WiC Watches: His Dark Materials
By Dan Selcke
Image: His Dark Materials/HBO
Episode 3: “The Spies”
Okay, after whining about this show for two weeks, I’m happy to say that things steadied themselves a bit with “The Spies.” Although there were some additional dramatics and a couple of extraneous scenes, this episode stuck very closely to Lyra’s story, and to the books. And whattaya know? It was the best episode yet.
Surely, part of the reason I felt better about this hour was because I’ve now had some time to get used to the show’s style, visually and narratively. I still don’t like that we’re following Lord Boreal into “our” world — I think the show should have reserved the revelation that we’ll be crossing into other worlds at all for the end of the season, as Pullman does in his book. But that diversion was minimal here, and I suppose setting up information about John and Will Parry could pay off down the line once they become bigger players.
Still, the big reason this episode worked was because of a bunch of good scenes with Lyra. Her conversation with Farder Coram (James Cosmo) about their dæmons settling into permanent forms is thematically crucial and gives us a window into Lyra’s mind. She doesn’t want Pan to settle as any particular animal, but all dæmons settle as their humans get older, so what Lyra is really saying is that she doesn’t want to grow up. That’s a key aspect to her character, and to what Pullman is trying to say about childhood, adulthood, sin and innocence. We’ll see those themes revisited again and again, and I like that the show took the time to draw them out here.
Image: His Dark Materials/HBO
I also really liked the scene where Ma Costa reveals that Mrs. Coulter is Lyra’s mother. It’s pumped up for TV, of course; on the page Lyra finds out and pretty much shrugs it off. The show’s version is much more dramatic, but it gives Anne-Marie Duff yet another chance to shine. She’s a warm, motherly presence, which is something Lyra needs right now, and very compelling to watch for us.
Ruth Wilson continues to impress as Mrs. Coulter in her brief scenes, tearing up beds and walking too close to the edge. And her golden monkey is the most expressive dæmon we’ve yet met. Even the scene where Lyra succeeds at reading the alethiometer is pretty entertaining, and makes about as much sense as it does in the books, which is to say not a ton but I’m willing to go with it.
Image: His Dark Materials/HBO
That said, the additions the episode does make are still kind of wrongheaded, and create redundancies and plotholes. For example, in the books — and I assumed in the show, based on the wide shot of where the gyptians gather — the gyptians travel days away from London to meet for “the roping.” I mean, they were clearly on the move when the Magisterium searched their boats, right? But then when Tony and Benjamin decade to raid Mrs. Coulter’s flat, they get back to London in a night, so…okay.
And about that raid…No one but Lyra knows that Mrs. Coulter is the leader of the Gobblers. So if a couple of Gyptians show up in her house and look through her stuff, Lyra is the only one who could have told them, which means Lyra is with the Gyptians. Knowing this, why would Mrs. Coulter even need to to use those nifty little mechanical spy-flies to hunt Lyra down? (In the books, Benjamin and his team raid a different facility.)
AND ANOTHER THING. At the top of the episode, the Gyptians save Lyra from the Gobblers, and Tony Costa recognizes her. Back when I was watching the premiere, I wondered why they didn’t establish that Lyra knew the Gyptians as a child at Jordan, and I wondered it again here, since their being familiar with each other is part of the reason they take her in, and why she chooses to stay.
So the writing isn’t airtight, but this episode was still much closer to the spirit of what I was expecting from a His Dark Materials show produced by HBO and the BBC. May they keep it up.
In the end, the show may have a bigger problem on its hands with Dafne Keen. Talented as she is, I don’t think she’s finding enough different notes to hit as Lyra. She’s at her best when Lyra is angry — which is a lot of the time, admittedly — but her emotions aren’t as textured or deep as they should be. Television is a marathon, not a sprint, so there’s time for her to get better, and she’s not bad, just not at the level I think she needs to be at if this show is really going to sing.
Next week, we meet Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, who looks awesome. We’ll also find out if Lin-Manuel Miranda can convincingly play a Texan, which…we’ll see.