligation to either conduct a fuller investigation, or the let Senate and the American people know that the investigation it did conduct was a sham.

Presumably, Senator Flake was not interested in a sham, but a full investigation in which all leads were looked into, when he called for a pause in the confirmation process last week.   Presumably Senator Collins knew that all leads had not been investigated by the FBI when she said today that no one interviewed by the FBI had corroborated Dr. Ford's account.  Or did she?

The point is that there should have been no ambiguity, no wiggle room, in what kind of investigation the FBI conducted.   By allowing itself to be cited as conducting an investigation that Senators relied upon when casting its votes, even though that investigation was obviously incomplete, with interviews of just a fraction of all the potential witnesses who had been brought to its attention, the FBI became complicit in the result, the likely confirmation tomorrow of someone who has been accused of multiple assaults of women, and who obviously has a temperament unfit to be a Supreme Court Justice.

Count yet another part of government that has been compromised in our age of Trump.


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Mayans, M. C. 1.5: "Not Fredo" - "Putas and Plata"

One of my favorite parts of Mayans M. C. are the conversations - cool and wise, literate and tough, all at once.  Episode 1.5 last night had plenty of this, especially in the conversations between E. Z. and Angel, the brothers Reyes.

Talking about The Godfather, E. Z. says he wouldn't want to be Fredo.  Can't argue with that.  But the deeper import of that conversation is the meta-point that Mayans M. C. is another retelling of The Godfather story, just as Sons was a retelling of Hamlet.

And, in another highlight, Angel tells E. Z. that if they succeed in their plans, they'll have "putas and plata".  Nothing more I can say about that great line, except how's that alliteration.

Another conversation, one I won't tell you too much about, features Angel holding up a severed head - shades of a different part of Hamlet - and telling E. Z. and Coco what he'd like to do with it.  (Yeah, it's better scene than described.)

But I will tell you that I thought the rescue of Adelita was a fine piece of work.   And the closing scene, in which Miguel and Emily go at it, and she's fantasizing about E. Z. in Miguel's place, was a fine scene, too.  In fact, Mayans M. C. is top notch in just about every scene, with only three more episodes left this season (hey, did you see the news?  it's been renewed for a second season).

So far, no really major characters - ones we've come to know and love or hate - has meet his or her fate.   I find all of these characters so compelling that I almost hope none of them do.  But that's not likely to happen.   And, like Chucky - good to see this Sons alumnus in his second Mayans appearance - I'll be somewhere on the sidelines watching, though totally off-screen.

See also: Mayans, M. C. 1.1: Pulling Us In ... Mayans M. C. 1.2: The Plot Thickens ... Mayans M. C. 1.3: Two Presidents ... Mayans M. C. 1.4: Finger and Face

 
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Manifest 1.2: Arthur C. Clarke's Magic

Precious little offered in Manifest 1.2 about what happened to those passengers on that fateful flight - or who or what caused it to happen - with the government team going over the usual suspects including aliens, etc.

God and magic also came into some other conversations, with Ben observing that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Great line - but I would've liked it better had Ben (meaning the writers, producers, or director of this episode), added that Arthur C. Clarke wrote that years ago.  (I don't like plagiarism in any form.)

Otherwise, the compelling, if obvious, family and romantic dilemmas continued to develop in this episode.  Ben and Michaela are both apparently forgiving.  Michaela seems to forgive Lourdes - her best friend - for marrying her almost fiancee, and Ben is understanding if not accepting of his wife Grace's relationship with the other guy.   As a romantic drama, Manifest is firing on all cylinders, and there will no doubt be more ahead.  The course of true love never did run smooth (Shakespeare), especially when time travel is involved (me).

And time travel is why I'll keep watching Manifest.  I'd like to know what caused the plane to jump more than five years in time, and what connection that has to the voices our time-traveling passengers are hearing.   And I'm hoping, to get back to Arthur C. Clarke, that the explanation is technological not magical.

We'll see.

See also Manifest 1.1: Canterbury Voices

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The Deuce 2.4: The Ad Lib

Well, The Deuce 2.4 began tonight with full-frontal nudity for Larry Brown, in a series of stills on his way to becoming a porn actor.  And the best scenes in the episode continued to be with Larry.

The set-up, like most of the threads in The Deuce, is trite in terms of overall movies and television. But it achieves a surprising power in The Deuce.   Candy is having trouble getting a good script.   She can't do it herself.  She hires a young, hippy-like guy.  He doesn't know what he's talking about.  Larry can't remember his lines.  Candy comes up with the brilliant solution: ad lib it.   And it's great.  Larry's no Brando, but he ad libs an effective scene.

Otherwise, the killing of one of Bobby Dwyer's working girls in a fire set by the opposition is a worse assault on decency than usual, because she is, literally, a girl, just 15 years old.   The pimp and prostitute and related stories are a lot more brutal and ugly than the porn movie stories, where Candy played by  Maggie Gyllenhaal adds a real spark.   Similarly, Larry Brown played by Gbenga Akinnagbe is much more compelling and unusual as porn star than pimp.

The Deuce with its short eight seasons is now half over with 2.4.   It's a dead certainty that the mob war over the bars and parlors will result in the death of at least a few characters.   The question is not only who, but how major?

Here's my prediction, based on nothing but hunch:  Frankie.   The truth is, after the first episode in this season, he's had a minor role.  His death would transform Vincent into someone very different.  We saw tonight how Vincent was affected by the sight of someone being shot dead in plain sight.

We'll see what happens in the weeks ahead.

See also The Deuce Is Back - Still Without Cellphones, and that's a Good Thing ... The Deuce 2.2: Fairytales Can Come True ... The Deuce 2.3: The Price

And see also The Deuce: NYC 1971 By Way of The Wire and "Working with Marshall McLuhan" ... Marilyn Monroe on the Deuce 1.7 ... The Deuce Season 1 Finale: Hitchcock and Truffaut 

  
It all starts in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn walks off the set
of The Misfits and begins to hear a haunting song in her head,
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Yesterday's Victory for Justice, Democracy, and Reason Depicted on Lawrence O'Donnell's The Last Word

What I saw last night on Lawrence O'Donnell's The Last Word on MSNBC was one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen on television.   Republican Senator Jeff Flake being talked to in the elevator by Maria Gallagher and Ana Maria Archila.  Flake later listening intently as his Democratic colleague Chris Coons made the eminently rational case for an FBI investigation of the Kavanaugh sexual assault charges.  Flake standing up, walking by Coons, and signaling his colleague that he wanted to talk.  All leading to the result:  the FBI, ordered by Trump who had no choice - because Kavanaugh needs Flake's as well as Sen. Sue Collins' or Lisa Murkowski's votes to be confirmed - is now conducting this investigation.

Lawrence aplty called this historic moment in American and U. S. Senatorial history "a victory for decency".  Maria Teresa Kumar said "that's what democracy looks like".   Both true.   And as media historian, I would also add this was a wonderful moment for television.  Lawrence and his producers put the segment together perfectly.  Lawrence's narration was perceptive and sage, like everything else he says.  Only television, only with us in American homes since the late 1940s, could have done this.

And it also is a vindication of John Milton's view that if truth and falsity are allowed to fight it out in the marketplace of ideas, our human rationality will award the victory to truth.  Not for everyone all the time.  But for enough people enough times to make democracy work.  Were Milton able to be a guest on Lawrence's show last night, he would have no doubt said that Jeff Flake's decision was evidence of this power of our rational minds.   It's not easy being reasonable when emotions run high.  But Gallagher and Archila provided the wake-up call, making Flake realize that something had to be done, and Coons the path forward, with his focus on the FBI investigation.  Flake's mind was open enough to hear it all, and rational enough to be persuaded by it.

Democracy has been called, with due cause, the least worst form of government.  Yesterday demonstrated that in a way I've never seen before.  For those like me who view Kavanaugh on the Supreme Courts as an affront to everything we hold in high esteem in our democracy, his fate is still undecided.   But we pulled back from the cliff yesterday, and a way that all champions of justice, democracy, and reason should applaud.

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