"His Dark Materials," Year Two

Minor spoilers ahead.

I've been looking forward to this latest season of "His Dark Materials" for a while, because this is a series where I genuinely have no idea what happens next in the story. While the first season was a little bumpy and lackluster at times, it was also clearly setting up bigger events to come, and I wanted to see where it would go.  Immediately, the second season is an improvement on the first, more focused and smaller scale. Lyra crosses over from the frozen North into the almost empty city of Cittàgazze, where she meets Will Parry (Amir Wilson), who has similarly crossed over from contemporary Earth.  They use Cittàgazze as their secret hideaway that they can retreat to while exploring Will's world and learning more about Dust, Will's missing father (Andrew Scott), and the "Subtle Knife," a weapon that can create portals between the different worlds.  

We also continue to follow Mrs. Coulter, Boreal, and Lee Scoresby, whose storylines are all greatly expanded from the books, but also tighter and more interesting to follow this year. Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) was reportedly also supposed to have an entire POV episode to himself, but COVID cut the production short, leaving the season with a very abrupt ending at seven episodes instead of eight.  Otherwise, the season looks gorgeous, with more screen time for the daemons, more beautiful fantasy environments, and more impossible creatures and concepts brought to life.  Cittàgazze is prowled by sinister spectres who look like living plumes of smoke, and provide some of this season's best visuals.  Several of the characters really gel at last, like Will and Boreal.  Lin Manuel-Miranda is especially good this year as Lee Scoresby, and it may be the best performance I've ever seen from him.  

This is a much more satisfying season to watch than last year, because it pays off its character and plot developments more regularly.  Boreal is no longer hanging around the edges of the story, but becomes a central antagonist.  Mrs. Coulter and Lee Scoresby are able to accomplish major goals and reveal some shades of gray.  The most significant new character is Dr Mary Malone (Simone Kirby), a physicist who Lyra meets in Will's world, which inspires Dr. Malone to go off on her own journey of discovery.  All of these characters' paths intersect in various ways, and the stakes of their interactions are clearer and more interesting.  Two of the season's best scenes involve Mrs Coulter being shown in a more sympathetic light - one where she interrogates Lee Scoresby, and another where she meets Dr. Malone.  In addition to giving Ruth Wilson more opportunities to seethe wonderfully, they have so much impact because they do so much character building, world building, and hammer home some of the series' big themes too.  

Things do get rushed and messy in the final episode, almost certainly because of the lost eighth episode.  The clashes between the Magisterium and the witches mostly fall flat, because the witches continue to be the show's dodgiest players.  Its difficult to parse the rules for their powers, their personalities are awfully stilted, and I had trouble telling them apart because of all the murky action scenes that take place at night.  They're important in setting up the big oncoming conflict that will be central to the next season, so I hope we'll see some improvements as Will and Lyra interact with them more.     

And I do look forward to next season.  "His Dark Materials" had such a big jump in quality this year that I'm thrilled that the creators will have a chance to finish the series on their own terms.  I'm fully convinced that long form television serves the story here much better than the originally envisioned film trilogy, and I'm very attached to these versions of the characters, especially Lyra and Mrs. Coulter.  However, given the complications and demands of the production, I expect it'll be a long time before we get to see the final chapter.

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