Episode 2 was good as well. Ruth Wilson as Ms Coulter is great. They are really establishing her as a off balance manipulator/bad guy and they are doing a great job showing her relationship with her daemon.
I am having issues with daemons though. Seems like your at an advantage or disadvantage depending on what form your daemon takes. I don't understand how a daemon can take the form on an insect either. And are there wild animals in this world to be wary of? Seems like a bug daemon or a prey daemon would be constantly under attack. And eventually why wouldn't every fight be determined by daemon? Getting a Pokemon vibe from it. And personally if I had a butterfly/moth daemon and I was in a life threatening situation, it wouldn't be fluttering around in front of the threats face. I'd have it in my hand or on my shoulder. It makes me wonder if they can't communicate with the insect daemons.
Episode 2 was good as well. Ruth Wilson as Ms Coulter is great. They are really establishing her as a off balance manipulator/bad guy and they are doing a great job showing her relationship with her daemon.
I am having issues with daemons though. Seems like your at an advantage or disadvantage depending on what form your daemon takes. I don't understand how a daemon can take the form on an insect either. And are there wild animals in this world to be wary of? Seems like a bug daemon or a prey daemon would be constantly under attack. And eventually why wouldn't every fight be determined by daemon? Getting a Pokemon vibe from it. And personally if I had a butterfly/moth daemon and I was in a life threatening situation, it wouldn't be fluttering around in front of the threats face. I'd have it in my hand or on my shoulder. It makes me wonder if they can't communicate with the insect daemons.
That butterfly death was a rule of cool cheat that really did break the world, IMO.
@JaimieT I’m solidly in the books getting better as you go along camp
I am glad to see the world hopping so early on, it always seemed so jarring to have everyone suddenly doing it in The Subtle Knife. This seems like a natural ease into it. Maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of a certain young man this season?
I don't know what to make of this show yet. During the first 20 minutes of Ep1, I was thinking this has the potential to be the next GoT. Then there were one to many questions to unpack and I found myself confused. I could articulate what was happening, but not why (and why I should care). The podcast helped a bit during the recap, but mostly again on the what was happening (not why). I think the daemons were also distracting me a bit (I swear the ferret changes colors, and later I understood their form is not set).
I am a huge fan of most of the principal actors, but I will need to go back and watch it again before diving into episode 2.
I have to say I was incredible nervous about Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter because I thought Nicole Kidman had an outstanding performance in the OG adaptation, but episode 2 made me a believer. Wilson’s performance of that magnetic personality is incredibly convincing and the cold stares actually gave be the creeps. I’m sold on this series altogether now. I’m so glad to hear there is season 2 in the works as well so I am free to enjoy this without overwhelming fear that it will only be one season.
Agree with @JaimieT about the daemons. It would seem one's daemon could be either a great asset or a great vulnerability. Also there's the thing about bad stuff happening if a person and their daemon getting too far apart. I think Pullman just ignored a lot of these implications. "Realistically," daemons would have a much more significant influence on society than they seem to in the books and in this show.
Agree with @JaimieT about the daemons. It would seem one's daemon could be either a great asset or a great vulnerability. Also there's the thing about bad stuff happening if a person and their daemon getting too far apart. I think Pullman just ignored a lot of these implications. "Realistically," daemons would have a much more significant influence on society than they seem to in the books and in this show.
But, yeah, the butterfly effect was cool.
Can we please have armored bears next episode?
Mild background-spoilers for the rules for daemons in the book here: I don't think Pullman ignored the implications of daemons at all. (1) It's shown in scenes that it physically hurts for daemons to get far away from you, (2) it's stated and/or shown that daemons only touch other daemons in cases where the humans are already touching, such as fighting or sex, and (3) it's stated that people find it revolting to touch another person's daemon. #1 and #2 are just extensions of rules we already live by, and by #3 I can assume that touching someone's daemon is like cannibalism in our world, an extreme deviant behavior that people only consider in instances where they might die otherwise. He ignored it in the sense that he wasn't interested in showing the 1 in 10,000 case.
Whereas what was shown on the TV makes it seem like touching daemons is fine, and then it is a problem because I think society would be restructured a bit for the reason you and @rustywright4 stated.
I feel like I'm following the series pretty well for never having read the books or seen the Golden Compass movie so I feel like they are doing a good job giving people going in blind enough exposition. I do agree with @rkcrawf that I don't know so much as why certain things are happening but I think that will get answered throughout the series. The only thing I'm having trouble keeping straight are some of the different organizations or groups and I don't want to venture into googling and spoiling any of the story. I'll make it a point once I get a better grasp of these things (hopefully part way through this season) to do a quick rewatch and I'll have a few aaaaahaa moments during the rewatch.
OK. I rewatched Ep 1 (sober and not background watching) and watched Ep 2, and I'm on board. Ep 1 was kind of sprawling and had a lot of world building in it...too much for one episode, iMO. I would have preferred if they did something tighter, and then used cut-aways or flashbacks in later episodes. @awookiee, I'm glad I wasn't alone. I'm still not clear on how the compass works. Seems like having a butterfly daemon is kind a poor life choice.
I loved Dafne Keen in Logan and Ruth Wilson was killer in Luther. I was thrilled to see them get a bit of a face off.
Ruth Wilson was also in The Affair and PBS miniseries Mrs Wilson about her family. Dafne Keen is wonderful in this and Logan. I can’t believe she spoke mainly Spanish in that movie. But then I read her parents are both actors. Her dad is in the show and he’s British while her mom is from Spain. Dafne was born in Madrid too.
I am really liking the show and loving the podcast coverage - I am so glad the ladies are covering it. I have read the original trilogy but not the rest of the books yet.
One thought on episode 2 about the butterfly scene...At first I thought the butterfly daemon had been shut on the outside of the car window and the guy was going to drive the car away, forcing them to be separated. It seems like accidental separation must happen quite a bit due to things like that. And it seems like it would be hard to avoid breaking the taboo of not touching other daemons in crowded rooms and such. But overall the world(s) created in these books/show is pretty great.
It would seem Daemons should realistically be huge liabilities. This didn't seem such a big deal in the books, because it was kind of a given that in that world people and their daemons just were almost always together. Nobody ever got on an elevator and left their daemon behind ever. In the TV show it's harder not to think about all these potential problems.
That monkey daemon is a real shit and they've handled him perfectly.
Just in response to Cecily & Alexis’s question about what Brits call a ‘boot’ (I’d never heard it described as this!), we call it a ‘clamp’ - a word I think has a suitable nastiness about it!
Loving the show so far & the Bald Move coverage has been great too. Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Just in response to Cecily & Alexis’s question about what Brits call a ‘boot’ (I’d never heard it described as this!), we call it a ‘clamp’ - a word I think has a suitable nastiness about it!
C&A are sure right about how bad that Beardy McBeardface actor is, and the other lead Gyptian isn't much better. The writing doesn't help. They're gruff plainspoken manly men. I get it already. They do indeed suck all the air out of every scene they're in. LMM is great, with decent writing, and Iorek is all one might wish for.
However, it seems everyone in North Grimdark knows a lot more about what's going on with the missing kids than they have any right to know, and much more than in the books. I suppose it's some foreshadowing for the benefit of viewers, but why? Some Evil Minions could be blabbing, but I imagine that's a sure way to an early and permanent retirement. I don't think the kids in Grim McDarkville have gone missing in the books; it's actually a pretty stupid move from the Oblation Board to be grabbing them, if McDarkville is a key transit point for taking the stolen kids to the evil fortress or whatever. Or do they just overfly the town in their airships?
I'm beginning to hear the typewriters from the writer's room clacking away much more loudly then they should.
This most recent episode just dragged so badly, especially on “our” earth. I still haven’t finished; died of boredom halfway through. That boy. The mom. Yawn. And LMM is like a hammy extra from The Bowery Boys, with an accent that’s more Houston Street than Houston. Am I wrong in remembering that in the actual Golden Compass book the daemon-excision reveal wasn’t dribbled out so that by the time we find out about it for reals there’s no horror or surprise left? It seems the tv show is telegraphing this as badly as they did with the whole “multiverse” thing. Like, everyone seems to “know” what’s up with the kids; they sure blather on about it a lot. Also, CGI bear fake-eating seal carcass was kinda distracting. Take a real bite, for God’s sake!
Also, are those bad tattoos on Friend-of-Ana Finnish Witch, or a bad Frankenstein needle and thread job?
Just watched the 12/9 episode - spoilers ahead if you haven't watched! Where are the Daemons?? Having a couple birds fly across the screen every once in awhile does not cut it. And they are making poor choices with the daemons they do show - Pan and Lyra should have rushed into each other's arms after she was rescued like in the book. They don't even really interact with each other at all in the show in that moment. A bizarre choice. Some of the peripheral actors could be shown interacting with real tame animals to save CGI costs and make the daemons look more abundant. Maybe we could have had a few more daemons in Bolvangar and cut out a few cliff-ghasts at the end. Really you just need to show one and have Lee yell "Cliff-Ghasts!" and you don't have to show the rest very close-up.
This is more of a personal note but I always liked the moment in the book where the freed kids meet up with the Gyptians in the snow. I think they could have had Lyra basically destroy Bolvangar like in the book and avoided the cramped and confusing battle scene (and put the money into more daemons!). In the book, Lyra causes a big fire by breaking bags of flour over an open gas stove flame. I really thought we would see that since they had the moment earlier when Ma Costa was showing her how to do that over the stove.
I realize this is hard and costly material to adapt visually due to the daemons and they are getting a lot of things right too. I also feel like it is kind of a slog to watch sometimes. It should be building more momentum as the season goes on, we are in the action-filled parts of the story and I remember them being just boom-boom-boom in a good way when reading the novel. For the show, I kind of enjoyed the three episodes of set-up before they headed North more, which was opposite to my reading experience.
I wonder if they get through all three books how they will represent the important (but very different) world where a lot of the action takes place in the third book.
Comments
Yeah, bringing in some of that sweet book 2 content. The Subtle Knife with the world hopping is my favorite stuff.
I am having issues with daemons though. Seems like your at an advantage or disadvantage depending on what form your daemon takes. I don't understand how a daemon can take the form on an insect either. And are there wild animals in this world to be wary of? Seems like a bug daemon or a prey daemon would be constantly under attack. And eventually why wouldn't every fight be determined by daemon? Getting a Pokemon vibe from it. And personally if I had a butterfly/moth daemon and I was in a life threatening situation, it wouldn't be fluttering around in front of the threats face. I'd have it in my hand or on my shoulder. It makes me wonder if they can't communicate with the insect daemons.
That butterfly death was a rule of cool cheat that really did break the world, IMO.
I am glad to see the world hopping so early on, it always seemed so jarring to have everyone suddenly doing it in The Subtle Knife. This seems like a natural ease into it. Maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of a certain young man this season?
I am a huge fan of most of the principal actors, but I will need to go back and watch it again before diving into episode 2.
But, yeah, the butterfly effect was cool.
Can we please have armored bears next episode?
Mild background-spoilers for the rules for daemons in the book here: I don't think Pullman ignored the implications of daemons at all. (1) It's shown in scenes that it physically hurts for daemons to get far away from you, (2) it's stated and/or shown that daemons only touch other daemons in cases where the humans are already touching, such as fighting or sex, and (3) it's stated that people find it revolting to touch another person's daemon. #1 and #2 are just extensions of rules we already live by, and by #3 I can assume that touching someone's daemon is like cannibalism in our world, an extreme deviant behavior that people only consider in instances where they might die otherwise. He ignored it in the sense that he wasn't interested in showing the 1 in 10,000 case.
Whereas what was shown on the TV makes it seem like touching daemons is fine, and then it is a problem because I think society would be restructured a bit for the reason you and @rustywright4 stated.
I loved Dafne Keen in Logan and Ruth Wilson was killer in Luther. I was thrilled to see them get a bit of a face off.
One thought on episode 2 about the butterfly scene...At first I thought the butterfly daemon had been shut on the outside of the car window and the guy was going to drive the car away, forcing them to be separated. It seems like accidental separation must happen quite a bit due to things like that. And it seems like it would be hard to avoid breaking the taboo of not touching other daemons in crowded rooms and such. But overall the world(s) created in these books/show is pretty great.
That monkey daemon is a real shit and they've handled him perfectly.
Benefit of a TV show, getting more insight into a wonderful character like Mrs. Coulter.
Loving the show so far & the Bald Move coverage has been great too. Thanks for taking the time to do it.
However, it seems everyone in North Grimdark knows a lot more about what's going on with the missing kids than they have any right to know, and much more than in the books. I suppose it's some foreshadowing for the benefit of viewers, but why? Some Evil Minions could be blabbing, but I imagine that's a sure way to an early and permanent retirement. I don't think the kids in Grim McDarkville have gone missing in the books; it's actually a pretty stupid move from the Oblation Board to be grabbing them, if McDarkville is a key transit point for taking the stolen kids to the evil fortress or whatever. Or do they just overfly the town in their airships?
I'm beginning to hear the typewriters from the writer's room clacking away much more loudly then they should.
Not entirely. They're definitely negating the shock of it though.
Alexa: "... the northernmost archipelago of Norway."
Cecily (can't resist) : "ArchipelAHgo."
Also, are those bad tattoos on Friend-of-Ana Finnish Witch, or a bad Frankenstein needle and thread job?
Just watched the 12/9 episode - spoilers ahead if you haven't watched! Where are the Daemons?? Having a couple birds fly across the screen every once in awhile does not cut it. And they are making poor choices with the daemons they do show - Pan and Lyra should have rushed into each other's arms after she was rescued like in the book. They don't even really interact with each other at all in the show in that moment. A bizarre choice. Some of the peripheral actors could be shown interacting with real tame animals to save CGI costs and make the daemons look more abundant. Maybe we could have had a few more daemons in Bolvangar and cut out a few cliff-ghasts at the end. Really you just need to show one and have Lee yell "Cliff-Ghasts!" and you don't have to show the rest very close-up.
This is more of a personal note but I always liked the moment in the book where the freed kids meet up with the Gyptians in the snow. I think they could have had Lyra basically destroy Bolvangar like in the book and avoided the cramped and confusing battle scene (and put the money into more daemons!). In the book, Lyra causes a big fire by breaking bags of flour over an open gas stove flame. I really thought we would see that since they had the moment earlier when Ma Costa was showing her how to do that over the stove.
I realize this is hard and costly material to adapt visually due to the daemons and they are getting a lot of things right too. I also feel like it is kind of a slog to watch sometimes. It should be building more momentum as the season goes on, we are in the action-filled parts of the story and I remember them being just boom-boom-boom in a good way when reading the novel. For the show, I kind of enjoyed the three episodes of set-up before they headed North more, which was opposite to my reading experience.
I wonder if they get through all three books how they will represent the important (but very different) world where a lot of the action takes place in the third book.