Weaker season than first one with terrible pacing that drags some episodes too long. The biggest issue I have with this series is the Witches, they destroyed all the nuance they have and made them superheroes with dumb writing. Now the Witches basically destroy consistency with the story because if they can kill so many people so fast, even go faster than the aeroships, why the hell they are losing the war? Is it because they nuked them? Why the hell they are captured if they can kill anyone? It doesn't make any sense. This in the original books make sense, because they are not supers, Witches in the original book have subtle abilities, and not that crap assassin's creed killing skills. Also the Witches clothing in the series looks like shit. It is funny because the movie that many people didn't liked have better representation for the Witches.
There's something very familiar about this show some forgotten past or something.... It's one of my favorites.
Season 2 builds up fast in first 3-4 episodes and then for the remaining ones just keeps us hanging, hope they come up with the third season and finish what they started.
It's good!
That's like the best I can really say about this series so far, like it's not particularly exemplary in any regards with what it's doing on a technical level, or as a conceptual level either (I personally think that the story of His Dark Materials in the books is just, not great) but this series is able to make things work. It's a very well done adaptation for a mediocre source material, and that mediocre nature unfortunately does carry over to the series as a whole.
So let me talk about the strengths, especially with this season!
First up, the cast is really good. Ruth Wilson of course steals the show as she always has, but Simone Kirby as Mary Malone and Amir Wilson as Will Parry bring a lot to the scenes that they're in, and it's really awesome to see. Unfortunately, I think Dafne Keen still unfortunately doesn't quite have the chops to carry as a lead, but she's getting there! This season was a remarkable improvement, so good on her! I'm very excited to see what she does next!
...but I did wish that Bella Ramsey, who is also in this season, had the role of Lyra instead lmao
And piggybacking off of Bella Ramsey, her character she plays exists in the world of Cittagazze, which is a fucking awesome setpiece that I found out was made entirely from scratch in a studio. That's insane to me, and highlights one of my favorite things about this show. There's so many practical, on location filming or real set designs as well as amazing visual effects that just are married so well together, you wouldn't believe this is made in part by Tom Hooper! The look of the show is just nailed this season, and I'm loving how it looks.
Unfortunately, I think the story (again it's adapted from a source material that I think is really mid) is just not, great, although the show does the absolute best it can to make sense of Pullman's frenzied writings,and this season kinda falls flat with it's pacing cause it really just drags ooooon.
besides all that, pretty good! Good adaptation! We'll see how the third and the weirdest season is gonna end up lol
After being underwhelmed by first season I thought I wasn't going to continue, but AV Club's Myles Mcnutt (who's of the same opinion with me about it) gives higher scores to this season on his reviews, and I love these books so I jumped back into it. Between this and The Eddy I don't think I'm liking Jack Thorne as showrunner much, but yeah this is a step-up, with more focus, momentum, and budget (daemon's frequent appearances and better action scenes), and especially more Ruth Wilson showcase. Still rough in plot continuity and around the edges (the deaths in finale really underwhelm, with only the performances still keeping them with some impact), but I'm looking forward to how they do with the third book now.
Shout by Miguel A. ReinaBlockedParent2020-12-21T18:50:54Z
The second season largely maintains the interest of the first, but knows how to expand the story to other limits that pose different plots. Some characters are more blurred, such as Lee Scoresby's, and it seems like a season of preparation, of placing the pieces for a more ambitious adventure that would foreseeably come with its third season.