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Published Jan 26, 2026, 1:20 PM EST
Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.
Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
Prime Video boasts a rich and varied catalog of original series. Some of the first that spring to mind would be The Boys, Reacher, Bosch, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Here in 2026, series like Invincible and Fallout are also creating major waves on the seven seas of streaming.
Even so, some of Prime Video's greatest shows don't get the credit they deserve. The Expanse remains criminally undervalued, as do Sneaky Pete, The Rig, I'm a Virgo, and plenty more. There is, however, one Prime Video original that was celebrated upon release, but no longer gets the attention it demands as a series that helped to shape the very landscape of streaming.
The Man In The High Castle Broke New Ground For Prime Video
Prime Video began its original series efforts in 2013, but took several years to get things into full swing. Among the first wave of TV shows from Amazon's pipeline was The Man in the High Castle, a dystopian sci-fi venture based on the book by Philip K. Dick. Premiering in 2015 and running for four seasons, The Man in the High Castle took place in an alternate timeline where World War II had a very different outcome.
Without a doubt, The Man in the High Castle served as a vital cog in Amazon's early streaming operations. Alongside Bosch, it took off in a way other Prime Video series at the time couldn't quite match. And it wasn't just The Man in the High Castle's success that changed the game, but its scale and ambition. The level of production involved in depicting an alternate post-WWII timeline and convincingly telling a twisting, turning sci-fi narrative represented a big step-up for Prime Video at the time.
These days, with The Rings of Power and similar high-budget productions, Prime Video's original shows are expected to look deliciously epic and expertly polished, but The Man in the High Castle provided the first real example of what the streaming platform was shooting for. Philip K. Dick's depressing dystopia set Amazon on the path to greater things, establishing a foundation for future success.
The Man In The High Castle Is Still Worth Watching Today
The streaming world is almost unrecognizable compared to when The Man in the High Castle began, and Prime Video's standing within that world especially. With the exception of Bosch, which has since expanded into a wider franchise, many series from Amazon's first wave have been overshadowed by more recent, higher-profile releases, which means The Man in the High Castle is rarely credited as being a foundational moment in streaming's path to domination.
That's certainly a shame, because The Man in the High Castle still has a great deal to offer. A gripping story with immense attention to detail, the Prime Video series fell away slightly in season 2, but bounced back and even managed to avoid the usual pitfall of botching the finale.
The Man in the High Castle continuously did right by its characters, offering richly detailed arcs and satisfying twists, but it was the show's fictional world that kept viewers coming back for more in the 2010s. Dick's novel hardly made for an easy adaptation, but Prime Video's version balanced the multitude of factions and timelines with a fine-tuned hand, creating a believable and chilling international arena.
Prime Video has released flashier, better-looking, louder series since, but even with Homelander, Sauron, and Jack Reacher in the picture, The Man in the High Castle still ranks among the platform's greatest originals, and it'll take something truly special to change that.
English (US) ·