HBO’s Game of Thrones has came and went, and my heart has been left with an empty void waiting to be filled by the next solid fantasy show. I know, I know, the final episodes of Game of Thrones were more disappointing than the pizza served at the airport Sbarro in Aruba. Ironically, the writing of the final three episodes shared an undeniable resemblance to that same pizza after my girlfriend vomited it onto our front lawn, spilling out of the car in the nick of time.

His Dark Materials is a new television series on BBC (UK) and HBO (America) based on Philip Pullman’s novel series of the same name. I decided to watch Sunday’s premier to test the waters and see what the hype is about. Could His Dark Materials fill the dragon and wolf sized holes that Game of Thrones left in all of us?

BBC One’s His Dark Materials

This is a blind take on the show, as I am sure most other reviews on the internet are coming from fans of the book series. Being the deprived soul that I am, I have never read any of the books and truly did not know the slightest bit of premise coming into Sunday’s premier. Shame on me, but come on, this is the same guy who has never seen nor read Harry Potter.

Fresh eyes and an empty mind are exactly what you need for an honest first impression. I’m not here to tell you how well the show relates to the books or if the visuals matched my expectations. The only thing you need to know are that my expectations did not exist.

The Premier – Lyra’s Jordan

Lyra, presumably the main protagonist of the show, has grown up in Jordan College in Oxford after her uncle Asriel dropped her off there as a baby for her own protection. Daphne Keen tackles the lead role, and I don’t know much about her other than her performance in Logan that I really enjoyed. Asriel, played by James McAvoy, seems to be an explorer or researcher of some kind attempting to find evidence that will prove the corruption of the governing body of the realm – the Magisterium.

Listen, premiers are tough to pull off. In the fantasy genre, the difficulty is exacerbated exponentially because the viewer doesn’t know a thing about the world or universe that the story is set within. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Jack Thorne (writer) did a really great job on-boarding me in a single hour. I’m sure readers of the books can find fault in what was omitted or oversimplified, but both my girlfriend and I finished the episode feeling at least a moderate sense of knowing what the fuck was going on.

That statement shouldn’t be taken lightly. We aren’t talking about some modern day murder mystery… His Dark Materials is immediately hitting you with talking animals, the multiverse, some dust that is attracted only to adults, and an early assassination attempt via poison. Did I mention the animals shape-shift? With no context, that sentence can have you paging your mom over the grocery store intercom.

The fact that I wasn’t utterly lost speaks volumes to the basic success of the pilot episode, unless I am blissfully ignorant and believing the shit that I’m full of.

BBC Studios, New Line Cinema, and Bad Wolf

The animal daemons that serve as each individual’s companion and embodiment of their soul were quite impressive form a visual effects standpoint. Until children become adults, their daemon can shape-shift between various animal forms and the show depicts this beautifully as Lyra and her friend Roger run through the campus. The adult daemons we meet in the premier walk the line of gorgeous and intimidating. Asriel’s leopard stands out as the most visually attractive while an evil looking monkey gave me the creeps.

My Take: B-

The pilot was relatively uneventful, mainly for the above mentioned reason about how much info a fantasy series needs to cram into its first hour to allow anything to make sense. Did I love it? No, not even close. However, I did love two specific things that have me itching for more.

Lyra’s friend Roger: Something about this quirky little kid hooked me. He’s the lovable sidekick that you instantly find yourself rooting for and I NEED to know where the story (and the Gobblers) are taking him.

The trailer for the rest of the season: Wow, the future of this show looks fucking awesome! I don’t know where to start. The preview was action packed and gave a taste of many things to come. A secret city in the multiverse hidden in “Dust” and the Northern Lights? I’m in. Armored bears? Yeah, you read that correctly. Armored. Fucking. Bears.

Example A of Bear: Armored

To my surprise, the trailer also displayed military men with modern sub-machine guns. The airships, magical dust, golden compass, and animal companions all had me feeling a very Final Fantasy I through III vibe, so the guns caught me off guard. Maybe the Thrones fan in me subconsciously yearned for swords and spears, but I am completely on board with this “twist” to my expectations.

I will give the official opinion of “cautiously optimistic” for His Dark Materials. None of the acting knocked my socks off, and James McAvoy yelling “Everyone is special” left a sour taste in my mouth… but the bears. The bears were armored. I will definitely be watching this season to the end and will give a final verdict on season 1 after its finale scheduled for December 23rd. I will do my best to avoid any spoilers from the books in the meantime. Stay tuned!