HIS DARK MATERIALS
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
This fantasy series keeps advancing its plot each week in a way that makes it more intriguing – but to this point, while such performers as Lin-Manuel Miranda finally have elbowed their way into the spotlight, there’s still a lot of preamble here. And they’re ambling through this preamble, at no deliberate speed. On a weak TV night, it’s still the most attractive option… but that’s grading, atb this point, on a fairly steep curve.