The Screen Scribe

After an improved showing in episode 3, “Twice Born” falls back into the monotony that plagued the first two instalments and reminded me once again of everything this show aspires to be, and everything it fails at being.

At its core, Dune: Prophecy is a political drama about noble houses vying for power and control of the kingdom while a weak king fails to bring order to his realm. On a superficial level this sounds like another HBO mainstay, Game of Thrones, and while I’ve previously compared Dune as a whole to Game of Thrones (the books and expanded universe media of Dune), Prophecy does its best to evoke the former HBO juggernaut but never captures the nuance or complexity evidenced in the intricate political scheming of King’s Landing.

The politicking of Dune: Prophecy has never been the strongest card in its deck. At best, the scheming of the Landsraad and House Corrino are dull, lifeless and entirely uninteresting. The Sisterhood offers a more engaging and dynamic story, but only marginally and mainly because of the mystique associated with the order. But even this fails to maintain any level of meaningful interest as the series lurches on and one of the main reasons for this is subpar writing.

It brings to mind the old rule of writing, ‘Show, don’t tell’. Much of this series has fallen into the trap of telling the audience everything through dense exposition or flat dialogue, instead of meaningful action or thoughtful conversations between characters that further the narrative or provide character development. Using Game of Thrones as a case study, at its peak in seasons 3 and 4, all of the dialogue had purpose, nuance and did not waste words.

The same cannot be said of Dune: Prophecy. There is not a single line of memorable dialague that springs to mind from the first four episodes of Prophecy, and only one scene where I was truly engaged and gripped by the intensity of the performances on screen. I can think of several, both dialogue and scenes, from the first three episodes of Game of Thrones in it’s debut season alone.

That is a stark and damning difference.

One of strengths of the early episodes were the many mysteries presented to the audience, particularly the original character Desmond Hart. While I enjoyed Travis Fimmels performance earlier in the season, his wacky, manic energy is beginning to wear a little thin as we are now two thirds of the way through the show and have yet to learn a single thing about Hart, his past, or his motivations. When you set up a mystery like this, you have to be carefully aware of how patient an audience will be in waiting for answers, and when they either lose interest or become frustrated as it’s played out passed its welcome. Desmond Hart is beginning to fall into the latter category. In fairness, Fimmel (and all the cast) are given very little to work with and deliver commendable performances, but with such a short run of episodes, I feel Dune: Prophecy is passed the point where it can salvage any meaningful climax that the audience will be invested in.

2 / 5 from the Screen Scribe.

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