His Dark Materials Season 2 (2020) Review

For the last 7 weeks, His Dark Materials second season has been on BBC One and now it has finished so here is my review. The premise of the season sees Lyra and Will come together to attempt to find an object to protect them both from evil forces. 

Main Character

Dafne Keen is back as Lyra and once again she is really good in the role. It is just really easy to root for her and want to see her succeed in her quest and I also think she has matured in the role and showing stronger acting ability. Amir Wilson plays Will and I must admit I didn't warm to him at first, whether that was the first season or this season but he bought me around. I really liked the dynamic between Lyra and Will as the season progressed and I actually believed they had a friendship and that it had been developed throughout the season. 

Supporting Characters

Ruth Wilson plays Mrs Coulter and again she is really good here, her character is well developed and unlike the first season I actually believed she cared about Lyra and despite her own personal goals that plays much heavier in this season which is a nice development here. Lin Manuel Miranda and Andrew Scott are the team-up we never knew we needed, for me they are the most entertaining part of the show and really do a great job in adding some fun tot this show while keeping with the depth. However, the rest of the cast didn't work for me, Simone Kirby's character annoyed the hell out of me, mainly because the part of the plot she was involved in and how it just takes away from the mystique that the show has built up. All the stuff to do with the witches and magisterium starts off alright but falls flat and flatters to deceive and feels like a waste of time. 

Story 

The story had me pretty much shaking my head throughout and felt like a weaker element then in the previous season. Yes the relationships between Lyra and Will is well handled and Lin Manuel Miranda and Andrew Scott are a fun pairing but the way they finished these characters arcs this season really disappointed me. So much that it has me questioning whether I even want to bother with the next season. I would say there is more going on this season that isn't connected to Lyra and it just isn't particularly interesting and it makes some of the mistakes of last season while creating whole new ones. 

Script

The show does have some well written scenes in it for sure mainly between the main characters and that does a good job in making them pretty likeable and well done. But this show suffers from weak circumstantial writing, every show is guilty of it but I thought this show suffered with it more and it bogged down the show for me and made it harder for me to get on board. 

Style

The one thing this show has for it is that it looks fantastic, the world looks great and that continues this season as visually the show does stand out from others. Due to the pandemic this show had 7 episodes instead of 8 and there is not much they could have done about that but to me it did feel like there was parts of the show that was missing and underdeveloped which is a shame considering the world that is built through the two seasons. 

Overall

Overall, the second season is a step down in quality and only represents an average show. I think if you weren't convinced by the first season then this won't do much more for you and if they continue like this I do worry for this shows future. 

Rating - 5/10

His Dark Materials Season 1 (2019) Review

So tonight sees the start of the second season of His Dark Materials on BBC and I hadn't watched the first season all the way through, but the last few days I have done that and here is my review for the first season of the show. The premise of the season sees a young girl go on a journey to attempt to rescue children which have been stolen by a shady organisation. 

Main Character

Dafne Keen who made her name in Logan plays Lyra here and she is fantastic, this is such a talented young actress and one that could be around for a long time to come. Lyra is just a likeable person, but also a strong character that carries her own throughout the show. She isn't a damsel in distress or a young scared girl, she has a depth to her and intrigue that makes you want to learn more and care about her journey. 

Supporting Characters 

Ruth Wilson plays Mrs Coulter here and she is really good, she is better then your average antagonist and actually has some real depth to her. She has a really interesting dynamic with Lyra and her motivations and aspirations are something different and she is a good character. Now if like me you were excited to see James McAvoy as Lord Asriel then just calm down a bit, he is great here in this pretty small role, he is gone for most of the season but when he is on screen he is a great character but yeah he doesn't have too much time on the screen. Lin Manuel Miranda plays a role here and does a good job too though it is funny that I pretty much just saw Hamilton when I looked at him but he added plenty of life and energy to the show when it needed it. The rest of the cast all also do great jobs and the cast are the real highlight of the show. 

Story

The story is good, the show has to go through plenty of worldbuilding and does a really good job of it and creates a really interesting world for you to get invested in. Lyra's journey is a great watch and the different people she comes across add plenty to the story and there own interesting takes. But there is one element of the story I just really didn't like, I won't go into it much because it is a huge spoiler that I didn't know going into the show but it really took me out of the story and made me sigh every time it came onto the screen. 

Script 

The script is really good, there is a great blend of humour and drama to make these fascinating characters and a more interesting narrative. It adds to the building of this world and these characters to make you care and get you invested into what you are watching. 

Style 

The show looks amazing visually, it clearly has a huge budget and it shows, it looks brilliant. The CGI for the creatures is top notch and the action scenes and backgrounds look great too making this show feel more epic in nature and larger stakes then other shows. But this show does have a bit of a pacing issue and I am not sure how to explain it, as it does feel a bit slow but so much happens this season that maybe things aren't fully developed. I'm not sure the exact answer to that but I think that becomes an issue as the show progresses as it tries to focus on different character arcs. 

Overall

Overall, this is a great first season of a fantasy show. It has so much intrigue and excitement that it is worth a watch, hopefully the second season is just as good and hopefully even better. 

Rating - 8/10