His Dark Materials

When Game of Thrones ended last year, like most, I was wondering what HBO would come up with to replace their epic series. To my surprise, they came up with two brilliant ideas that peaked my interest. The first being Watchmen and the second being a full adaptation of Phillip Pullman's fantastic Middle Grade fantasy series, His Dark Materials.

The first season of the show follows the plot of the first book, The Golden Compass. It's been more than 20 years since I read that book, but from my recollection, it follows the plot pretty faithfully. 

My expectations for this show were sky-high, as opposed to lower expectations for Watchmen. This is probably due to the movies of each that came out several years ago. I disliked the Watchmen film, but enjoyed The Golden Compass. That meant, this had more to live up to. 

I'll admit that the first two episodes were a little slow. And for anyone unfamiliar with the books, they were a little confusing (as my Missus can attest to). But come the third episode, things started to pick up and the show found its footing. The results are a stunningly visual fantasy with pretty great acting.

I really like how this show captures the darker aspects of the books. Unlike the film, which rarely made you feel Lyra was in danger, this constantly makes you believe that she faces threats far greater than she truly understands. And the casting of Lyra, surely the hardest role to cast, turned out to be great. She feels real. So many adaptations of children's books make the character feel like a movie version of a kid, while the books do not. They got this right, and thereby got the series right in my opinion.