Why Dark Beginnings season 2 is even better than season 1

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Viewers will see a full story, familiar faces and new heroes.

On November 16, on the American channel HBO and in the Russian "Amediatek", a new season of the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's books "Dark Beginnings" started (the British BBC got the premiere a week earlier, and they have already aired two episodes).

In the first season of the series, viewers were introduced to the main character Lira Belakwa (Daphne Keen) and her world, where every person has a daemon - a part of the soul embodied in the form of an animal. After the girl's uncle Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) discovered the mysterious particles called "dust", the authoritarian religious organization Magisterium declared its discovery heresy. And Lyra herself set off on a dangerous journey north in the company of gypsies, the armored bear Iorek Byrnison, aeronaut Lee Scorsby (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and many others.

At the same time, they showed another world, very similar to ours. There lives a teenager Will Parry (Amir Wilson), whose long-disappeared father is somehow connected with mysterious events.

The creators of the series decided not to retell each book of the trilogy verbatim, although they kept close to the main content: in the first season they captured some lines from the second volume, preparing in advance for the sequel. And that's not a bad thing: the project has received great reviews.

The only thing he was criticized for was the too slow pace of the story. This approach was necessary to present the heroes and their worlds in more detail. But still it knocked down the tension.

The second season develops all the previous ideas. And at the same time it looks more dynamic, more mature and darker.

Caution: Text contains spoilers for Season 1! If you haven't seen it yet, read our review and start watching

Stories don't need swinging

The finale of the first season made everyone who did not read the books shudder. Lord Asriel, who happens to be Lyra's father, killed her friend Roger in order to open the door to the multiverse. Wanting to understand the nature of "dust", the girl also went to another world. Meanwhile, Will had to deal with the man who broke into his house and escape through the passage.

Since the action ended on a very emotional note, and the audience is already familiar with the characters, the sequel is much more dynamic. Lyra and Will finally meet and quickly become friends. Moreover, Daphne Keane and Amir Wilson act out the emotions of the characters in a surprisingly touching way. Despite all the difficulties, they remain a little funny teenagers who need support. The necessary "chemistry" is felt between them.

If in the first season the action revolved mainly around the alethiometer - a device that can answer any question, now a magic knife falls into the hands of the heroes (by the way, this is the name of the second book of the cycle). And this artifact, of course, is needed by many.

Meanwhile, Lee Scorsby goes in search of Stannislaus Grumman, who, as it turned out earlier, is the disappeared John Parry (Andrew Scott). And these heroes delight with their every appearance in the new season.

It is clear that the lines of the main characters will gradually converge. But first, each of them will have to go their own way and overcome many difficulties.

Of course, Dark Materials is still a fairly measured series. A lot of time is devoted to dialogues and just beautiful shooting. But now there are more events in each episode. And this allows you to better reveal not only the main characters.

The plot becomes more varied

The first season was somewhat reminiscent of a road movie: the main characters traveled from one point to another. The background lines complemented the story, but still didn't seem very clear. This was especially true of the Magisterium and Will's world.

The continuation looks brighter here too. Lyra's world is facing the consequences of Azriel's act that literally affects everyone. Many saw the city in the sky, and the Magisterium finds it harder and harder to talk about heresy. Therefore, he unleashes a war with witches. There is room for action and pretty rough scenes.

And the main plus is a more interesting disclosure of other worlds. At first, the heroes find themselves in a very strange city with its own dangers. And then it comes to the place where Will lived. And the difference between the two universes becomes brighter: on the other Earth, not only are daemons absent. Lyra meets modern science, smartphones, and dark matter speculation.

Moreover, the creators of "Dark Principles" act wisely, not overwhelming the viewer with new characters. Only a few heroes appear, such as another supreme witch from the world of Lyra and a female physicist from Will's universe. Therefore, there is no need to get confused in action.

More politics and criticism of religion

The author of the books Philip Pullman did not hide that his novels are not just fantasy about other worlds. Talking about the Magisterium, he criticized the authoritarian order of the church and showed the danger of religious leaders coming to power. By the way, it was the attempt to remove all serious themes from the action that failed the first film adaptation of "Dark Principles" - the film "The Golden Compass".

The new series initially kept closer to the source, but it was in the second season that the more "adult" component comes to the fore, which makes "Dark Principles" almost akin to "Game of Thrones". The highest ranks of the Magisterium are still trying to force people to adhere to religious canons, hindering the development of science and denying even what has become completely obvious.

And immediately a struggle for power unfolds, where there is a place for forgery and dummy candidates. Here a lot of attention is paid to Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson): it is she who is now responsible for the main intrigues. Moreover, the creators of the series seem to deliberately make the process of electing a new head of the Magisterium similar to the election of the Pope.

Finally, the witches get a chance to reveal themselves: they have to choose whether they are ready to get involved in a war with the Magisterium, or they will confine themselves to peace negotiations. And all this very organically coexists with the main lines of the narrative, without overloading the action.

The second season of "Dark Principles" not only perfectly develops the ideas of the series and of Philip Pullman himself. He can correct the attitude towards the project and those for whom the beginning seemed too protracted and confusing. Moreover, it is obvious that the plot will not stop there, because ahead is the third book of the Amber Telescope cycle - the most ambitious and mystical.

UPD. Dark Beginnings Season 2 material was updated on November 17, 2020.