His Dark Materials: Season 1, Episode 5 “The Lost Boy” – Recap, Review (with Spoilers)

On top of Lyra discovering a ghost, she comes to learn what experiments are being done on children at The Station.

On top of Lyra discovering a ghost, she comes to learn what experiments are being done on children at The Station.

---

Directed By		Otto Bathurst
Written By		Jack Thorne
Air Date (BBC One)		12/1/2019
Introduced This Episode
Elaine	Nina Sosanya
Will	Amir Wilson
Serafina	Ruta Gedmintas

Recap

Hello To An Old Flame: Serafina, Coram

As they trek towards Bolvanger, Serafina makes herself known and seen beyond her daemon and speaks to Coram. Someone who she is happy to see, almost to the point of conveying the possibility that old feelings still exist. However, as he pushes the idea he isn’t there to see her but the children, what feelings that may have lingered dissipate.

But, before she leaves, she does make Coram aware the witches aren’t united as they once were, and Asriel’s path may lead him to the truth that there is but a thin veil between their world and the other. One that isn’t of the dead, but of another form of living. And surely, Asriel will bring war as he continues researching the northern aurora.

[adinserter block=”34″]

The Boy Left Behind: Will, Elaine, Boreal, Thomas

In the last episode, it was revealed John had a son, Will, and a wife, Elaine, and that Elaine wasn’t necessarily all there. We see that in action this episode as Will tries to live a normal life, but it seems his mother’s illness, which isn’t specified, complicates things. But, the two who will truly make Will’s life hard is Thomas and Boreal, who is masquerading as someone who knew John over 15 years ago. However, despite his knowledge, Elaine is on onto him. Hence why she finds herself contemplating revealing John’s letters to will for she knows something is coming.

The Deadly Pursuit Of Knowledge: Lyra, Lord Faa, Iorik, Billy, Ma Costa

With Lord Faa wanting to know what is to come ahead, he asks of Lyra to ask the alethiometer, and what she comes up with is what Lord Faa recognizes will be a blood bath. However, alongside seeing 60 well-armed men, there is also this ghostly presence Lyra wants to investigate.

This, as you can imagine, no one really supports her looking into, but with Ma Costa and Lord Faa giving an apprehensive okay, Lyra and Iorik head off and end up finding Billy. Mind you, in an abandoned village without his daemon. Making it so, when he returns, Ma Costa knows Billy isn’t long for this world, so as much as she’d like him to stay, she gives him permission to be with Ratter.

And to add to the Gyptians’ issues, their camp is raided, and alongside some of their members being murdered, Lyra is kidnapped and finds herself at the station. Lord help her.

Comment Down Below

1. Do you think Roger is dead, or will he be reunited with Lyra soon?

[adinserter name=”Vidazoo”]

Review

Highlights

The Question Of What Is Lyra’s Destiny & How Is It Tied Into Will’s?

Due to not reading the books or seeing the movie version which preceded this, I’m going in blind, and it leaves me with so many questions. Such as considering Lyra has been lied to once already, could it be John, if not Will, are related to her in some way? After all, it isn’t necessarily clear if there is a major time difference between our world and Lyra’s? Much less, considering John went back and forth, who is to say he did more than leave traces of his existence and doesn’t have a more direct relation to Asriel or Lyra?

And, on the flip side, considering Will lives in a fairly normal world, how will he react if Lyra crosses over or he finds himself in their world? Never mind the need to question what is in those letters, when were they sent, and what else Elaine might be hiding? Heck, not to be mean, but there is also the need to ask whether she was this was before John, or was it only after he physically abandoned her?

Welcome To The Station

After being long talked about, we finally get an idea of what the station looks like and what happens there, and while it doesn’t elicit excitement and fear, that isn’t to say it is a bust. There is the potential, as we see kids pulled from their daemons, there can be some shocks. Heck, considering we aren’t sure who died or not back at camp, there is also the war to rescue Lyra to look forward to. Never mind her snooping, as she usually does.

[adinserter block=”35″]

Coram Reconnecting With Serafina

While not a major moment, it was beautiful to see the patriarchal figure get emotional when seeing Serafina and her show she missed him as well – especially since she noted she has lived for over 300 years. With that in mind, you can already see the setup for one of them dying, and this show finally getting some sort of emotional moment. Hopefully, one strong enough to compensate for the ho-hum of Lyra’s parental reveals.

[adinserter name=”Follow Us”]

Images and text in this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a commission or products from the company.

[amazon bestseller=”His Dark Materials” items=”3″]