The Break

HBO | Air Date: December 5, 2022

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AlicenLazDec 10, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As much as I adore this show, there have been three things that have really started to bother me in this episode. First I was sad about no Mulefa. Mary Malone instead ventures into King Ogunwe's world (where Asriel has just been) and "interviews" some scared girls which just seems like another pity scene invented by the screenwriters. Mary isn't a politician or Marco Polo making her round about towns, she is a lone traveller in fantastical worlds and first and foremost a scientist fascinated by knowledge, and this is what her encounter with the Mulefa in a strange world represents. If she is the serpent, it's very important to emphasize the knowledge/research aspect. Second, the Magisterium is overtly portrayed like the Nazis. Even though fascism is the main criticism Pullman makes, it doesn't help that the show makes it obvious. Like, so obvious that there isn't any room to think about anything else when the Magisterium comes up. This takes away part of the magic from the unique world of HDM. It's clear that the showmakers are afraid again of pulling the religious card. But more than that, this makes the show lose depth, and hence, effectiveness. Which takes me to my last point and actual big disappointment: Mrs Coulter and Will. In the third book, Will is maturing into a man, and this involves being disgustingly seduced by a priest in a small town, and then silently seduced by Mrs Coulter, as a mother figure/older woman who knows how to use her charm, awakening the desire that he almost immediately redirects to Lyra. The seduction element is key to the plot because Mrs Coulter makes Will lose his will, breaking the knife. Instead, we get a watered down hypnosis moment, where Mrs Coulter reminds Will of his mother. This alone doesn't make much sense. Yes, that's a big wound to push onto Will, but it wouldn't make him lose control because he would see through the manipulation. In the book, not only does Will see through that, but he also admires Mrs Coulter for her level of strategy, and feels drawn to her. And so falls for her anyway. By making the show PG, many teens are losing here the true (and useful) message of this passage: beware of seductive women. But falling for them is also a crucial part of growing up. Or a rite of passage. While watching I kept suspecting that perhaps Ruth Wilson would have written her role differently here, in a way that is more real and cathartic for the audience, and not any less appropriate (come on..).… Expand

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