His Dark Materials, Season 2, Episode 5, "The Scholar" Recap and Review

“I am nothing like you.”

On this week’s episode of HIS DARK MATERIALS, the show dives into some seriously personal topics that help us understand the characters a little better. Lyra is forced to once again confront the issues with her parents, Marisa realizes the alternate life she could have had, and Will begins to understand the gravity of his own power.

The episode opens with Marisa and Lord Boreal in “new” Oxford observing the differences in their worlds. They take note of how the people here don’t need daemons. Lord Boreal brings Marisa to his home, shows her the stolen alethiometer, and shows how the entire home is security-protected with cameras: a.k.a. perfect for catching Will and Lyra when the come to bring him the knife.

Back in the Cittagazze, Will and Lyra continue to practice with the knife. Will struggles at first, doubting his own abilities, and throws the knife at the wall. Lyra helps calm him down, and they decide to draw out a blueprint from memory of Lord Boreal’s house. They go back to practicing with the knife, and after calming himself down, Will is able to do so with ease. He practices cutting and closing different-sized windows, but Lyra has to keep reminding him of the crucial key to always close any window that he opens. Will theorizes that the two worlds, if they find the right spot, should line up perfectly. The two test this theory and find out they are correct. They need to go lower to be able to line up with the basement of Lord Boreal’s house and go down to the bottom of the church to begin mapping out their plan.

In his continued efforts of pursuing Marisa, Lord Boreal tries to set the mood by turning on some music and offering her a drink. It’s cute and a little cringe at the same time; his advances are basically thwarted by Marisa, but the two actors have such natural chemistry that it’s kind of fun to watch them flirt. She switches the conversation back to business and they start talking about Dust and Dr. Malone. Marisa decides to go pay her a visit, but Lord Boreal reminds her that she will stand out in an obvious way because she is dressed more elegantly that the people here. He picks out some outfits for her to disguise herself in, and she raises a brow at the mere concept of denim jeans and opts instead for a low-key business suit. She sets out without her daemon, a feat that continues to impress and strike the curiosity of Lord Boreal.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal has a meeting with the Magisterium and they are informed of the 24 soldiers that we killed at the hands of the Witches, which prompts them to begin their own hunt after Marisa. By this point she is at Dr. Malone’s office, and after initially thinking she was someone else, Dr. Malone lets her in warmly after Marisa states she is Lyra’s mother. Marisa cleverly plays coy and says that she is taking Lyra somewhere safe to protect her. Dr. Malone, unaware of who Marisa is or Lyra’s complicated relationship with her, opens up and starts telling her about their time spent together. She praises Lyra for her brilliance and maturity and all she knows about Dust.

Marisa flees in the middle of their conversation, and feeling suspicious over who she said she was, Dr. Malone looks her up online and can’t find anything that matches what she said. The Dust begins speaking to Dr. Malone again and tells her to go find the opening to the other realm and protect Lyra. It tells her that her work here is done and that they will not communicate with her again in this world. The computer short circuits and she leaves to go find the realm.

Marisa goes back to Lord Boreal’s house, and confides in him that she couldn’t believe a woman like Dr. Malone could exist in this world. That she was allowed to be smart, educated, have earned a degree, and was a practicing scientist with her own office. She tells him that she was denied her doctorate despite earning the highest grades just simply because she was a woman, and the only way she could have had her studies published was if she allowed it to be published under a man’s name thereby surrendering her credit. It is a very poignant scene, one that feels relevant today, and is a strong moment that aids to the continued question as to whether or not Marisa is a ruthless character acting for herself, or if she is a deeply hurt and flawed woman who can see the light deep down. Lord Boreal confesses that he had always hoped Marisa would share his life with him, and in the best line of the episode, she effortlessly responds with, “If you got me, you wouldn’t know what to do with me.”

Will and Lyra run into Tullio, who is being mourned over by his sisters as he has now been captured and zombie-fied by the Spectres. Will and Lyra are mortified and try to apologize, but his sisters cannot see past their grief and vow to enact revenge on them. Lyra reminds Will that the knife chose him, not Tullio. After mapping out their plan to steal back the alethiometer, they test out opening a small window and see Lord Boreal sitting in his basement, confirming that their plan has worked. Lyra makes a plan to go distract him by knocking on the front door and claiming Will is arriving with the knife at any moment while he is actually downstairs sneaking into the basement.

Will enters the basement cautiously, and as he makes his way towards the alethiometer sitting on the couch, he is started to see Marisa standing nearby, who is watching the exchange between Lyra and Lord Boreal at the door via his surveillance cameras. Will quickly hides as Marisa peers around the room, instinctually knowing someone is there, but goes back to watching the cameras after lingering for a moment. Will nervously reaches for the alethiometer but is caught when Marisa’s daemon takes it from him. Will screams for Lyra’s help and she runs past the front door and down towards the basement. Realizing what has happened, Lord Boreal closes and locks the basement door, trapping the four of them in for a good ol’ fashioned standoff.

Lyra is stunned to see her mother there, and approaches her slowly with Lord Boreal goes after Will for the knife. In another confusing moment where it is difficult to tell whether Marisa genuinely cares for and is trying to help Lyra or is trying to set her up, she offers her the alethiometer without hesitation and tells her that she could teach her how to fully harness her power. Lyra wants to believe her but doesn’t fully trust her, and when Marisa makes the comment that she reminds her so much of herself, Lyra lets out an incredible “I am NOTHING like you” and commands Pan to attack her mother’s daemon. Marisa falls to the ground and Lyra, with an icy chill in her eyes, watches as her mother is pained by the attack on her daemon.

Will and Lord Boreal fight in the other room as Will tries to keep him from getting the knife. He begins picking up some of Lord Boreal’s artifacts and destroying them with the knife in an effort to show his seriousness to Lord Boreal. Unwilling to lose the upper hand, Lord Boreal charges at Will and squeezes his wrapped, injured hand which causes will to drop the knife in a scream of pain. Lord Boreal runs after the knife and is nearly escaped with it until Will grabs a vase and bashes him over the head.

Lord Boreal drops to the ground and Will grabs the knife, screaming at Lyra that it is time for them to go. Marisa, in a show of her strength, detaches herself from the pain of her daemon and stands up straight to meet Lyra, who is frozen in her place. Will cuts open a portal and screams once more at Lyra, which is just enough to jar her out of her transfixed state and the two of them and Pan make it through the portal in the knick of time. Marisa yells out a wail as she screams her daughter’s name in defeat. Lord Boreal tries to comfort her but tells her that they cannot go after them. Marisa insists that they must, but Lord Boreal tells her of the Spectres and how they can kill adults within seconds.

Dr. Malone, in the meantime, successfully finds the opening of the portal with GPS help from the Dust. At the opening of it with a protective tent is a guard. Marisa at first tries to insist she is meant to be there, but the guard doesn’t buy it and tells her she must go. She states that she will just simply call Charles, and the guard immediately asks if she is Mrs. Coulter. Realizing this is her way in, she lies and says she is, and slowly makes her way through the tent. She is mesmerized by what she sees in front of her, and steps slowly through the portal and into the Cittagazze, unknowing of what lies ahead.

This episode finally picked up the pace and raised the stakes. It moved out of it’s slow-burning, context-spilling formula and gave the viewers something to get excited about. With only two episodes to go and Lee Scoresby and John Parry still not back from their adventure yet, it seems fair to believe that the rest of the season is going to be action-packed.

Grade: A-

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