The latest episode of His Dark Materials, “Malice,” is the best of season 2 so far: fleet-footed, full of terrific effects, and leaves you wanting more.
This may be the first episode of His Dark Materials all season that I thought was strong pretty much all the way through. If it has a weakness, it’s that it’s not longer. I never thought I would say that, but the episode really does go from strength to strength.
We open we Angelica and the other kids from Cittàgazze mobbing Lyra and Will as he convalesces from his festering subtle knife wound. The show has building to this for a while, with the local kids clearly not trusting these outsiders with their weird clothes and love of cats, but things tipped into dangerous territory after the Spectres drained Angelica’s older brother Tullio. It’s not really Lyra and Will’s fault, but they get blamed anyway, because these are frightened children who aren’t thinking through their actions. It’s all very Lord of the Flies and maybe a little Children of the Corn: there’s a proper horror movie moment when Lyra peers through a crack in the door and is greeted with a close-up of Angelica’s wild-eyed face. Run, Lyra!
This part feels more important in the book — I thought it might serve as the climax to an episode, not the kick-off — but the show has places to be. Serafina Pekkala comes to the rescue and airlifts the kids out of there, seeming more a part of the fabric of the show than at any other point this season. Usually when the witches talk with each other, I feel like I’m watching some kind of Lord of the Rings knockoff, but having them mix with Lyra and Will brings out their human side.
Even if the child mob sequences punches below its weight, the show follows up on it later in an expectedly touching scene with Mary Malone, newly arrived in Cittàgazze, ignorant of the Spectres (remember the Angels promised they wouldn’t harm her), and using the I Ching to plan her next move. She’s found by Angelica and another girl, and the episode has a lot of sympathy for these parentless would-be child murderers. When the one girl asked Mary for a hug I shouted “Awww” aloud.
After Lyra and Will escape the mob, Serafina sets about trying to cure Will’s wounded hand with a spell and the story slows down so the characters can talk about where they are right now, emotionally. Lyra is acting less impulsive and gung-ho here than usual, observing and reacting to Will’s darkening mood rather than insisting on going after the Magesterium or finding Lord Asriel or something else. Dafne Keen is doing a fine job of playing her transformation into a calmer, more perceptive person, and her chemistry with Amir Wilson’s Will Parry is getting better all the time.
I particularly liked this exchange between Will and her: “I don’t trust anyone.” “Til you met me.” “Yeah.” Aw, they’re sweet.
Mrs. Coulter can always be counted on for interesting TV, and she pumps it up a few decimals this week. In the books, we never see exactly how Mrs. Coulter can control the Spectres — she just treats it as no big deal — but the visual possibilities were too great for the show to pass up. There’s something so evil-queen-in-a-fairy-tale about the moment when Coulter stares down these shifting shapes, rendered here more eerily than ever before — and masters them through sheer force of will. It’s almost enough to make you want to root for her, until you remember what she’s here to do.
She’s less awe-inspiring when she poisons Lord Boreal, who marvels at Mrs. Coulter and dreams of them joining together as “equals,” but it does lead to a great line as she watches him die: “You are not nor have you ever been my equal.” Cold.
Finally, we have Lee Scoresby and Jopari flying to Cittàgazze in search of Lyra. Their scenes together are pretty much all taken from the book, and all of them work, although Jopari seems more smug here than he is on the page.
Still, he’s earned the right to be a little smug when he can command bolts of lightning and huge flocks of birds to take out Magisterium airships. Clearly the show saved up some special effects money for this episode, and it was great.
Like I said at the start, the only issue is that the episode ends right when things are really heating up, as the remaining Magisterium blimps force Lee and Jopari to land and stand and fight. But the episode itself is so fleet-footed compared to a lot of what came before that I’m more than willing to forgive it.
Also, the episode is the shorter in the second season yet, maybe in the whole series. For a while I thought that the episodes might have to hit certain time quotas but this one proves that isn’t so. I can’t help but wonder how a few of the other installments might have been improved with some strategic cuts.
Nevertheless, His Dark Materials is setting itself up for a banger of a season 2 finale. Until next week!
Episode Grade: A-
His Dark Bullet Points
- Will’s wounded hand looks wicked gross. I’m glad they didn’t sanitize it.
- I liked the kids matter-of-factly describing their mob justice routine to Mary. “We tried to kill her but she escaped. Was that wrong?” “Yes!”
- They cut all the wacky witch chanting for the spell to cure Will’s hand. Probably just as well.
- Mrs. Coulter’s golden monkey is extremely expressive and animated this week. The show has really stepped up its dæmon game for season 2.
- Lee: “Can you magic us up some fire?” Then Jopari tosses him some matches. Hee
- The scene at the Magisterium was fine. I like the idea of the Cardinal’s lizard dæmon kind of being his dark anti-conscience; she’s way creepier than he is.
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