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His Dark Materials TV Series |OT| UK - BBC One, Sundays; RoW - HBO, Mondays [See spoiler guide in OP]

Crispy75

Crispy75

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,051
shotopunx said:
Brilliant! We might just get through the whole trilogy!
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The USA numbers seem far lower, at least according to wikipedia. 400k or less. Not sure if that's normal for premium cable shows, or if that number includes streaming. If HBO are paying for it, they'll want to see good numbers at their end too, I'd have thought.
 
Ithil

Ithil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,364
Crispy75 said:
The USA numbers seem far lower, at least according to wikipedia. 400k or less. Not sure if that's normal for premium cable shows, or if that number includes streaming. If HBO are paying for it, they'll want to see good numbers at their end too, I'd have thought.
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HBO are only distributing it, it's a BBC production.
 
Osahi

Osahi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,924
Best episode yet. They nailed Scoresby and Iorek imo. And goddamn, the CG is great. Show could've easily fallen apart if the daemons and bears weren't believable
 
milamber182

milamber182

Member
Dec 15, 2017
7,706
Australia
Strongest episode yet. CGI and background shots once again looked magnificent. Nicely paced despite introducing 2 new major characters. Iorek's armor is an improvement on the Golden Compass version.
 
Mortemis

Mortemis

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,410
Old_King_Coal said:
So I didn't comment on episode 3 mostly because it didn't give me any strong feelings either way. Episode 4 on the other hand was great, I loved it, best ep so far. Focusing the early scenes on Lee was a great choice, the show was crying out for his personality amongst all the dour seriousness. I hadn't appreciated just how lacking in life the show might be without Lyra's internal monologue which does a lot of heavy lifting in the early parts of the book. Now there's an ensemble with fun dynamics to work with.

Iorek was awesome. Hester is delightful. And the writing and directing felt like they had finally gotten to the parts that they actually wanted to make. In fact, after the first 3 eps crammed and rushed a lot of content that is kind of montaged in the book, I can now see a clear structure for the rest of the episodes.
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I agree. The show was needing of some uplifting personality, and with Lee and Hester, they're really rounding out the cast.

RatskyWatsky said:
Why is lorek lowercase?
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Ahh, the downfalls of sans-serif. I was wondering if I was hearing it wrong from the subtitles, then noticed it was an I.
 
Maffis

Maffis

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,314
Great episode. But does it seem kinda rushed?
I mean the part about Asriel being caught offscreen. Is it because they can't have McAvoy on the set? Or was it like that in the books too?
 
Tu101uk

Tu101uk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
380
London, UK
Maffis said:
Great episode. But does it seem kinda rushed?
I mean the part about Asriel being caught offscreen. Is it because they can't have McAvoy on the set? Or was it like that in the books too?
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To answer this...
if memory serves me well, yes he was captured "off screen", so to speak - after all, the focus of the books is on Lyra so we see things mainly from her perspective. In the books she has a lot of internal monologues, especially when she's reading the aletheiometer, which I suppose is harder to pull off well in live-action.
They're cranking it up as the story moves further and further north and I'm loving how they're adapting it so far (Iorek was great), though I'm still unsure about the Boreal stuff. i guess we'll have to see how it plays out in live action.
 
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
Weegian said:
It's an I, not an L.

Joke post?
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Mortemis said:
Ahh, the downfalls of sans-serif. I was wondering if I was hearing it wrong from the subtitles, then noticed it was an I.
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Firewithin said:
shit i thought they were saying Yorick the whole time lol
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When I was watching the episode I was like "oh hey that's the same name as the guy from Y the Last Man" but then I went online and immediately forgot about it when I saw people typing Iorek, which I read as "Lorek". For some reason my brain didn't connect the two. :(
 
blazenumb1

blazenumb1

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
640
Really enjoying the show but was curious was book readers think so far? I know the movie wasn't well reviewed(never saw that either) but like the show more and more with every episode(who doesn't like a polar bear in armor).
 

The Llama

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,026
I liked episode 4 but unlike a lot of people ITT I didn't love Lin-Manuel Miranda as Scoresby. Just not... Texan enough, for lack of a better way to put it lol. Story is still better now that he's in it, though, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. Iorek was awesome, but I particularly loved the contrast with Iofur's armor and thought that was very well done.

Given how prominent of an actor they chose and how his main storyline in the books (finding Stanislaus Grumman) isn't that important because of the wonders of Google image search (lol), I wonder if they'll keep Scoresby alive past book 2 and have him play a role in season 3. Would be pretty easy to write in a part for him (and keep him alive, if you all remember how that goes down in the books...). That said, outside of the Lord Boreal stuff they seem to be very faithful to the books so I'm not sure I actually see this happening.
 
Lotus

Lotus

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
105,540
Probably the best episode yet, a talking armored polar bear is the only thing I remember from the Golden Compass (I never watched it), so seeing it realized it here (quite well I must add) was great. The show has some really great CGI in general.

Also this is definitely the episode that has gotten me fully on board with Lyra as a character, you can't help but to love a girl that can stand up to a talking bear lol

Triggerhappytel said:
And I'm just in love with Ruth Wilson's performance too. She's absolutely pitch-perfect as a conniving and manipulative villain who is intimidated by no-one. It's one of my favourite castings in film or TV ever at this point. She's just deliciously wicked.
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I said it before, but as soon as I realized she's playing a villain in this, I got so excited. I already knew she had the chops for it due to her work as Alice Morgan from the show Luthor. She's the best part of this show by far
 

Deleted member 54292

User requested account closure
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Feb 27, 2019
2,636
This show continues to be excellent. Iorek is one of my favorite characters and I was blown away by how well they brought him into live action. Looked incredible tbf. Only thing I didn't like was them changing Serafina's daemon from a snow goose.
 
Wag

Wag

Member
Nov 3, 2017
11,638
RadCatDad said:
This show continues to be excellent. Iorek is one of my favorite characters and I was blown away by how well they brought him into live action. Looked incredible tbf. Only thing I didn't like was them changing Serafina's daemon from a snow goose.
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Maybe they had problems animating a goose? That's the only reason I can account for it.
 
Triggerhappytel

Triggerhappytel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,992
fdst1983 said:
How is the season till now? Is it excellent or something I can skip?
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I'm really enjoying it, and I didn't really like the books. The casting is really strong and after doing a lot of setup/exposition in the first couple of episodes it's zooming along at a good old pace now. If you like fantasy adventures I'd strongly recommend you give it a go.
 
TheGummyBear

TheGummyBear

Member
Jan 6, 2018
8,752
United Kingdom
The Llama said:
I liked episode 4 but unlike a lot of people ITT I didn't love Lin-Manuel Miranda as Scoresby. Just not... Texan enough, for lack of a better way to put it lol. Story is still better now that he's in it, though, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. Iorek was awesome, but I particularly loved the contrast with Iofur's armor and thought that was very well done.

Given how prominent of an actor they chose and how his main storyline in the books (finding Stanislaus Grumman) isn't that important because of the wonders of Google image search (lol), I wonder if they'll keep Scoresby alive past book 2 and have him play a role in season 3. Would be pretty easy to write in a part for him (and keep him alive, if you all remember how that goes down in the books...). That said, outside of the Lord Boreal stuff they seem to be very faithful to the books so I'm not sure I actually see this happening.
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Given that Lin-Manuel Miranda was cast as Scoresby long before HBO signed on for international distribution rights, I have to assume the intention is to stick to the books.

I say that because I'm not even sure he's considered all that prominent here in the UK. So unless HBO tries to sway production in some fashion (Considering this is primarily a BBC production, I just don't see that happening.) I have to assume they'll stick with his original ending.
 
NookSports

NookSports

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,208
I read the original book when I was a lot more close minded, and this book had a rep for being anti Christian; but the show has been superb and has made me read the books again, and it's pretty good so far
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

Member
Jun 17, 2018
11,781
So far I've kind of just been watching as a big fan of the source material but I'm with others in saying the show really hit it's stride with episode 4. The pacing felt much better, the characters were given a much needed injection with Scoresby and Iorek, and the story is ramping up. Very very excited for the next 4 episodes.
 
KeRaSh

KeRaSh

I left my heart on Atropos
Member
Oct 26, 2017
10,236
Finally got around to watching the first two episodes with my wife. The first episode was OK but the second one really pulled me in.
I think my biggest issue with the first episode was the fact that they threw around all those in-universe names that weren't really explained so we were slightly confused half the time.
 
TheNatureBoy

TheNatureBoy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
10,763
Yeah, the show still hasn't really grabbed me like it seems to have done with most here. I still don't have a great sense of the world or character motivations like I would like, but I will say that I enjoyed this episode probably the most.

So far the only cool aspect of this fantasy world is all the talking animals, and Yorick seemed like a cool character with a good voice actor.

Sometimes I found Lyra kinda annoying and presumptuous in a kid way, other times she is okay. That golden compass is really a cheat code, lol. How old is she supposed to be - I'm guessing around 13 or 14?

Magisterium = Catholic Church - snake guy talking about that guy's predilection sounded like some priest/kid stuff :(

Does Ms. Coulter not know Lyra is her daughter? I feel kinda bad for my monkey daemon though.
 
mogster7777

mogster7777

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,975
Does anyone else think the girl looks like a female version of Evan Peters from the American Horror Story show
 
Ramala

Ramala

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,034
Santa Monica, LA
The Llama said:
I liked episode 4 but unlike a lot of people ITT I didn't love Lin-Manuel Miranda as Scoresby. Just not... Texan enough, for lack of a better way to put it lol. Story is still better now that he's in it, though, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. Iorek was awesome, but I particularly loved the contrast with Iofur's armor and thought that was very well done.

Given how prominent of an actor they chose and how his main storyline in the books (finding Stanislaus Grumman) isn't that important because of the wonders of Google image search (lol), I wonder if they'll keep Scoresby alive past book 2 and have him play a role in season 3. Would be pretty easy to write in a part for him (and keep him alive, if you all remember how that goes down in the books...). That said, outside of the Lord Boreal stuff they seem to be very faithful to the books so I'm not sure I actually see this happening.
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Book 2 Spoiler:
Wasn't Sefarina's Pekkala's reaction to Lee's last stand against the Muscovites plot-relevant? It's been so long but I'm pretty sure she loses her shit in the books.
 
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hydruxo

hydruxo

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,394
Man, Lin-Manuel as Scoresby feels like a huuuuge miscast. Really taking me out of it. Iorek was excellent though.
 
Kalor

Kalor

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,620
The daemon CG keeps impressing me in every episode. The end of that episode certainly escalated quickly.
 
OP
OP
CeeCee

CeeCee

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,118
Watching this is really driving home how quickly the series turns from "standard young adult adventure" to "oh please god no"
 
Doc Laserstein

Doc Laserstein

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,564
I finally decided to give this a shot. The first episode took me three sittings to get through, because I kept getting distracted/dozing off. I'll give it another episode at least to see if it grabs me, but it didn't make a great first impression.
 

shacklecat

Member
Nov 14, 2017
149
Doc Laserstein said:
I finally decided to give this a shot. The first episode took me three sittings to get through, because I kept getting distracted/dozing off. I'll give it another episode at least to see if it grabs me, but it didn't make a great first impression.
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I thought the first episode was the weakest, everybody seemed to be rushing through their lines. Later episodes seemed better paced and I've loved all of them.

The showrunners have been more willing to show daemons in scenes than I was hoping, but because of that early generosity it now bugs me when Pan and Hester are completely absent from scenes. Guess Iorek is eating into the available budget.
 
ErichWK

ErichWK

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,531
Sandy Eggo
3 episodes in and my girlfriend and i are having a really hard time enjoying this. Lyra is kind of insufferable and whiny and we feel dealing with the multiverses now is too early. Will still keep watching it all the way through , though!
 
milamber182

milamber182

Member
Dec 15, 2017
7,706
Australia
Coram/Serafina and Lyra/Iorik were some of my favorite scenes so far. The tragedy with Billy really drove home the importance of the connection between humans and daemons.

I like the new characters in the other world but it feels too early to be fleshing it out so much. Without having read the books it feels like something that should be setup next season so Will and Lyra can team up in Season 3. I hope the writers have planned ahead for 4-6 seasons and aren't just trying to cram as much plot in as they can to make it more exciting or from fear of cancellation.
 
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