His Dark Materials 2x05: The Scholar
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tori_reviewsHis Dark Materials 2x05: The Scholar
That was actually a pretty good episode. And kind of in a way that makes me dislike something I talked about just a few episodes ago. That I don’t feel the need/drive/desire to do speculate on where the story is going. I would say that was weird, but as previously discussed, I pretty much know why I have that issue.
I find myself thinking that this episode would prompt me to say a lot more about it if I did want to speculate on where the plot lines are going. But I feel silly doing speculation about something I know is a fairly direct adaptation (or at least trying to be). Maybe if I had been watching it week-to-week as it aired I would have had a slightly different feeling, but as I’ve also previously said, I don’t think that’s the optimal way to watch this show. And if I was marathoning it without stopping to the reviews, I wouldn’t miss the fact that I didn’t feel a drive to speculate about what it was doing.
But while this episode still isn’t making Lyra and Will seem like as rich of characters as I think they could be (and probably are in the book), this episode at least doesn’t feel as hollow as the last did. Both episodes have the pair doing things and figuring things out, but I felt like things just sort of happened last episode, while this one we’re at least with them as the figure things out. I guess what I’m saying is lacking is that I still think we’re looking at their character (but better this time) instead of through them.
This is easily the best episode for Colter. I think it’s the first time when I felt we were looking through her (at least until the final fight scene, when I lose track of what she wants) as she looked at the world with new eyes and took its measure, and her measure in it. It does kind of make me aware that so much of the specific sexism of Lyra’s world has not been much explored, and I’m pretty sure that’s different from the book. This episode by spelling out the comparisons and getting into the public reading of Colter’s past with Azriel does a lot that probably should have been done earlier.
Which actually is something I think I can speculate on just a bit. I’m sure it is something that’s gone into more in the book, but it would seem to me that sexism would be a little different in Lyra’s world than ours. It clearly is sexist and I’m not saying it wouldn’t be, but the presence of daemons I would think clouded the issue a bit. I would sort of think the gender divide would be less stark in a world where it’s obvious each person is partly male and partly female. (I do remember a mention in the book of there being some people who have daemons the same sex as themselves, but I don’t remember it being gone into so I couldn’t say if it’s a gay thing or a something of a trans idea.) If all (and it’s probably all) of the men in power have female daemons how do they square that?
That kind of world-building would be a good reason to (re-)read the books. Something they can’t get into in the show the same way but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pullman had put some thought into it.
If this season’s story was taking place over a longer period of time, I’d probably give the show points for what I’m about to say; but with the compressed timeframe, I can’t. Dafne Keen is clearly a lot more grown up than she was in s1. Because I’ve noticed it gradually over the episodes, I do feel like if I could pretend in some extra time and a bit of a growth spurt, it would be fine. It doesn’t clash with the way they write her so far, but it gradually puts a different flavor to her and Will’s interactions. They did seem very innocent and childish early on, and while they haven’t reached an older kind of chemistry, it has started bubbling.
Now, I know that most people who read the books end up shipping them, so it makes sense that as they go through things, their dynamic becomes something more shippable than a pair of clear children. But it could also be something that is easier to balance sensibilities in book form than it is with a TV show. I mean, I’m shipper trash and I kind of ship them already, but feel uncomfortable doing it without feeling like there’s been some time for them, especially Lyra, to grow up a bit.
Which is contrary to what fits in the story since Lyra has to stay young so that Pan remains flexible (I assume that happens late in the series). And on that front, I’m not sure what to read into the fact that Pan is shifting more this season and has a different sort of default form. In the book I would assume that it’s meant to indicate something; but in the show it could just be that they had a little more CGI money this season so they let Pan be more flexible/the way he always should have been.
…That was pretty scattershot in terms of ideas I decided to talk about. I hope some of it was interesting.
That was actually a pretty good episode. And kind of in a way that makes me dislike something I talked about just a few episodes ago. That I don’t feel the need/drive/desire to do speculate on where the story is going. I would say that was weird, but as previously discussed, I pretty much know why I have that issue.
I find myself thinking that this episode would prompt me to say a lot more about it if I did want to speculate on where the plot lines are going. But I feel silly doing speculation about something I know is a fairly direct adaptation (or at least trying to be). Maybe if I had been watching it week-to-week as it aired I would have had a slightly different feeling, but as I’ve also previously said, I don’t think that’s the optimal way to watch this show. And if I was marathoning it without stopping to the reviews, I wouldn’t miss the fact that I didn’t feel a drive to speculate about what it was doing.
But while this episode still isn’t making Lyra and Will seem like as rich of characters as I think they could be (and probably are in the book), this episode at least doesn’t feel as hollow as the last did. Both episodes have the pair doing things and figuring things out, but I felt like things just sort of happened last episode, while this one we’re at least with them as the figure things out. I guess what I’m saying is lacking is that I still think we’re looking at their character (but better this time) instead of through them.
This is easily the best episode for Colter. I think it’s the first time when I felt we were looking through her (at least until the final fight scene, when I lose track of what she wants) as she looked at the world with new eyes and took its measure, and her measure in it. It does kind of make me aware that so much of the specific sexism of Lyra’s world has not been much explored, and I’m pretty sure that’s different from the book. This episode by spelling out the comparisons and getting into the public reading of Colter’s past with Azriel does a lot that probably should have been done earlier.
Which actually is something I think I can speculate on just a bit. I’m sure it is something that’s gone into more in the book, but it would seem to me that sexism would be a little different in Lyra’s world than ours. It clearly is sexist and I’m not saying it wouldn’t be, but the presence of daemons I would think clouded the issue a bit. I would sort of think the gender divide would be less stark in a world where it’s obvious each person is partly male and partly female. (I do remember a mention in the book of there being some people who have daemons the same sex as themselves, but I don’t remember it being gone into so I couldn’t say if it’s a gay thing or a something of a trans idea.) If all (and it’s probably all) of the men in power have female daemons how do they square that?
That kind of world-building would be a good reason to (re-)read the books. Something they can’t get into in the show the same way but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pullman had put some thought into it.
If this season’s story was taking place over a longer period of time, I’d probably give the show points for what I’m about to say; but with the compressed timeframe, I can’t. Dafne Keen is clearly a lot more grown up than she was in s1. Because I’ve noticed it gradually over the episodes, I do feel like if I could pretend in some extra time and a bit of a growth spurt, it would be fine. It doesn’t clash with the way they write her so far, but it gradually puts a different flavor to her and Will’s interactions. They did seem very innocent and childish early on, and while they haven’t reached an older kind of chemistry, it has started bubbling.
Now, I know that most people who read the books end up shipping them, so it makes sense that as they go through things, their dynamic becomes something more shippable than a pair of clear children. But it could also be something that is easier to balance sensibilities in book form than it is with a TV show. I mean, I’m shipper trash and I kind of ship them already, but feel uncomfortable doing it without feeling like there’s been some time for them, especially Lyra, to grow up a bit.
Which is contrary to what fits in the story since Lyra has to stay young so that Pan remains flexible (I assume that happens late in the series). And on that front, I’m not sure what to read into the fact that Pan is shifting more this season and has a different sort of default form. In the book I would assume that it’s meant to indicate something; but in the show it could just be that they had a little more CGI money this season so they let Pan be more flexible/the way he always should have been.
…That was pretty scattershot in terms of ideas I decided to talk about. I hope some of it was interesting.
