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His Dark Materials Season 2 Review

The second season of His Dark Materials premiered in 2020. It consists of seven episodes. It’s a solid improvement upon the original.

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“Love makes us fragile in ways we cannot fathom“

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I actually did not quite care for the first season of this show that adapted the first novel in Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy novels. This second season adapts ‘The Subtle Knife’, which is a book that I did not love at all, so I had no expectations going into this.

What ended up happening was quite the opposite – the season ended up being better than the first one unlike the books themselves. The storytelling was more confident and so was the directing, editing and acting. I especially found the pacing brisker and stronger overall. It’s not a great watch for non-fans, but for everybody who has read the books, it will prove to be satisfactory.

Dafne Keen is still wonderful. Her Lyra is quite a memorable heroine and likable too. The show is at its best when it was focusing on her newfound friendship with Will, played so wonderfully by Amir Wilson. The two shared some very moving scenes and I really appreciated the strong character work for both of them.

But the highlight clearly remains Ruth Wilson. Marisa Coulter is the mother of Lyra and the show’s biggest villain. The actress chewed scenery like crazy, delivering an over-the-top, impressively menacing turn. She stole the show from everybody else and I just loved whenever she was on screen.

But James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda continue to be miscast on this show and others are mostly forgettable with the exception of Andrew Scott, who was reliably terrific and empathetic in a very emotional role. It was great seeing him here.

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The show continues to focus more on dramatic instead of fantastical elements for better and for worse. On the one hand, it led to a more sophisticated series with great characterization and solid melodramatic elements, but on the other hand, it made for a less engaging, slower show that lacked in magic and excitement. I liked the action that we got and the daemons were wonderful, but I still wanted much more of those.