The original post: /r/television by /u/okay_then_ on 2024-08-12 19:07:29.
So, I absolutely adored the His Dark Materials novel trilogy when I was a kid, and was looking forward to sinking my teeth into the BBC/HBO series. So far I’ve watched the first two episodes, and…
There’s a lot to praise. The performances are all pretty stellar, especially Ruth Wilson. The world and dæmons all look pretty fantastic for a television budget. Clearly a lot of care was put into the characters and art direction.
But. What the hell’s up with the show structure? The pacing is so weird. Why do we keep cutting to the Gyptians? Who even cares about them yet? Why do the scenes with Lyra all feel so disjointed amd unflowing? And why, in the name of ever-loving fuck, would they do the “our world” parallel universe reveal like that? Like, are you kidding me? I remember that being the most mind-blowing climactic revelation at the end of the first book/start of the second book—it was such a crazy twist that it immediately propelled me into finishing the whole book series. But in this television adaptation, they just have Lord Boreal casually walk through a portal halfway through the second episode. What the shit? That’s how they decided to depict this insane, world-threatening revelation? What a boring, incomprehensible choice.
I was watching the show with a friend and really looking forward to them getting their mind blown at the end of the season. Instead, less than two hours into the show, I got a “Oh, wait, is that supposed to be, like, our world? Ah, neat.”
So, does the pacing smarten up a bit once the show finds its footing, or is it just a series of events presented without any sort of urgency or interest? Cuz if it’s the latter, the way they handled that story beat has put me off enough that I think I’ll call it quits.