MovieChat Forums > The Man in the High Castle (2015) Discussion > Obergruppenführer John Smith

Obergruppenführer John Smith

posted 8 years ago by runit73
8 replies | jump to latest

At the beginning of season 1 what is his job? I assumed he was the American security chief, but he only seemed to report to "superiors" in Germany. Is he really more of a regional dictator?

[–] collinemorris 8 years ago

As I recall, he's Oberguppenführer of the Greater Nazi Reich from the start of the show.

I'm not a German military expert, but I believe oberguppenführer ranks immediately below Reichsführer (Heinrich Himmler). That would make him high command of the US Reich.

[–] robbenn69 8 years ago

Actually, the similar sounding Oberstgrüppenführer is above him. Reinhardt Heidrick was ObstGF in reality as well as in TMIHC. But it appears that ObGF Smith is a de facto Governor of the Greater Nazi Reich. I would really love to see flashbacks as to how he got there from being a US Army Intelligence officer.

[–] smithjgs 8 years ago

I have no idea what an Obergruppenführer is but he seems to control everything within Nazi USA which is like a governor.

He has a lot of higher ups in Germany though which means his real power is ultimately diminished since anyone could arrest him at anytime.

At the end of season 2, he may be the most powerful non-German out there though.

If this is Locke, then who's in there? 

[–] magemaximus 8 years ago

did they explain how an american was able to obtain such a high position? maybe i missed it? always thought it was weird that they considered an american one of them. i mean he is white and possibly descendant of germans, but still.

You can't persuade fanboys. You'd be better off trying to convince a wall. ~CodeNamePlasmaSnake~

[–] smithjgs 8 years ago

did they explain how an american was able to obtain such a high position?

He's American so they thought it would be best for America to be governed by one of them.

It appeared that most of the higher ups in America were American.

USA is just a territory and all the bigwigs would want to be in Germany. He's a big fish in a small pond and his power can be easily taken away as evidenced by the final episodes.

If this is Locke, then who's in there? 

[–] billdz-geo 8 years ago

If he were a governor or something similar, wouldn't he live in a governor's mansion or other official residence? He lives in a private house on a residential street, doesn't even have a gate or guards. Jules and others just walked to the door and rang the bell.

[–] smithjgs 8 years ago

He lives in a nice house in a nice neighborhood.

He doesn't need guards because Nazi America is super safe and/or the neighborhood itself may be heavily protected considering all the important people that live there.

Again, he is only important from an American POV which is why what happens to him in the finale is such a big deal.

If I were you, I'd wanna be me too. 

[–] mikexmene 8 years ago

You know in the first season he takes multiple paths to work in order to stay safe. You would think that he would be better protected at home.