Resurrecting this thread, as I figure by now anyone who was interested in watching the latest season has done so and won't mind spoilers.
The good: The John Smith arc continues to be interesting, especially his dethroning of George Lincoln Rockwell and the fact that he's apparently being groomed and guided by Himmler personally. The Hawthorne Abendson arc heated up towards the end, and some interesting things are revealed about the source of the films and how the parallel histories work. VTOL airplanes. Kido remained enjoyably menacing. The arc following Helen's murder of Alice, which unlike most situations involving primary characters in a TV series, you were never quite sure how it was going to play out. I half expected Smith was going to have her suicided to protect himself and the children. Best part of the season: Frank gets killed at the end. (Was I wrong to cheer that scene? Man, I despise that character.) Rockwell as a character, and his ultimate fate (didn't see that squirm-inducing situation nor its climax coming at all). Hoover's portrayal was enjoyably slimy and weasely, whether or not it was fair to the historical figure.
The neutral: My second-favorite character, Tagomi, was underutilized this season apart from a bad-ass takedown of a couple of Nazi assassins and despite a good bit of screen time. The new Irish character from the Neutral Zone starts out as a cliche, then comes into his own after the raid on the coal mine when he uses his network to distribute the film, then out of nowhere he pulls a 'Day of the Jackal' (the book version, except he both succeeds and gets away), which seemed implausible since we'd been shown nothing (that I recall now) to establish that he had that specialized skill set or that any preparations for the hit had been made beforehand. On the other hand, they did show Julianna learning to fire a handgun, but of course she was being taught by a woman. It took me three episodes to figure out the two characters were actually Rockwell and Hoover - I liked their inclusion, but their introduction at the memorial service should have been a little clearer (they were just George and Edgar).
The bad (about 2/3s of the season): Ed's gay. Nicole's bi. Hoover's gay. The propaganda lady's a lesbian. Her husband is gay. Rockwell's...who knows what. Jeebus, Helen, cut back on the strudel already. Frank survived the bombing at the end of Season 2, now with yet more to whine about. That flushing sound in the bathroom was Joe's entire character arc. Brokeback Neutral Zone. Nazis kill Jews, we get it, let's explore some of the story's novel elements, hey? You can see Julianna gradually morphing into a standard-issue bad-ass girl-character. Ed's gay? Really? I hadn't noticed on the dozen or so occasions he hoovered Jack's tongue, totally missed that. Frank's no Sabo. Ed's gay, yet again. Alternate-reality lesbians are less cant-addled and butch than ours, but vaguely creepier. More gay Ed. Gestapo raid! Looks like Nazis hate the gays as well as the Jews. Mengele was a missed opportunity, while Raeder was completely thrown away. Childan betrays Frank to his death, and can't not realize it later, but doesn't seem to react to it at all - is he a sociopath or is it just lousy writing? Doesn't matter that Kido beheaded Frank, you just know that that twat will be back in the next season. Helen's female solipsism overriding her survival instinct and the welfare of her family may be a surprisingly realistic portrayal normally, but in that context "I'm not haaaaaaaappppppyyy!" is laughably and jarringly implausible. Oh, and by the way, Ed's gay.
The good: The John Smith arc continues to be interesting, especially his dethroning of George Lincoln Rockwell and the fact that he's apparently being groomed and guided by Himmler personally. The Hawthorne Abendson arc heated up towards the end, and some interesting things are revealed about the source of the films and how the parallel histories work. VTOL airplanes. Kido remained enjoyably menacing. The arc following Helen's murder of Alice, which unlike most situations involving primary characters in a TV series, you were never quite sure how it was going to play out. I half expected Smith was going to have her suicided to protect himself and the children. Best part of the season: Frank gets killed at the end. (Was I wrong to cheer that scene? Man, I despise that character.) Rockwell as a character, and his ultimate fate (didn't see that squirm-inducing situation nor its climax coming at all). Hoover's portrayal was enjoyably slimy and weasely, whether or not it was fair to the historical figure.
The neutral: My second-favorite character, Tagomi, was underutilized this season apart from a bad-ass takedown of a couple of Nazi assassins and despite a good bit of screen time. The new Irish character from the Neutral Zone starts out as a cliche, then comes into his own after the raid on the coal mine when he uses his network to distribute the film, then out of nowhere he pulls a 'Day of the Jackal' (the book version, except he both succeeds and gets away), which seemed implausible since we'd been shown nothing (that I recall now) to establish that he had that specialized skill set or that any preparations for the hit had been made beforehand. On the other hand, they did show Julianna learning to fire a handgun, but of course she was being taught by a woman. It took me three episodes to figure out the two characters were actually Rockwell and Hoover - I liked their inclusion, but their introduction at the memorial service should have been a little clearer (they were just George and Edgar).
The bad (about 2/3s of the season): Ed's gay. Nicole's bi. Hoover's gay. The propaganda lady's a lesbian. Her husband is gay. Rockwell's...who knows what. Jeebus, Helen, cut back on the strudel already. Frank survived the bombing at the end of Season 2, now with yet more to whine about. That flushing sound in the bathroom was Joe's entire character arc. Brokeback Neutral Zone. Nazis kill Jews, we get it, let's explore some of the story's novel elements, hey? You can see Julianna gradually morphing into a standard-issue bad-ass girl-character. Ed's gay? Really? I hadn't noticed on the dozen or so occasions he hoovered Jack's tongue, totally missed that. Frank's no Sabo. Ed's gay, yet again. Alternate-reality lesbians are less cant-addled and butch than ours, but vaguely creepier. More gay Ed. Gestapo raid! Looks like Nazis hate the gays as well as the Jews. Mengele was a missed opportunity, while Raeder was completely thrown away. Childan betrays Frank to his death, and can't not realize it later, but doesn't seem to react to it at all - is he a sociopath or is it just lousy writing? Doesn't matter that Kido beheaded Frank, you just know that that twat will be back in the next season. Helen's female solipsism overriding her survival instinct and the welfare of her family may be a surprisingly realistic portrayal normally, but in that context "I'm not haaaaaaaappppppyyy!" is laughably and jarringly implausible. Oh, and by the way, Ed's gay.