His Dark Materials - Episode 6: The Daemon-Cages
HIS DARK MATERIALS - BBC + HBO
His Dark Materials has come into its own with the most action-heavy episode yet, making it all the more frustrating and head-scratching that it is still making the same mistakes from previous episodes.
Concepts like the ubiquitous "Dust" are mentioned but are so neglected that they can only really be understood with the help of Wikipedia. While it is unclear whether the series is planning to explain it at some point adequately, important concepts are still being introduced in a variety of weak ways, whether that be vague narration, needless delays between introduction and explanation or, seemingly now, no explanation at all. The series’s opacity with many concepts is notably unhelpful and strange, given that the viewer can Google a plot point or concept at any time and be given a straightforward answer rather than waiting for it to be half-heartedly expounded — if they are lucky — later on.
More problems present themselves with the plot. The episode is set in Bolvangar, a prison-like setting in the Arctic, completely isolated. This is faithful to the books but it does raise the question, why it would be set up in such a resource-intensive place, what with having to transport all the children the entire distance as well as constant supplies? Sure, maybe it is to make escape harder but then shelling out the extensive security seems like a waste of time. Additionally, Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson) has become an unfortunate cliché, repeating her boilerplate "for the greater good" mantra which she uses to justify killing children like a pantomime character or a villager from Hot Fuzz.
In almost every other aspect, however, this episode was pretty great. The editing and cinematography both finally have truly distinguishable aspects, helped by inspiring set design, high walls and narrow corridors adding to the atmosphere effectively cultivated by this episode. It felt tight but unafraid to linger when needed in the quieter moments; it felt confined, barely giving in to leaving the claustrophobic outpost where all the children are now trapped. Although, to not set the episode entirely in the complex is a misstep, at least until their escape. It felt like a stealth video game, putting the viewer in the action and channelling the viewer through Lyra's point of view.
If the show ever comes close to ridiculousness, it usually retracts before going too far but occasionally in this episode it fails to do so, too caught up in creating an exhilarating experience. Generally, this approach pays off but this episode tries too hard at the end to create an excessively over-the-top cliffhanger it does not need. In many ways, the show could do with more faith in its viewers, in their ability to try and comprehend some of the more intricate facets of its universe. Particularly here, having faith that they have proclivity to stick with the series without needing to witness some artificially created, overdramatic hullabaloo like algorithmic robots who will only continue watching if their heart rate is marginally elevated by the time the credits roll.
All of this culminated in a singularly compelling episode, which in itself was very entertaining, although whether it will manage to wrap up all of the rest of the plot in just the two episodes it has left without dropping the ball is cause for concern. His Dark Materials has introduced perhaps too many plot threads for its own good, at times feeling thin and overstretched, making the series feel like it needs to switch between having five and ten episodes at the same time. One can only hope that the last two episodes make the investment all worthwhile