His Dark Materials: Theft (2x03)

 I love Lee Scoresby, y'all.

Cons:

This one was pretty light on the "cons" column! If I had to say anything, I'd say that having an episode without Magesterium politics made me realize how much those elements were clogging up the pacing.

Also, Lee Scoresby is amazing and I love him, but I thought the daddy issues angle was a little played out. If that's in the book, it must be a passing reference. I think Marisa Coulter and Lee Scoresby have enough going on with regards to caring for Lyra as a daughter despite not having raised her, without introducing the idea that they both had crappy fathers.

Oh, also, this is a minor detail, but in the book Lyra loses the alethiometer because "Latrom" is sitting in the back seat with her (he has a driver) and he picks it out of her bag. I liked that much better than Lyra getting out of the car in a panic and leaving the whole bag behind. That girl carried that thing around with her in the frozen wastelands and was obsessive about keeping it with her at all times. Seems like the kind of mistake Lyra wouldn't make. Trusting a stranger at the wrong moment in desperation? Sure. Leaving her bag in the car? Maybe not.

Pros:

To me, this episode managed to capture the sweetness and depth of some of my favorite parts of the book, while not remaining beholden to the text to such a degree that it felt stagnant. I gather from reading reviews that others disagree, but I found myself pretty charmed by all of this!

Starting with what was added: see, the thing about Lee's adventures in the books is that they're vitally important in setting up some stuff for Will, and they totally matter in the emotional sense, but they are pretty divorced from the rest of the action. So, if plot-wise Lee needs to do what he does in order to help Will, which will in turn help Lyra, it makes sense to me to put something in here that more directly ties his actions to his goal, which is... to protect Lyra at all costs. Getting him in a room with Mrs. Coulter, a woman who is at once a huge threat to Lyra and also possibly one of her best chances of survival, allows so much to bubble to the surface.

During that whole scene between Marisa and Lee, I was thinking about Lyra. Childish, self-centered, but so brave and determined and tenacious, and these two adults who, really, barely know her, but would go to the ends of the earth for her. And what an important message to include, too! Lee flat-out says that just because Mrs. Coulter is Lyra's mother, doesn't mean she really has her best interests at heart, or can really keep her safe. And as much as Marisa might not want to admit that... she does, eventually. It plants a seed, it proves a truth that's very important moving forward, which is that Mrs. Coulter's love, terribly twisted and manipulative and bad for Lyra as it is, really is love. She's willing to let Lee go because she figures it's important for Lyra to have an extra ally on the board.

Lin Manuel-Miranda's performance as Scoresby really is great. He's playing it cool but also kind of dorky, which is so in line with who the actor is as a person, but also feels like this totally original spin on an iconic character. I loved the interplay when he pretended not to know who Coulter was immediately upon seeing her, and how you really saw the meeting of two minds in that moment, as they sized each other up and cut the crap. And, as an added bonus, we got to see Hester, my favorite daemon in the show to date. She and Lee have the relationship dynamic and bond that I want to see more of between Lyra and Pan, and other human/daemon combos. (Speaking of which... Mrs. Coulter letting the golden monkey hold her hand... I got chills.)

Before turning to Lyra, a few other notes... we got a brief check-in with Iorek this week, as Serafina's daemon comes to him and tells him the situation. The armored bears are leaving their homeland because the ice is melting, due to Asriel's hole in the sky. This was entirely setup for future plot elements, but I still enjoyed seeing one of my favorites!

Mary Malone gets some time with her sister and niece and nephew, which I liked as a humanizing moment for her, giving her stakes, giving her something rooting her to her current life that makes where she's going next feel all the more poignant. And she and Lyra have such a special connection; I like how they've managed to make me believe in Mary wanting to help Lyra, right from the jump. She's making some progress with Dust, even if she doesn't quite get the full picture yet... I'm excited to see her moving forward into having a bigger role in the story!

And now for Lyra and Will. As I keep saying, they are the heart of this season, and if any one thing needs to be right, it should be them. And holy hell, they're getting this right. That scene in the movie theatre? Pan sticking his little head out of the bag to see the movie, Lyra eating the popcorn, talking about Roger? And Will confessing that he came to look for Lyra not because he thought she was messing around, but because he was worried about her? I love it. All of this was golden, it solidified the special bond they already share.

This is a rough week for Lyra, as she inadvertently betrays Will, and then while trying to flee from Boreal's goon, ends up losing the alethiometer. What I love about this is that she fails because she doesn't listen to her own best judgment (represented by Pan), and this is a retread of mistakes we've seen her make before. Because change is hard, because getting past the mindset that she's the hero of her own story is difficult, especially when, in a cosmic sense... she kind of is the hero, as we know. There are prophecies about her, after all! But her regret over losing the alethiometer is so heart-wrenching, her determination to fix her mistake so steadfast, that you really can't stay mad at this kid for long.

In many ways, this was a filler episode. Or... not a filler, but a setup episode. Lee is still looking for Grumman. Mrs. Coulter is still on the hunt. The witches and bears are on the move. Lyra loses the alethiometer, and is given a side quest: fetch the thing that Boreal wants from the world through the window. Book readers know what's about to happen, and that makes me very excited for what's coming next! This episode managed to ratchet up the tension as the pieces on the chess board move closer together, and I think it was ultimately a success.

8/10