Already you can find reviewers who were frustrated with this episode, but I think it deserves a little more credit, just a little. One problem is that it could have just ended with the previous episode, which would leave some questions and hanging plot points, but I've gotten used to series ending like that by now. It's a regular occurrence now when funding another season is possible, but not certain. I also think the writer(s?) were nervous about the anti-church, anti-religion tone, and felt they needed to sledgehammer in the messages of romantic love, including same-sex love, and other secular warm fuzzies. I kept waiting for someone to be killed or at least seriously injured in this episode, and without totally spoiling, let's just say you'll be waiting a long time if you had the same expectations. It might have been better just to leave the audience uncomfortable with the message against organized religion ringing loud in the end, basically as the previous episode did. Other than that, it was fairly well done and probably truer to the Amber Spyglass, which I haven't read, but know it anticipates further writings at the end. (If the other books do get green-lit for filming, I expect an entirely, or nearly entirely different cast, at the very least). Apparently many readers were also frustrated at the third and final book, so you can probably assume that this episode has the same faults, and it was probably the best possible depiction given the source material. If you go in with low expectations, it probably won't be so painful. Personally, I was so glad when the ending finally came just so it would be over with.
Review of The Botanic Garden
