Love it or hate It: His Dark Materials First Impressions (POLL)

HBO has been searching for its next Game of Thrones since, well, Game of Thrones was still airing. Westworld’s ratings haven’t climbed to The Wall-like heights of GoT. Watchmen pulled in 1.5 million viewers with its premiere, but once again, not GoT ratings.

Monday His Dark Materials premiered to strong ratings, but nothing like the 2.2 million viewers who watched the Game of Thrones pilot plus the 2 million viewers that watched GoT’s reruns later the night of its premiere.

So what are your First Impressions of His Dark Materials?

The fantasy television adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book series stars Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua, X-Men’s James McAvoy as her uncle Lord Asriel, Ruth Wilson as the villainous Mrs. Coulter (which we know more from the teasers and trailers than the pilot) and Lin-Manual Miranda as Lee Scoresby.

Lord Asriel’s discovery of the mysterious “Dust” and its connection to parallel worlds, along with the kidnapping of Lyra’s friend sets the young heroine on a quest to rescue her friend uncover the truth.

His Dark Materials’ cinematography is well done, as we’ve come to expect from HBO shows. In addition to the show’s grand shots and impressive sets, it also did a good job with the CGI for the animal companions, aka daemons.

The pilot, “Lyra’s Jordan,” introduced viewers to Lyra’s small world before expanding our knowledge by teasing the adventures and dangers yet to come with the sudden return and departure of Lord Asriel before Lyra leaves Jordon College and her quest begins.

All-in-all “Lyra’s Jordan” was a strong pilot, but like with most pilots there are elements that need to be ironed out or strengthened.

What were your First Impressions of His Dark Materials? Did you love it or hate it? Vote below and weigh-in in the comments below!