His Dark Materials is moving so fast that each episode almost seems like a different genre. What genre is this episode? I’ll let you decide at the end.

This episode is also the episode where we start truly delving into book 2 material. Part of me is like, “WHOA SLOW DOWN,” because I really wish this show was going to be three seasons instead of two. But part of me is SO EXCITED because The Subtle Knife is my favorite of the three books. So getting to meet Will Parry and be introduced to that part of the story is super cool, especially because this material has never been adapted for the screen before. But I could have waited a bit longer for that payoff. I don’t know. I’m so excited I don’t know how to feel.

I’ll try to anyway, I guess.

The Gyptians, Lyra, Iorek, Lee and company are all traveling north to find the missing children. Lyra, hopeful, asks Lee Scoresby: “We’re going to win this one, aren’t we? We’re going to get those children back.”

Lee’s response? “If I were a betting man, I’d say no. And I am a betting man, so no.” But he says he can tell Lyra wants him to say yes though, so he says yes. I mean, fair.

Lyra’s Paddington Bear outfit from the last episode is gone, which makes me wonder how many winter coats did she pack for this trip and where is she putting all of them? But anyway.

John Faa is coming around on the bear finally. He tells Lyra something like, “You know what? I guess having a bear is pretty cool.” Lyra says something along the lines of, “No shit, Sherlock.” I don’t know if that’s a word-for-word transcription, though.

Anyway, Lyra looks at the alethiometer to find out about Bolvangar, and she discovers something else… she runs to Farder Coram to tell him that the alethiometer told her there is a village haunted by a ghost. The whole thing is very vague but she knows that she needs to go and check it out… alone. John Faa thinks this is a bad idea, especially because she’s being hunted by Mrs. Coulter (AKA her mom). Lyra tells him, “I can’t be afraid of my mother for the rest of my life.” Girl, are you sure about that? I know plenty of people who are. And their moms don’t kill children. So.

But before Lyra goes off on her adventure, let’s slip into our world to meet our newest hero… it’s Will Parry, everyone!

My immediate thoughts when Will Parry first graced our screens: “OMG IT’S WILL PARRY HE IS EVERYTHING I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FEEL” followed by “WHERE IS HIS CAT THOUGH.” Idk, y’all. That’s what my notes say.

But seriously. Lord Boreal is spying on Will Parry and his family. And why? Because he’s John Parry (Grumman)’s kid. Remember that little boy that was in that folio a few episodes back? Yo, that was Will. Anyway, Boreal just walks right up to the Parry residence and tells Mrs. Parry that he’s looking for her husband. The direct approach.

Mrs. Parry says that John Parry died. She says he was lost in Alaska. They never found the bodies. He didn’t come home. “They never found the bodies” is movie talk for “he’s still alive.”

Everyone thinks Will’s mother is crazy. When she comes to visit Will at school, all the boys make fun of him for having a crazy mom. This seems like a weird thing to make fun of someone about. Is this something people do? Do kids make fun of other kids for having crazy parents? Seems kind of weak to me. Anyway, everyone thinks Will’s mom is crazy because she thinks people are following her. To be fair… they definitely are.

When they get back home, most importantly… WE FINALLY GET TO SEE WILL’S CAT. I am so happy. But also Will’s mom tells him that he’s a lot like his father and he’ll have to carry John Parry’s mantle. She also insists someone’s been in their house. She checks to make sure the letters John wrote her are still there, and when they are, she tells Will that he can read them if he wants. He says, “No, mom, they’re for you.” Which sounds like teenage boy code for, “Ugh, I don’t want to read your boring letters.” Though I like to think Will is better than that.

Back in Lyra’s world, Lyra has a chat with Ma Costa and tells her that she needs to go to this village, even though Farder Coram doesn’t want her to go.

While they’re having their chat, Farder Coram is meeting with… Serafina Pekkala. They basically start by talking politics. Farder Coram thinks Lord Asriel should be focusing on their dimension, but Serafina says he is right to want to explore other worlds. From there, everything gets very emotional. James Cosmo is doing brilliant work as Farder Coram, and he is quickly becoming the heart of the show. I would love more Serafina/Coram interactions, but I also don’t know if my heart can take it.

After this heart-felt conversation with Serafina, Farder Coram decides that Lyra should go to the village to see what the alethiometer meant by sending her there. She takes Iorek with her.

As Iorek and Lyra travel together in the dark and snow, they start bonding. Lyra tells Iorek that she knows her father is imprisoned by the other bears. Iorek says he’s not like all of the other bears. Iorek broke the rules by killing another bear and he was sent away. There’s obviously more to this story that Iorek is not sharing. He says he was not of right mind. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what he means by that, because SUSPENSE!

I would love to take a quick moment to say Pan as an arctic fox is giving me so much life. But I can’t find any photos of it. Feel free to send them to me via our contact form.

When the adventurers get to the village, it’s very spooky. Iorek says something is wrong here. After going where the alethiometer told her to go, Lyra finds Billy Costa. Without his daemon Ratter. Pan is very scared, which means Lyra is scared too, even though she’s trying very hard to be brave.

This is a big change from the source material that I think we have to stop and acknowledge. In the book, it’s another boy named  Tony Makarios who has been separated from his daemon. Lyra finds him holding onto a dry fish because it’s the closest thing he could find to a daemon. A lot of viewers have complained about this change. I do understand merging the two characters, but I don’t understand getting rid of the fish imagery, which would have been very haunting.

Lyra brings Billy back to his mother where he soon dies after Ma Costa urges him to go be with his daemon Ratter. It’s very sad.

And right here at the end when Lyra lets her guard down is when she gets caught by the Gobblers. They take her to their facility and ask her to strip down her clothes and change into one of their jumpsuits: the same get up Billy Costa was wearing when she found him. The worker bees at the facility say Lyra is “on the verge of changing,” and so they mark her as a Category A that must be seen to immediately. They ask her her name, and she tells them it’s Lizzie Brooks. Because all fake names have to have the same initials as your real name.

Before the credits roll, she looks slightly left of the camera and says, “This is Bolvangar.” Girl, we know.

Anyhow, SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, His Dark Materials fans!