Ooooh… things are getting good, friends. We’re already down to only three more episodes of His Dark Materials (after this one). And we’ve finally got the subtle knife!
I’m pretty dang excited, so let’s just hop right in to the recap.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S2E2/3: People Are Afraid of Things They Don't Understand
His Dark Materials recaps are back. I hope you hadn’t forgotten about them! I definitely meant to post a recap last week, but I’m human and life got the best of me. If you know me personally, then you know that the end of November is a difficult time for me every year. And with everything else that’s going on in 2020, this year was just especially hard. I watched the show last week, I had my notes, but I just couldn’t find the time or the energy to sit down and actually write the thing. And that’s just the honest truth.
But one week is not the end of the world, right? It just means this week I have two episodes to recap for you, the one from last Monday and the one that aired this past Monday. For my sanity (and yours) I won’t cover everything that happened in these two episodes because who wants to read all of that? So we’ll be doing things a little bit differently this week. I’ll highlight some of the more notable things that happened in these two episodes and offer my thoughts on them. And then next week it will be back to recaps as normal.
His Dark Materials fans, I hope that’s okay with you, and I hope you’ll forgive me! I am loving this show so much.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S2E1: I Followed A Cat Through A Hole in the Air
With how strange 2020 has been, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a year since I was here recapping season 1 of His Dark Materials. And yet here we are, reaching the end of one hellish year, and we’re rewarded with quite the pleasant surprise. Or it was a surprise for me. This season really crept up on me. I didn’t realize it was happening until it was almost here, and yes, I am very excited it is here.
As I mentioned last time I did these recaps, please note that I’m writing from the perspective of someone who has read the books, but I will not spoil anything in the books that hasn’t yet happened in the show. If something happens differently in the show than it happens in the books, however, I may bring it up. Because I’m that person. Now let’s do this.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E8: Parents Are More Trouble Than They're Worth
His Dark Materials picked a hell of a time to air its final episode of the season.
I mean… the week of Christmas? They expected me to go to this dark place when I was already having to deal with my relatives and traveling and food comas? Well. I didn’t watch this episode last week because of all of the aforementioned reasons, so I apologize that this final recap of the final episode is coming a week late. This one is going to be less of a recap of this episode and more of a reflection of this first season. With, yes, many thoughts about the final episode. Our journey has been a long one. Let’s wrap up season 1.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E7: Bear Ways, Not Human
It’s time for a bear battle! Are you ready?
That’s right. The genre for this episode is BEAR BATTLE. But first, some other stuff happens. Let’s talk through it all and see how Lyra and friends are doing in this, the second to last episode of the season. That’s right, we’re already here.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E6: You're After Dust
Remember last week when I said each episode of His Dark Materials is its own genre? Yeah, this is the prison escape movie episode.
Unlike previous episodes where we jump around to check in on multiple storylines, the majority of this episode goes down in Bolvangar, the far north research facility where the Magisterium experiments on children. Yes, it’s as terrible as it sounds, and it’s a place that has been teased the entire season. So it makes sense that we’re stuck here for an episode. Like Lyra, we’re trapped in this place and are forced to reckon with exactly how awful it is. I’m just going to come out and say it. This was a really good episode. I got emotional. So let’s just get to it.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E5: We’re Going to Win This One, Aren’t We?
His Dark Materials is moving so fast that each episode almost seems like a different genre. What genre is this episode? I’ll let you decide at the end.
This episode is also the episode where we start truly delving into book 2 material. Part of me is like, “WHOA SLOW DOWN,” because I really wish this show was going to be three seasons instead of two. But part of me is SO EXCITED because The Subtle Knife is my favorite of the three books. So getting to meet Will Parry and be introduced to that part of the story is super cool, especially because this material has never been adapted for the screen before. But I could have waiting a bit longer for that payoff. I don’t know. I’m so excited I don’t know how to feel.
I’ll try to anyway, I guess.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E4: Who is Lyra Belacqua?
Ooo boy… it’s panserbjørne time!
But before we get there… I have one quick thing to say. I just read that His Dark Materials is meant to cover the three books of the series in two 8 episode seasons. Say what? I feel… unsure about this decision. Here I was thinking we’d get about one season per book. But no, we’re just going to get this thing done, huh? I guess that explains the pacing (and the additional storylines that take us into book 2 territory) thus far. But still, I was really liking the parts of the story that the television show was adding. Hearing that they are cramming three books into two seasons means less room to do some of that additional world-building.
Oh well. It is what it is. I guess let’s talk about what happened this week. And let’s meet some armored bears, yeah?
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