The Screen Scribe

The second episode of this fledgling series leans rather heavily on the number two. From its title, “Two Wolves”, to the separation of the Harkonnen sisters, and of course the two distinct storylines that the episode brings into focus. The most interesting aspect of all of this remains the Sisterhood storyline, which of course is the one that gets the least screen time. Though Valya Harkonnen’s rather dramatic entry into the court politics of the Imperium shook up that rather dull plotline, it still doesn’t do much to elevate it. Watson again does an excellent job portraying the Mother Superior and remains one of the few redeeming qualities of this show thus far. Her onscreen sister, Olivia Williams, does the same with her own storyline and her character, Tula Harkonnen, blossoms in her sisters’ absence as she attempts to persuade her prized pupil Lila to undergo a dangerous ritual to unlock her ancestral memories.

It all sounds great on paper but comes across rather flat in execution. Much of what I did not like about the premiere remains in episode 2 despite being more focused and less exposition heavy. It’s a stronger episode, but at the same time bears the same shortcomings as episode one. I spent a bit of time in the review for the previous episode waxing lyrically about how Dune is Game of Thrones in space. Dune: Prophecy obviously takes inspiration from both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, but remains a pale, inferior reflection of its HBO sister shows. It attempts to replicate much of the politicking and backstabbing and scheming of the Westerosi greats, but it all comes across as lacking any kind of substance or suspense. I found my attention waning as the episode progressed and only Travis Fimmels engaging turn as original character Desmond Hart intrigued me throughout its hour runtime.

And he had about five minutes of screen time. Yeah, not great.

With only four more episodes to go, Dune: Prophecy has a lot of work to do to justify its existence and connection to the masterpiece films that spawned it. With small lore drops here and there to keep some of us in the know guessing (Vorian Atreides wink wink), and some interesting visuals and developments regarding the Sisterhoods use of ancestral memory, it’s not enough to make up for an incredibly dull hour of television.

 2.5 / 5 from the Screen Scribe.

Dune: Prophecy can be seen on Sky Atlantic every Monday.