His Dark Materials (TV)

[selenak]

Source material knowledge first: I never actually read the books. I did, however, listen to the radio dramatisation of the trilogy and had it on tape. (There were still tapes in those days...) But that was a long, long time ago, which is actually helpful for dealing this this latest version as its own thing. I didn't have images of the characters in my head, and while I recalled the general points of the plot, a lot of details were lost to me, especially since I had liked but not loved what I had heard. I'm not sure, for example, whether or not the golden monkey, Mrs. Coulter's daemon, has a name in the books - I think he has one in the radio version? So I don't know whether this is a tv only thing. Also, being aquainted with the story via an audio dramatization first, I had no strong idea about how young or old anyone is supposed to be. (Well, obviously the children should be children, but other than that.)



So, my impression: I liked it. Dafne Keen, who impressed the hell out of me in Logan, doesn't have the mischievous playfulness I recall from early Lyra, but her fierce intensity works for the character as presented in this tv version, especially in the scenes with Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter, and the tenderness in her scenes with Yorick is great.

In terms of the world building, I still have a basic problem with Pullman's set up, to wit, this whole idea of one universal church. Because any major religion I can think of that lasts longer develops factions, if not schismas. And that's leaving aside the question was happened to all the non-Christian religions in this world. (Maybe the novels cover that.) Where are the theological debates? The rival schools? I get that when you want to make a grand point against religion as ideology, depicting different factions debating over theologoical fine points is complicating things, but I still don't buy that the Magisterium on Lyra's world manages to run the entire show.

(So yes. Daemons? No problem. But religion without endless inner theological debates and squabblings about whether quote x of the sacred text means this or that? That's where my suspension of disbelief goes on strike.)

That aside, this season, the filmed version of the first book, Northern Lights, with some Subtle Knife thrown in, did draw me in even more than the audio dramatization had all that time ago. Incidentally, I think it was a good idea to let Will show up in this season already, not just because his mother is played by Bellino Nina Sosanya. Back in the day, I felt betrayed when The Subtle Knife suddenly switched protagonists on me, and never stopped resenting Will for that reason, even when Lyra showed up again. Whereas now watching, Will grew on me in a minor role, and far from minding his future increased screen time, I will look forward to him as second protagonist. Also, I don't remember Lord Boreal interesting me at all as a villain in the audio, whereas his screen self is impressive.

But really: other than Lyra herself, this season stands or falls with Mrs. Coulter, and Ruth Wilson is just superb. I mean, I knew she was from Luther onwards, and this role is right up her alley. She can be absolutely chilling (never more so when she just doesn't get why Lyra is upset about the other children once Mrs. Coulter has promised Roger will be safe), suavely manipulative and a great power player (whenever she has a scene with someone from the Magisterium), and then again showing messed up vulnerability (she does the Tricia Helfer as Six in the BSG miniseries trick where she commits an on screen murder of someone helpless and yet you can't help but focus on her feelings about this in the scene with the lobotomized nurse). I've heard there were complaints about not enough daemons and daemons-humans interactions, but this made me focus all the more on them when they did happen, and Mrs. Coulter and the golden monkey really sold that "the daemon is the person's soul" concept to me, precisely because the tv series used her daemon to show how messed up she is, as when she was distressed but slapped his paw away. I also noted that they try to let the characters fight similarly to the daemons (so Lee Scoresby kicks like a hare while Mrs. Coulter fights like a monkey), which I thought was a neat touch.

James MacAvoy as Lord Asriel had the much shorter part, and I thought he was good casting, because I remember the terrible shock when I first listened to Northern Lights along with Lyra at the end, and so you need someone who doesn't signal ahead that he's not actually the good guy. This said, the way MacAvoy played Asriel's initial reaction to seeing Lyra near the end - shocked out of his brusqueness and cool focus with that desperate "not you", before finding out she brought Roger along did immediately remind me of Jephta and his daughter, so I think even if I hadn't been spoiled, I would have figured it out at this point.

Seen Lin-Manuel Miranda relatively shortly after watching Hamilton for the first time, I wondered whether I'd be thrown, but no; he had a great warmth and charm as Lee Scoresby, and good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Including the bear. Speaking of Iorek, one thing I thought either the tv adaption or the story itself fell down on was selling me on the bear kingdom in that other than Iorek and the evil ursurper, none of the other bears had lines, and just silently went from supporting King Louie, err, the ursurper to supporting Iorek after the fight, and I'm sorry, but I've seen this plot with the Klingons on both TNG and DS9, and the other Klingons having reactions was rather instrumental when Worf challenges and kills someone. Otoh, Lyra's "I'm Iorek's daemon" gambit showcasing her bravery and ability to improvise came across beautifully, and of course her riding on Yorick was a fantastic visual.

So, all in all, an enjoyable first season. Bring on season 2!