In the two years since the release of Fallout 4, millions of players have scoured the Commonwealth wasteland for clues, hidden items, secrets, and easter eggs referencing other games, movies, and comic books. Some of these secrets are easy to find and meant to be discovered by the average player but some, like the ones listed below, are either so buried or hidden in plain sight that only the combined efforts of tons of players could have sniffed them out. Players using math, grid maps, long, complicated threads on Reddit, and hundreds of hours of YouTube videos have discovered a few devilishly hidden secrets, including one that, according to game director Todd Howard, still hasn't been located in over two years of searching. Add to this the extra complications added by the pieces of DLC that have been added over the last few years and there are likely a few things that will never be discovered. At least, not until Fallout 5 or The Elder Scrolls 6 or whatever the next giant, sprawling Bethesda open world game is that sparks the imagination of so many players.
A few of these definitely qualify as cheats, too, so if you're opposed to a little game breaking wizardry, beware. Also, this goes without saying, but if you want to find these on your own, maybe just read the titles and not the posts themselves, since I've pretty much blown the secrets right open for you. If you're like me, though, and have to work your way through your 2017 backlog, go ahead and dive right in!
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25 A Secret Room With Every Item Ever
While Fallout has made a name for itself on consoles, it will always be a PC franchise first and that means there are a ton of hidden commands you can input using the developer console. While a lot of these are similar to old-school cheat codes, one is more of a one-stop-shop to every item in the game.
The developers of Fallout 4 have a secret room they used to test every single piece of armor, every weapon, and every item. It's got a spooky, place-out-of-time vibe to it that fits the 'something's not quite right here' vibe of the rest of the game. You can teleport there by typing 'COCQASMOKE' in the console, then grab whatever you need. The room restocks every time you use it so go nuts!
24 Get Rich Quick
Fallout 4 is a complicated game with lots of system and there is only so much the developers can do to prevent bugs and glitches, especially once the game is released and millions of players get to work trying to break the game in any way possible. The developers do their best to patch these glitches out as they make mainstream attention, but especially as they add DLC, new things keep popping up.
One glitch that keeps getting fixed and rediscovered is the ability to 'dupe' the game into giving you unlimited copies of certain items. The process is pretty complex and requires lots of pictures so I won't get into it, but once you get a settlement you can basically make as many caps as you want by selling duplicates.
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23 Get The Cryolater With Your Dog
Locked behind a door in Vault 111, where you wake up at the beginning of the game, is a ridiculously overpowered weapon for the early levels. The Cryolater works like a flamethrower in reverse in that it can freeze enemies solid so you can shatter them later. Compared the pistol and shotguns you've got access to that early, it's an absolute beast.
Luckily, the high-level lock on the door is no match for Dogmeat's ability to scrounge for items. Just ask your lil furry pal to look around while near the Cryolator and he'll dog his way right past that lock and deliver the Cryolator right to you. This works on pretty much anything behind locked doors, though you can't specify what you want him to get so it's not always this easy to get what you want.
22 Find Pieces Of The Ship From Alien
Scribe Haylen, the Quartermaster on the Brotherhood of Steel ship Prydwen, is looking for a few tiny, techy items in the Commonwealth. Two of them, the flux sensor and reflex capacitor, are obvious references to Back to the Future but the flex sensor has an extra easter egg if you look closely.
The serial number of the sensor is 'CM-88B 180924609' which is the same as the registry number for the USCSS Nostromo, the ship carrying Ripley and pals when they arrive on LV-426 in the original Alien. Kudos to the extreme nerd that put this in here, this is a real deep pull that 99% of players would never spot since you rarely look closely at any items that aren't guns or armor.
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21 Be Wolverine
The deadliest enemies in the Fallout series have always been the Deathclaws- armored, superfast, velociraptor crocodiles that can travel in groups. Their claws can tear through solid metal armor, so why not take them for yourself?
During the quest The Devil's Due, we learn that the Deathclaws are more reptilian than we thought- they lay eggs just like most lizards. Although your mission is to steal an egg and return it to Diamond City, you can return the egg to a Deathclaw nest and a friendly mama DC. The Deathclaw gauntlet is available to you after returning the claw to the nest. It also works its way into the rotation of enemy melee weapons and can be bought at shops after level 20 so a little patience pays off.
20 Don't Miss The Best Power Armor
Ever since the Enclave first appeared in the opening cutscene for Fallout 2, the X-01 Power Armor has been in a dead heat with the more iconic T-60 model for coolest design in the Fallout universe. While it's possible to find parts of the X-01 suit wherever power armor pieces can be found, you will occasionally come across full suits,
Your chances of the game spawning an X-01 suit are best the closer you are to level 30 so bear that in mind before you go looking. Near Faneuil Hall is a building with a sign that says '35 Court.' Ride an elevator inside up to the roof and find a big red button- that will reveal the armor suit that, if you're lucky and your level is high enough, will be a set of X-01.
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19 Teddy Bear Private Time
Bethesda is famous for loading its games with so much random junk that adds atmosphere and story to the hundreds of environments explored by the player. The player is also free to pick up anything they wish, for no reason at all, and carry it around. (Or shoot it out of a cannon.)
One of the pieces of junk that seems innocuous at first is the ubiquitous teddy bear. While mostly found lying on the floor or on shelves, a few have been posed in fun little scenes that the player can stumble on, like one reading the newspaper on the toilet, or a few smoking cigars and playing pool. There is a theory that each teddy bear represents a child who's been ended by the raiders, but that doesn't really explain the cigars..
18 Survive A Maze Straight Out Of Saw
How many Saw movies did they make? 6, 7 dozen? Does Jigsaw count? Was it a reboot or what? Although the era of these films seems to be over, or at least dormant, the impact of the franchise on pop culture is undeniable. With the aesthetic of rusty chains, cages, blood, and saws, it's no wonder Bethesda worked a reference to the little indie horror film that spawn a major franchise.
The garage that connects Fallon's Department Store and the Hospital has been stuffed with a devilish death maze full of deadly traps and feral ghouls. At the end the player is given the choice of two crates full of rewards, one full of healing items and the other full of weapons and ammo. You can only pick one- in classic Saw fashion, the other explodes as soon as you open your first choice.
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17 Explore Stonehenge Made With Cars
Who knew that the Super Mutants were actually followers of ancient english druid practices? Maybe that's not exactly canon, but the behemoth that lives in the centre of this car-based monument to one of ancient humanity's great mysteries sure seems to be protective of his little art project.
South of Walden Pond is this unmarked area, clearly meant to represent Stonehenge but constructed out of piles of rusty old burnt out cars. While the purpose of this post-apocalyptic Stonehenge is just as mysterious as the real one in England, the purpose of the super mutant behemoth inside definitely isn't. He'll come right at you as soon as you're spotted, even trashing the monument in the fight if he has to. 'Wait,' you'll say, 'I just want to compliment your artistry!' And he'll answer with only pain.
16 Live An Edgar Allan Poe Story
While securing the old Minutemen headquarters, The Castle, for the ever-helpful Preston Garvey, players were probably too busy blasting their way through deadly robots to notice a reference to Boston's most famous pale, skinny, weirdo. If you head back down there to inspect the armory, though, be prepared for a scare.
In 'The Cask of Amontillado' by Edgar Allan Poe, a rich Spanish man tricks his rival into sampling a rare sherry in his wine cellar. The tasting is all a ruse, however, and the ironically-named 'Fortunato' is imprisoned behind a wall where his one-time-friend bricks over him to imprison him for all time. Under The Castle, we find a Minuteman who was left behind and trapped, but luckily he had some bottles of 'Amontillado' and his good friend Skelly to keep him company.
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15 Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name
I love this secret because it made me exclaim 'Oh of course!' Out loud when I discovered it online. The city of Boston is a beautiful place full of history, both old and recent. Made famous by the sitcom, Cheers! Is a real bar in Beacon Hill, founded all the way back in 1895. Just like Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Fallout 4 has a number of real locations reproduced in its environments, and Cheers is no exception.
In the game, it's called 'Prost Bar' (Prost means 'cheers' in German) and it's a delightful little reproduction of the most famous bar in America, albeit its two hundred years after a nuclear holocaust, so it's not exactly as welcoming as it used to be. You can even find the skeletons of Norm and Cliff, the latter in his Post Office uniform!
14 Settle Down In The Cat Cabin
Fallout 4 isn't all gloom and doom and flesh-eating raiders- there's still time to appreciate the little things like adorable lil kitties who have the run of a cabin full of pictures of themselves.
Located near Walden Pond, which must have had 'put some cute hidden things near this if you don't have anywhere to put them' on the developer's whiteboard, the cat cabin is unmarked and pretty innocuous. There are no enemies to threaten you, which I was genuinely surprised by considering the game we're talking about here, and the cats just kind hang out. There is a trader on the property who will sell you things- including the meat of some of the kitties who just weren't adorable enough to keep around, or maybe tried to take on a radscorpion.
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13 Are Fallout And Skyrim In The Same Universe?
Despite Skyrim and Fallout being set at a technological level thousands of years apart and Skyrim being, well, in an impossible fantasy world completely different from our own, there are occasional references to one another in each game (And some other Bethesda games like DOOM and Wolfenstein.)
Fallout 4 has some secret plants in a greenhouse that look and act exactly like the famous Nirnroot in the Elder Scrolls games. What is really cool is that there is enough lore in both TES and Fallout, but also enough holes in both, to make arguments not only that Fallout is he distant future of The Elder Scrolls, but that Skyrim is the distant future of Fallout! It's all pretty loose but fun to think about!
12 Find Conan's Axe And Loincloth
In my last Fallout list, I talked about the Silver Shroud outfit and the quest that leads you to it and the abandoned comic book shop, Hubris Comics. The Silver Shroud is referenced many times in Fallout 4 due to a radio broadcast that can be heard while exploring the Commonwealth, there's another item in Hubris that you may have missed.
In the 3d Fallout games, you can find books that increase your skills. The 'Grognak the Barbarian' comics increase the player's melee weapons skill and Hubris Comics has plenty of them stashed away. Like most comic books stores, Hubris doesn't just sell comics. They also sell accurate, expensive replicas of things from those comics- including Grognak's outfit and battleaxe. Running around the wasteland dressed like Conan The Barbarian, slicing up supermutants, is great fun and isn't really out of place considering some of the raider get-ups you'll come across.
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11 Delve Deep Into The Earth, Lovecraft-style![]()
New England's other famous pale, spooky, weirdo is H.P. Lovecraft and video games love their Lovecraftian scares. Fallout 3 has a famous location called the Dunwich Building, a reference to Lovecraft's story 'The Dunwich Horror.' In Fallout 4 there is a quarry that was, before the war, operated by Dunwich Borers which is hilarious.
In the quarry is a chained up door and behind it are… things. Visions of the past, innocuous at first, give way to scenes of cultists and human sacrifice. The remains of the cult are tough feral ghouls who still carry the names of those they used to be. At the bottom is a wicked ceremonial knife that you can use as a melee weapon, which bleeds and poisons the body as the quarry bleeds and poisons the mind.
10 There's A Ton Of Stuff Underwater
There's pretty much no reason to ever go in the water in Fallout, especially since all of it is irradiated. Although the aqua boy/girl perk nullifies the radiation and lets you breathe underwater indefinitely, your power armor will allow you to explore the bottom of the bay BioShock-style
While no quests will ever ask you go down there, there are some cool doodads under the waves, like crashed airliners and wrecked cars, some pretty red coral and some industrial objects that might be a kind of water treatment facility. There is a pipeline the player can follow that continues past the eastern boundary of the world, but you can't follow it very far. What is all this and why is it here? Who knows? But there's a pot in a car down there, so, that's something!
9 Visit Thoreau's Pond
Remember Walden Pond, the nexus for a ton of the references and easter eggs in Fallout 4? Philosophy students reading this may have already picked up on the fact that Walden's Pond is a reference itself: to Henry David Thoreau, another famous pale, skinny, weirdo from the Boston area.
Thoreau wrote many books and poems, his most famous of which is 'Walden' which was written at and about this very same pond. The location in F4 has a gift shop loaded with mines, which are triggered by a cymbal-clapping monkey suspiciously similar to the one in Toy Story 3. There are also two Raiders nearby in a drainpipe discussing Thoreau and the theory of 'transcendentalism.' The other one takes his word for it- he can't read, poor guy.
8 Launch Fireworks
Before we leave Walden Pond there is one more cool thing to try. This isn't a pop culture reference but it may be considered an easter egg, since it really doesn't serve any purpose other than to show off the game's physics engine.
In a tower northeast of Relay Tower 0BB-915 is someone's fireworks setup. The tower isn't marked on your map so you'll have to use your ol' mark 1 eyeballs to spot it. Up top is a shelf full of propane tanks and four ramps for launching them out into the air over the Commonwealth. You can shoot or bash the valves off them to send them flying, then use the item manipulation button to load up more ammo. Like I said, no real purpose, but give yourself a break from all the attacking and have some fun.
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7 Find Both Blade Runner References
A major theme of Fallout 4 is a popular one is modern science fiction- androids who are indistinguishable from humans, some who don't know they're androids in the first place, and the distrust that humans have for them. This is also the theme of two of the best science fiction movies ever made, Blade Runner and its sequel Blade Runner 2049.
The noodle bar in Diamond City is a subtle nod to the noodle bar where we first meet Harrison Ford in the original movie, staffed as it is by a robot who only speaks Japanese, and who only ever asks what you want to eat. The other reference is to the end of the first film: on a rooftop you can find the dead bodies of a synth and a man in a trenchcoat slumped against a pipe, exactly the same poses as the finale of Blade Runner.
6 Nick Valentine Has A File On The Mysterious Stranger
Mysterious Stranger is a perk that has been in the Fallout series since the original game and has popped up in every main series title since. It results in a 10% chance an ally will spawn in a trenchcoat and fedora armed with a Magnum pistol who will finish off the last enemy in any combat encounter. I never used the perk because it seemed too weird and, apparently, Nick Valentine agrees.
A note under the synth detective's bed references the Stranger as being possibly an 'amoral lunatic' or a serial attacker. Nick assumes he may be a ghoul with minimal scarring, hence how far back the references to the Stranger are. A cute nod to the decades between the storylines of each Fallout game, the protagonists of whom the Stranger seems to have a fondness for.
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5 Freefall Legs Let You Survive Any Fall
There aren't many opportunities for platforming in Fallout but, due to the architecture of lots of the game's environments, you'll often find yourself at the top of a very tall structure with no quick (survivable) way down. Instead of walking all the way back through the facility you just cleared, wouldn't it be better if you could just jump?
The Freefall Legs Armor Mods let you do just that. While they require some extra skills and abilities just to get your hands on them, like a suit of armor with a jetpack, they effort is well worth it. Once you scale to the top of the Mass Fusion plant, you'll find each piece which you can then apply to your armor and subsequently survive a fall from any height.
4 Stumble On Matt Damon's Skeleton
The Commonwealth Institute of Technology is an obvious renaming of the real Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, in the real downtown Boston. MIT has been the site of plenty of stories in pop culture, most famously in the Oscar-winning catapult to the stars of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting.
The Castle Fallout 4 Location
In the CIT you can find the skeleton of a man in a janitor's coverall, next to a bucket and mop, having just solved the same impossible problem left on the board by a professor in the movie. Damon's hidden-genius, Will Hunting, unfortunately, had a poor sense of timing as he seems to have stumbled on the problem seconds before the bombs fell, flash freezing his genius for all time, just like how the movie is always on TBS.
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3 Someone Is Spying On You
When the player first arrives at the underground base for the Railroad, the organization helping to smuggle synths out of the Commonwealth, there is an NPC there named Deacon who claims they've been watching you for some time. I first chalked this up to the game pretending to be deeper than it was but, low and behold, Deacon really has been following the player all along.
There are a few places in the game, prior to your encounter with the Railroad, where Deacon can be found observing the player in disguise. He isn't exactly a master of hiding in plain sight, although the fact that I never picked him out means he must be at least decent at it. He will even try to play it off if you confront him about it, which is pretty funny.
2 He's Worth Nothing To Me Dead
If you thought Fallout 4 was going to restrict its Harrison Ford references to only one of his iconic roles, you're dead wrong. Far from being another Blade Runner easter egg, this one is from Ford's biggest role ever: Han Solo.
In the Nuka-World DLC (Which I haven't played, so forgive me if this is a little vague) the roof of one of the shacks in the Disciple's base has hidden the grand jewel of Jabba The Hutt's throne room: Han Solo frozen in carbonite. It looks just like a silver rectangle at first, but if you zoom in with a scoped weapon you'll find the unmistakable hands-up form of Solo after his encounter on Cloud City. Unfortunately, you can't unfreeze and smooch him, so I give this reference a 0/10 on the 'Can I Smooch Harrison Ford In This Reference?' scale.
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1 The Secret No One Has Found
This secret is so hidden there are many people who believe it doesn't even exist. At the 2016 DICE Summit, an annual gathering of game developers featuring tons of interviews and panels with developers, Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard expressed his amazement and appreciation of all the secret hunters that his game has inspired, but hinted at a final, super hidden secret that, to his knowledge, no one had found.
All Howard would say, in an interview with Pete Holmes, was '..it's in a terminal somewhere.' And the internet exploded. There are several Reddit threads full of people who claim to have found the terminal, people have used a grid system to check every single inch of the game, even a player who has gone through every terminal (even using a noclip cheat to look inside one) to no avail. What does the secret hold? We may never know!
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Leave A CommentThe CastleSitemap markerpart ofSegmentssectionsPeoplefactionsExternal linksleadersOther actorscreaturesrobotsOtherquests
Defend the Castle
Taking Independence Old Guns With Our Powers Combined Technicalcell name
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“There it is. Pretty impressive, huh? Its real name is Fort Independence, but the Minutemen always just called it the Castle.”— Preston Garvey, during Taking Independence
The Castle, also known as Fort Independence,[1] is the former headquarters of the Minutemen in the Commonwealth in 2287. It is a possible settlement and can be reclaimed during the Taking Independence quest. It is located to the east of the Gwinnett restaurant and brewery.
BackgroundEdit
Before the Great War, it was known as Fort Independence. The Minutemen repurposed it as their headquarters in the Commonwealth until a colony of mirelurks forced them out in 2240[2] and took it as their nest. Preston Garvey asks the Sole Survivor to reclaim the Castle for a new generation of the Minutemen.
LayoutEdit
Fort Independence is a star fort, consisting of five triangular bastions connected by walls. The walls are hollow and contain most of the fort's infrastructure, with only the workshop and the Radio Freedom transmitter out in the courtyard and two ruined gun positions on the top of the wall. The northwest and southwest walls have been all but demolished, and a sizable hole punched in the south wall as well, cutting off the west bastion—which contains the Castle armory—from access excepting through the Castle tunnels. The north bastion contains the Castle kitchen; the east, the general's quarters and access to the Castle Tunnels; the southeast, the barracks. The southwest bastion is completely inaccessible.
The Castle is initially occupied by a large group of mirelurks, and piles of mud studded with mirelurk egg clutches can be found all over the courtyard and all interior areas save the armory. Once the quest Taking Independence is completed, these will be cleared away and the fort made available for settlement.
Inside the fort is a missile launcher and flamer, as well as a small amount of ammunition for each. Once settled, it comes with five free beds, a medic stand, chemistry workbench, starter lighting and electrical cable system, and an industrial water purifier good for 40 units of water should the player reintroduce power into the system.
Inside the Armory is a cache of heavy weapons, a weapon and armor workbench, and three free laser turrets that can be stored or redeployed elsewhere using the workshop menu. Also present are the schematics for building the special artillery units. However, access to the Armory is impossible until the quest Old Guns is completed.
Access to the Castle settlement is done from the south via the main gate, and enemies will attack from this direction; behind the gate is a small and highly defensible room, which combined with the Castle's high and easily repaired walls makes it one of the safest settlements in the Commonwealth.
Notable lootEdit
NotesEdit
AppearancesEdit
The Castle appears only in Fallout 4.
Behind the scenesEdit
BugsEdit
GalleryEdit
Courtyard
Radio tower
Bottle message #2
Radio Freedom being broadcast
General's room
Corridor
Armory with Ronnie Shaw
Aerial view
Location of Guns and Bullets magazine.
Fort Independence in present times in the real world
The Castle concept art from The Art of Fallout 4
ReferencesEdit
Warning: SPOILERS below for The Man in the High Castle Seasons 1-3!
The Man in the High Castle season 4 is highly anticipated after season 3 of Amazon's alt-history drama dove deeper into alternate histories, multiverses, and skewed allegiances, so what can we expect to come next? Thankfully, despite the delay leading up to season 3, filming has been underway on season 4 (which will wrap in late February 2019), so we have a good idea of what's in the pipeline.
Based on the novel from Philip K. Dick, the author behind several stories that were adapted into beloved sci-fi classics, like Blade Runner, Minority Report, andTotal Recall, The Man in the High Castle centers around an alternate history in which the United States was defeated by both Japan and Germany during World War II. America has been split into three parts - the Greater Nazi Reich, the Japanese Pacific States, and the Neutral Zone - and a new war is stirring, not only pitting resistance fighters against the Axis powers, but the Axis powers against each other as well. And, to satisfy Dick's affinity for science fiction, characters discover, one by one, that there is a multiverse in which alternate versions of the war's history are being discovered.
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Related: Man In The High Castle Season 3 Trailer Declares All-Out War
The first three seasons of The Man in the High Castle follow the tumultuous climb (and fall) towards answers, victories, and resolution (whatever that may even mean, considering the blurred lines between good and bad are growing exponentially blurrier as the series progresses), and The Man in the High Castle season 4 will expand on some intriguing questions and properly conclude the series, as Amazon confirmed The Man in the High Castle season 4 is the final season. Here's what fans can expect.
Last updated: February 19, 2019
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When Will The Man in the High Castle Season 4 Release?
At the moment, there is no official release date for The Man in the High Castle season 4.That said, The Man in the High Castle season 4 is supposed to release in fall 2019, which falls in line with the last two seasons. The first three seasons have all been released around early and late fall (season 1 was released in November, season 2 was released in December, and season 3 was just released in October), so it makes sense that Amazon would be planning to release The Man in the High Castle season 4 in the same time frame.
Who Will Join the Cast of The Man in the High Castle Season 4?
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Along with the show's recurring characters, The Man in the High Castle season 4 will introduce some new additions to the cast. Frances Turner (The Gifted) will play a character named Bell Mallory who escapes a Nazi concentration camp, flees to the Japanese Pacific States, and joins a guerrilla movement composed of black liberationists. Clé Bennett (Homeland) will play Elijah, with whom Bell joins the movement, and Rich Ting (Waco) will play Captain Iijima, who works closely with Inspector Kido.
What We Know About Man In The High Castle Season 4's Story
The Man in the High Castle season 4 synopsis promises a full-fledged rebellion against the Axis powers, which will be 'driven by Juliana's visions of a better world.' This will ultimately result in 'a new Black insurgent movement [emerging] to fight the forces of Nazism and imperialism.' Even though Juliana left the universe in The Man in the High Castle season 3 finale, she will eventually reunite with the people she left behind, as shown in the above season 4 teaser trailer.
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Meanwhile, John Smith's wife, Helen, has abandoned him (and he's fairly certain that he can get his son Thomas back, though not the version from his own dimension), so he will continue pushing the development of the Nazi's portal, so that not only can he explore a new dimension but also possibly find a different version of his son; this would resemble the season 2 story arc for Tagomi.
Then, of course, there is the entirely new subplot concerning new characters like Bell Mallory, who specifically will deal with the Black insurgency mentioned in the synopsis. And, given that there isn't just one version of everycharacter in this show, death doesn't necessarily spell permanent doom for any given actor. The deeper this series dives into other universes, the more possible it is to see previously deceased characters making a return. Regardless of what happens, The Man in the High Castle season 4 is going to go out with a bang.
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More: The Man In The High Castle Season 3 Review: More Sci-Fi Action Refocuses The Series
Season 3 of The Man in the High Castle is currently available on Prime Video.
The Witcher: Why Henry Cavill's Geralt Doesn't Have A Second Sword
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The Man in the High Castle is an American television series depicting a dystopian alternate history taking place in a parallel universe. It was created by Frank Spotnitz and is produced by Amazon Studios, Scott Free Productions, Headline Pictures, Electric Shepherd Productions, and Big Light Productions.[1] It is based on the 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.[2]
In this parallel universe, the Axis powers have won World War II and divided the United States into the Greater Nazi Reich, consisting of half of the eastern part of the United States and New York City as its regional capital, and the Japanese Pacific States to the west, with San Francisco as capital. These territories are separated by a neutral zone that encompasses the Rocky Mountains. The series starts in 1962 and follows characters whose destinies intertwine when they come into contact with newsreels and home movies that show Germany losing the war.
The pilot premiered in January 2015, and Amazon ordered a ten-episode season the following month which was released in November. A second season of ten episodes premiered in December 2016, and a third season was released on October 5, 2018. In July 2018, Amazon announced at San Diego Comic-Con that it had been renewed for a fourth season, which was confirmed in February 2019 to be the last one of the series.
Setting[edit]
Flag of the Japanese Pacific States, part of the Empire of Japan
Flag of Nazi America, part of the Greater Nazi Reich
The series' main setting is a parallel universe where the Axis powers have won World War II after Giuseppe Zangara assassinates President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which creates a series of developments that include the Germans dropping an atomic bomb on Washington, D.C. The Eastern and Midwestern states of the United States are controlled by the Greater Nazi Reich (GNR), who refer to the colony as 'Nazi America' or 'the American Reich'. Western North America, now part of the 'Japanese Pacific States', is occupied by the technologically less-advanced feudal Empire of Japan, who has assimilated its citizens into Japanese culture. Japan's trade and science ministers work in the Pacific States' capital of San Francisco. A Neutral Zone encompasses the Rocky Mountains which serves as a buffer zone due to Cold War-like tensions between the German and Japanese blocs. The Japanese subject non-Japanese to racial discrimination and grant them fewer rights, while the Nazis continue to hunt racial and ethnic minorities and euthanize those with handicaps or chronic illnesses. The superior technology of the Germans is highlighted by the use of video phones and Concorde-like 'rockets' for inter-continental travel.
Views of numerous other Earths, some where the Allies were victorious, some where an American resistance is doing well, are seen in the films collected by 'the Man in the High Castle', a mysteryous underground antifascist in transcendental visits by one of the characters, and eventually in the recollections of ' travelers' who journey between the parallel realms.
Cast[edit]Main[edit]
Recurring[edit]
John Smith's family[edit]
Juliana Crain's family[edit]
Nobusuke Tagomi's family[edit]
Historical characters[edit]
Episodes[edit]
Season 1 (2015)[edit]
The pilot and the second episode were screened at a special Comic-Con event. The season premiered on November 20, 2015.[7][8]
Season 2 (2016)[edit]
The second season was released on December 16, 2016.[9]
Season 3 (2018)[edit]
The third season was released on October 5, 2018.[10]
Production[edit]
In 2010, it was announced that the BBC would co-produce a four-part TV adaptation of The Man in the High Castle for BBC One together with Headline Pictures, FremantleMedia Enterprises and Scott Free Films. Director Ridley Scott was to act as executive producer of the adaptation by Howard Brenton.[11] On February 11, 2013, Variety reported that Syfy was producing the book as a four-part miniseries, with Frank Spotnitz and Scott as executive producers, co-produced with Scott Free Productions, Headline Pictures and Electric Shepherd Prods.[12]
On October 1, 2014, Amazon Studios began filming the pilot episode for a potential television drama to be broadcast on their Prime web video streaming service.[13] Adapted by Spotnitz, the project was produced for Amazon by Scott, David Zucker and Jordan Sheehan for Scott Free, Stewart Mackinnon and Christian Baute for Headline Pictures, Isa Hackett and Kalen Egan for Electric Shepherd and Spotnitz's Big Light Productions.[1] The pilot was released by Amazon Studios on January 15, 2015.[14] Amazon Studios' production process is somewhat different from those of other conventional television channels in that they produce pilot episodes of a number of different prospective programs, then release them and gather data on their success. The most promising shows are then picked up as regular series. On February 18, 2015, Amazon announced that The Man in the High Castle was given the green-light along with four other series, and a full season would be produced.[15]
The pilot, which premiered in January 2015, was Amazon's 'most-watched since the original series development program began'. The next month, Amazon ordered a ten-episode season, which was released in November to positive reviews.[16][17][18] A second season of ten episodes premiered in December 2016, and a third season was announced a few weeks later.[19][10][20] Amazon announced in January 2017 that they were bringing on new executive producer and showrunner Eric Overmyer for the third season to replace Spotnitz, who had departed from the show during the second season.[21] Season three was released on October 5, 2018.[19][10][20] In July 2018, it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that the series had been renewed for a fourth season,[22] which was confirmed in February 2019 to be the last one of the series.[23]
Filming[edit]
Principal filming for the pilot took place in Seattle, with the city standing in for San Francisco and locations in New York City, as well as Roslyn, Washington, which was the long-time shooting location for Northern Exposure. Sites used in Seattle include the Seattle Center Monorail, the Paramount Theatre, a newspaper office in the Pike Place Market area, as well as various buildings in the city's Capitol Hill, International District, and Georgetown neighborhoods. In Roslyn, the production used external shots of the Roslyn Cafe which featured prominently in Northern Exposure along with several local businesses and scenery.[24][25]
For the series, filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the downtown area of West Georgia Street, along the promenade of the Coast Capital Savings building in April 2015.[26] In May and June 2015 filming also took place at the University of British Columbia.[27] Exterior shots of Hohenwerfen Castle in Werfen, Austria, were filmed in September 2015 for the tenth episode of the first season.[28]
Reception[edit]
The pilot was Amazon's 'most-watched since the original series development program began'.[16] The first season received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 95% based on reviews from 58 critics, with an average rating of 7.54 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states,
By executive producer Ridley Scott, The Man in the High Castle is unlike anything else on TV, with an immediately engrossing plot driven by quickly developed characters in a fully realized post-WWII dystopia.[29]
Metacritic gives the first season a score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.[30] Meredith Woerner from io9 wrote, 'I can honestly say I loved this pilot. It's an impressive, streamlined undertaking of a fairly complicated and very beloved novel.'[31] Matt Fowler from IGN gave it 9.2 out of 10 and described the series as 'a superb, frightening experience filled with unexpected twists and (some sci-fi) turns'.[32] Brian Moylan of The Guardian was positive and praised the convincing depiction as well as the complex and gripping plot.[33] The Los Angeles Times described the pilot as 'provocative' and 'smartly adapted by The X-Files' Frank Spotnitz'. The Daily Telegraph said it was 'absorbing', and Wired called it 'must-see viewing'. Entertainment Weekly said it was 'engrossing' and 'a triumph in world-building', cheering, 'The Man in the High Castle is king.' After the season, Rolling Stone included it on a list of the 40 best science fiction television shows of all time.[34] Amazon subsequently announced it was the service's most-streamed original series and had been renewed for a second season.[35][36] The second season received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 64%, based on reviews from 25 critics with an average rating of 7.0 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states,
Although its plot is admittedly unwieldy, The Man in the High Castle's second season expands its fascinating premise in powerful new directions, bolstered by stunning visuals, strong performances, and intriguing new possibilities.[37]
Metacritic gives season 2 a score of 62 out of 100, based on reviews from ten critics.[38]The third season was met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 86%, based on reviews from 21 critics with an average rating of 7.45 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states,
The crafty addition of minor sci-fi elements and a terrific William Forsythe to the show's already engrossing narrative make The Man in the High Castle's third season another worthy binge.[39]
Metacritic gives season 3 a score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from five critics, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.[40]
Accolades[edit]
Advertising controversy[edit]
As part of an advertising campaign for the release of the first season, an entire New York City Subway car was covered with Nazi and Imperial Japanese imagery, as seen in the show, including multiple US flags with the Nazi eagle emblem in place of the 50 stars and multiple flags of the fictional Pacific States.[56] In response to criticism from 'state lawmakers and city leaders', the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released a statement saying that there were no grounds to reject the ads because the neutral content subway ad standards prohibit only advertising that is a political advertisement or disparages an individual or group. MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz stated, 'The MTA is a government agency and can't accept or reject ads based on how we feel about them; we have to follow the standards approved by our board. Please note they're commercial ads.' Spokesperson Adam Lisberg said, 'This advertising, whether you find it distasteful or not, obviously they're not advertising Nazism; they're advertising a TV show.'[57]
After complaints from New York State GovernorAndrew Cuomo and New York City MayorBill de Blasio, initial reports indicated that Amazon pulled the advertisement from the subway. It was later announced that it was the MTA, not Amazon, that pulled the ad because of pressure from Cuomo.[57]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Man_in_the_High_Castle_(TV_series)&oldid=904715072'
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