In this second episode we follow Lyra in her new life in London with Mrs Coulter. Lyra is still determined to find Roger and this is mentioned throughout the episode. The Gyptians continue their search for their missing children, and the Gobblers.
This episode in particular highlights Mrs Cutler and the fact as a viewer we know we can’t trust her and we watch Lyra learning this fact too. We know that Mrs Coulter is hiding something from us and Lyra, but we aren’t sure what she is hiding. This is shown near the start of this episode, where we see Coulter just staring at the bath water, her face is expressing so much yet nothing is said. Mrs Coulter is a complex character and Ruth Wilson does an amazing job in portraying this character. Wilson draws you in with her performance, in particular when she is alone. Mrs Coulter has so much presence in when in a scene that as a viewer your eyes are just on her to see what she'll do next. Wilson makes us fear this character when she is in a scene, we know she is highly intelligent and sneaky but as a result Coulter and Lyra clash heads a lot in this episode.
Lyra and Coulter's relationship changes in this episode, it was once joyful and a relief from the boring Jordan world but now this relationship is a threat to Lyra's life and her best friend Roger. The relationship between Lyra and Roger is sweet. They both care about each other so much that we want them to be reunited so badly but we know that we won't see them back together for a while.
This episode is called ‘The Idea of North’ as this is due to Lyra learning difficult truths about her own life. Lyra discovers so much, that this episode is constantly entertaining as we are constantly learning information. Lyra learns that her new hero is her enemy, her new home is a trap that she must escape and her beloved uncle Lord Asriel is actually her father.
Mrs Coulter's apartment is designed perfectly to suggest that Mrs Coulter isn’t what she seems. This is due to the choice of tables to lighting fittings and everything that is chosen looks dangerous, just like the character herself. The paintings give hints to what Coulter may be up to or what to expect from this character's work which we find out later on in this episode.
We get to see a deeper insight to Lyra and Pan's relationship in this episode. Pan is Lyra's daemon who is always by her side and we see this more in this episode. Pan is a lot more cautious than Lyra and she doesn’t always listen to him yet they are the best of friends. It is interesting to see the difference between Lyra and Pan and Mrs Coulter and her daemon. In this world, a person's daemon is their soul and almost everyone names their daemon yet Mrs Coulter's neither has a name or voice. Also, Coulter's daemon, a golden monkey, can survive being separated any distance, while any other human and daemon would feel intense pain.
Multiple stories are being told already yet to build up to what is happening this needs to be done. We can't just have Lyra's perspective as we need other character stories happening alongside. In this episode a major event is told to us, which is Lyra’s world has a portal to our own world. This is a very important part of the overall book series and it is interesting that the directors and writers decided to introduce it so early into the story. Lord Boreal crossing between both worlds is a huge part of what is to follow the rest of the story and series to come.
Performances are amazing from the cast, in particular Wilson puts on a fantastic display in this episode. Keen (Lyra) puts on a good performance but there are moments which could have been improved. Keen is a very expressive performer but when it comes to anger and sadness at times this performance isn’t believable and falls a bit flat. A moment in particular is when Lyra discovers the true identity of her uncle and she goes into her bedroom and sits on the floor, she closes her eyes and it is confusing what that moment is trying to portray. As the moment before, she was angry and then all of sudden all emotion is gone from her performance including facial expressions therefore the final moments of that scene fall a bit short.
In only the second episode so much happens which makes this episode exciting to watch and we know there is so much to come. In this episode alone we learn more about Lyra and the true identity of her father, her mother is still unknown at the moment. Poor Roger is still in the hands of the Gobblers and on his way to the North; the alethimeter needle finally nudges but Lyra still doesn’t understand it and Lyra's journey has only just begun. Mrs Coulter is our main focus for this episode but we learn so much about her. At the end of this episode we are left on a cliff-hanger and now we have anticipation to find out what is going to happen next.
