#ourlady-of-the-underground

[lordbelacqua]

Okay I don’t actually know if this is an unpopular opinion or not but although I love the show overall as an adaptation, I think a lot of opportunities were missed with Serafina Pekkala and the rest of the witches. I just don’t think they’re anywhere near as fully-formed in the show as in the books. I also really don’t understand their costume design? They’re described as incredibly in-tune with nature so I would expect that to be reflected in what they wear but instead, particularly in s2, they’re wearing clothing made of unnatural fibers and patterns that don’t make any sense at all in terms of storytelling or revealing character. And while I get that even a miniseries doesn’t have enough time to cover everything in a series of novels, I feel like they really stripped Serafina down to almost nothing; I don’t like that it takes until season 2 for her to officially meet Lyra, and while I get that they were trying to give Ruta Skadi more of an arc, it seems weird that they’ve completely erased Serafina from the whole “Marisa tortures a witch” plot. It’ll be interesting to see if they include Amber Spyglass Serafina’s hatred of Mrs Coulter in season 3; I think it’ll be harder to justify if they do because of how they moved things around. Anyway sorry for rambling lol love your blog, hope you’re staying healthy and safe

Send me your (unpopular) HDM opinions or anything else you’d like.

Well first of all, thank you for this amazing response, I love it so much. And thank you for the kind words, I hope you are staying healthy and safe, as well!

My answer will be under the cut because I talk too much. I’m going to try and number your points so that this doesn’t turn into a mess.

(1) I think a lot of opportunities were missed with Serafina Pekkala and the rest of the witches. I just don’t think they’re anywhere near as fully-formed in the show as in the books. — Even though I never really had a larger issue with this because it’s a book to show adaptation, I kind of agree. I don’t think we saw the witches as much as we should have, especially Serafina and her contribution to the entire story, since my overall impression was that I missed her in both seasons (more s1 than s2). I haven’t rewatched S1 in a long time but aside from her very emotional scene with Farder Coram, I think all her scenes strip down to that one line “She is a special child with the prophecy”. I might need to rewatch S1 to refresh my memory, though. As for other witches, I felt like they were just put in for Marisa and the Magisterium to bully them, to be honest. In their defense, I’m glad they didn’t copy+paste the book!witches to show because in my opinion, Mr Pullman has given them some very unsettling characteristics. A lot of their personality revolves around the “If you don’t love, honor and worship me, you’ll pay (die)”. That’s why it’s mentioned that Ruta Skadi killed the tigers of a Tartar tribe that “failed to do her honor” and wears their fangs in her hair, that’s why Juta Kamainen kills John Parry (something they changed, too) whom she “used to love” but had so much resentment for after she found out he was dedicated to another woman in another world. I believe the writers didn’t want them to ultimately seem like villains to the audience even though it meant taking a lot of what’s to them out.

(2) I feel like they really stripped Serafina down to almost nothing; I don’t like that it takes until season 2 for her to officially meet Lyra, and while I get that they were trying to give Ruta Skadi more of an arc, it seems weird that they’ve completely erased Serafina from the whole “Marisa tortures a witch” plot. — As for your Ruta Skadi point, I don’t really have a problem with her having an arc. Ruta Skadi still plays an important(-ish) role in TSK - she finds out about the Æsahættr and its importance to Lord Asriel in the war, she is the first one (?) to go to Lord Asriel and learn about his plans in the war and eventually, she decides about her own and her clan’s involvement in the war. I felt like, and now you point out, because it took so long (until she meets Lyra, I think) for Serafina’s arc to become more than just one line about the prophecy and stalking Lee Scoresby all the time except when he needed her, Ruta’s arc was only more prominent there. Them erasing Serafina from the tortured witch plot is something that out of everything, truly bothers me (the other things don’t really bother me, they are more of an observation). I think her erasure from that storyline is a crime!!! sad because it would give a lot more context to the “broken arrow” scene from TAS, which I love so much and would be sad to see it cut. So if I had a chance to change something about Serafina’s storyline, it would have been this.

(3) I also really don’t understand their costume design? (...) they’re wearing clothing made of unnatural fibers and patterns that don’t make any sense at all in terms of storytelling or revealing character. — I watched the Behind The Scenes of Season One a while ago where Caroline McCall (the costume designer) addressed the change in the witches’ wardrobe. She said the reason they aren’t wearing black silk like they are supposed to is because it would have been a mess to work with on the set and I understand. I also always imagined the witches in the books to be scantily clad so I think their aim was to appropriate them for younger audiences, too, and not have witch titties popping out on the screen. Even though S2 costumes don’t really fit that aesthetic, they still look so sexy grr.

In (my) conclusion, yes, opportunities were missed but I think in a book to show adaptation it’s not overall a huge issue. At least not to me, maybe I’m biased because show!witches are so sexy and bad and smart, but considering everything I said above, it can all be a result of their effort to adapt it for younger people or non-book readers without having to give too much backstory or explanation.

Thank you, again, for this amazing review!! I would like to hear more opinions on this, so don’t hesitate to share.

[ourladyofstoryweaving]

🎶Brother what’s my name? My name is ‘Our Lady of the Underground’ - Our Lady of Ways, Our Lady of Means~ 🎶

Meant to post these yesterday whoops.