His Dark Materials: The Intention Craft (3x03)

Oh boy, I can't wait for episode four, I have a feeling it's going to make me a little weepy. But let's talk about this one first!

Cons:

The effect on the Gallivespians is... weird. They've got the scaling situation going, but it doesn't ever really feel like they're in the same place? Like when Lady Salmakia is talking to Lyra and Will, it doesn't feel like they're actually physically near each other. And the scene where she attacks them, angry about the knife being broken, it really did feel like the kids were flinching away on cues from someone off-camera, not to an actual living person existing in their environment.

Mary Malone... it's strange that we're not making progress quicker with her. She's on her journey, and I know where it's going, but there are five episodes left the show, and we're just now getting to the point that I think of as the beginning of her story? So I don't know, that's a little odd, pacing-wise.

Also odd for pacing was to have Balthamos come back for like two seconds just to say "oh, you're going to the land of the dead. Okay, bye, then." I guess I'm glad to see him, but not really sure what the point was there.

Pros:

GOD, everything with Asriel and Marisa is so juicy and interesting. They really did steal the show for me this week. Asriel has control over Marisa, has her at his mercy, and yet Marisa cannot fully be controlled. The moment when he laments, why can't you be what I want you to be, was honestly so powerful and I think encapsulates so much of what this relationship is. There's a deep passion and intensity of feeling between them, but ultimately he cannot fully respect her, and she cannot consent to be subjugated. I love that Lyra's parents have what at first glance seems to be very gendered conceptions of parenthood: Marisa is the one frantic for their daughter's safety, while Asriel is impatient about the whole mess. But then you think back to their history with her: neither is a nurturing, supportive parent, but Asriel was at least willing to see her and admit to the family connection, while Marisa hid in shame, only entering Lyra's life when she feared that her own research would lead to her daughter's harm.

Asriel is so intense: his motives are, I think one could argue, good, in the sense that the Magisterium is evil and what they claim to worship is no good either. And yet we watch him torture an angel to get a message to Metatron. We see what a controlling, dismissive, inconsiderate person he is at his very core. His passion, however, makes him so interesting to watch. He's not some sort of pedestrian evil man grabbing for power wherever he can get it. And Marisa certainly isn't just her ambition, either. The look they share, as Marisa escapes on the Intention Craft, is one of mutual understanding; a strange, angry respect. I can't wait to see the end of the story play out between them. It's bound to be such an intense moment.

Will and Lyra are similarly moving to watch, albeit in a very different way than Coulter and Asriel. The warmth of their friendship is so obvious, and then when there's conflict between them, you get the sense that it hurts precisely because of how much they care for and trust one another. Will doesn't fully understand Lyra's plan to go to the land of the dead, but ultimately he's going to back her play. Yes, his father told him to bring the knife to Asriel, but his mother always told him to help a friend in need. Their hug was beautiful, and I'm already getting weepy about what's going to happen at the end of this show. It's gonna screw me up big time.

It was cool to see Iorek helping Will to reforge the knife, although I think they're cowards to not show Iorek's big huge meaty bear paws holding forging tools. That's kind of all I have to say about that. It's sweet seeing Iorek and Lyra together, and Lyra using the alethiometer again after so long was a treat as well!

I'll stop there. After I watch episode four, we'll already be halfway through the season. Say it ain't so!

8/10