We are back into the action, sort of this week, well we get more action this episode than in the last episode. We finally get to meet two of the most important characters in this series. However, in this episode we mainly watch our character wander around a small-town doing errands ahead of the journey North to fight the Gobblers. It feels as if we are still setting up for what is to come. Episode 3 was very slow and not much happened in terms of action and Episode 4 has a similar feeling.
We finally meet Lee Scoresby (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) and armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison (voice of Joe Tandberg) in the small town of Trollesund. Apart from the few scenes where we visit the Magisterium where we see Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson) assert her power and dominance over the priests and Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) threaten Fra Pavel we remain in Trollesund. This episode focuses on Lyra (played by Dafne Keen).
We get to see Keen put on a strong performance as she is the driving force of this episode. Lyra tracks down Iorek and gains the confidence of Iorek and Lee, as she recruits them to her cause and fight against the Gobblers. Keen's performance in this episode is much better than in previous episodes. We get to see a different side to Lyra; she is tough and strong. Her alethiometer skills have improved vastly since the previous episode. It is true that this character has great powers and is becoming a strong and cunning leader.
Miranda's portrayal of Lee provides an upbeat bit of fresh air into this series, which is interesting to watch. Lee's appearance keeps this episode interesting to watch as you want to know more about this character and his past.
The visual effects in this series are amazing with all the daemons, even if we don't see many of them. The effects on Iorek Byrnison are just as amazing. Iorek looks completely realistic especially when in conversation with the other characters. It is hopeful that this high standard of the effects of Iorek stay as high as we continue throughout the rest of the series.
Overall, this episode was an improvement from the previous episode however it was still slow in parts. Keen put on a better performance in this episode, she is better at playing the strong leader than the emotional girl. With all this being said, this episode builds anticipation for the next episode as from the preview we know that it is going to be really interesting and exciting to watch.
