WiC Watches: His Dark Materials
By Dan Selcke
Image: His Dark Materials/HBO
Episode 2: “The Idea of North”
Last week, I was concerned that HBO’s His Dark Materials was tipping too much of its hand too soon, giving us information about Dust and Lyra’s role in the greater scheme of things before Lyra, our avatar in this story, learns it herself. This week, I had a similar thought when Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) steps through a window at Jordan College into another world — our world — and we see that he’s been living in both, concealing his snake dæmon while texting on his smartphone in the one world and doing dirty deeds for the Magisterium in the other.
In Pullman’s books, it’s not revealed until the second novel — The Subtle Knife — that these multiple worlds even exist, or at least, it’s not explored in any sort of detail. As to why the show would give away this crucial mystery so early…I really don’t know. On the page, we find out as Lyra does, and we feel her wonder and awe. Here, this earth-shattering revelation is reduced to just another plot twist. I doubt any new viewer felt awe; confusion is more likely.
For better or worse, the producers have gone the Game of Thrones route with this show. Instead of making this Lyra’s story, they’ve expanded the canvas to follow the Gyptians, Lord Boreal, Roger, and Lyra all at once — I’m surprised they’re showing enough restraint to keep Lord Asriel offscreen. Sometimes it works — I liked the subplot where the Gyptians search London for their stolen children, and Anne-Marie Duff brings gets a chance to bring some gravitas to Ma Costa. But the stuff with Lord Boreal felt wholly wrongheaded and backwards to me. It almost felt heretical, to use the parlance of this show.
I’m curious: how did people who haven’t read the books feel about this turn? What did you think when you realized the show was going there?
The meat of the episode — Lyra slowly realizing that Mrs. Coulter isn’t as wonderful as she appears — works better. Sure, it proceeds more slowly than it does on the page — rereading The Northern Lights, it’s striking how quickly Lyra’s time in London comes to an end — but the show has fun stretching out the monster movie elements of it, with Mrs. Coulter’s plush apartment slowly turning into an ornate prison, and director Tom Hooper framing Ruth Wilson like she’s the shark from Jaws, but with a better tailor.
Wilson is still the best thing about the show, by the way. Everything she did well in Luther, where she played a purring psychopath, works well here. Hooper can just push in slowly on her face, and it’s spooky. What is she thinking behind that placid mask? You get the idea that, despite all her finery and sophistication, she could lash out in a murderous rage at any moment, as indeed she does when her silent golden monkey attacks Panteleimon, Lyra’s dæmon.
All the same, I think the show makes another iffy choice when, following that terrifying confrontation, Mrs. Coulter comes down to earth a bit and tells Lyra that Lord Asriel is her father, information she doesn’t get until later in the story in the books. We get a better idea of Mrs. Coulter as a wholly rounded character here. She’s evil, obviously — the moment where she throws the children’s letters in the fire is great — but we can a better sense of what she’s striving for, and that she might have at least a little regret over what she’s doing to Lyra.
And I’m against that! The reason this scene is so chilling in the books is because Mrs. Coulter attacks Lyra over something incredibly trivial, and then goes right back to being a a posh pod person. The books eventually get around to fleshing out her character, but right now, we’re supposed to see her with Lyra’s child’s eyes: as purely monstrous. The show is deemphasizing Lyra’s perspective and it’s throwing everything off.
Photo: His Dark Materials: Season 1. Image Courtesy of HBO
Back on the plus side, I liked that this episode made better use of the dæmons. It was more clear this week that everyone in this world has them, from Roger marooned in a London warehouse to the creepy priest who’s bug dæmon surprises Lyra in the hall. Panteleimon (Kit Connor) is becoming more of his own character, too, a voice of reason for the impulsive Lyra. The dæmons are a wonderfully inventive part of Pullman’s story, so I’m glad the TV show is committed to doing them justice.
Still, I can’t like this episode as much as I’d like to. Keen is still fine as Lyra, but she’s not spectacular, and the character’s rough edges have been sanded down, resulting in a less interesting protagonist. And that Lord Boreal twist…no.