My First Impressions of "The Rings of Power," Episodes 1 and 2

Briana | Pages Unbound

Sep 2

No Spoilers in This Section!

A few days ago, I posted about why I was finally excited to watch Amazon's adaptation of Middle-earth's Second Age, The Rings of Power, after being skeptical for so long. But now that I have actually watched the first two episodes, I'm not really sure what I think. Definitely a lot of the plot and characters are made up, and at times it seems obvious (as in, it doesn't feel like something Tolkien would have written). But I don't hate the show either, and all the fears that the show would be some horrific affront to Tolkien and his work seem a little overblown. Mostly I feel neutral at this point, and that's disappointing.

The first episode took a while to get going, and while it's definitely pretty and most of the actors are great, this installment probably suffered from how much background information it had to get through and how many characters there are. I didn't love the prologue, which seemed to want to cover a lot of The Silmarillion without actually getting into any details about The Silmarillion. I understand this is likely a combination of the studio not having the rights to discuss some events and of wanting to get through things on a basic level so people unfamiliar with the plot could follow, but I still felt underwhelmed by it. However, there was some decent imagery, and you can tell the writers are trying hard to work with what they have.

I decided to keep watching because, frankly, the first episode of a lot of shows leave something to be desired. I think the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a snooze fest, for instance, but the show as a whole is great! So I kept up my optimism for episode two.

It did deliver, a little. The second episode made me more invested in the characters, as I saw more of them, and I got more invested in the plot. To be fair, the general plot of the series *as a whole* still seems unclear besides "Galadriel thinks Sauron is coming back, and he probably is," but I got invested in what some of the characters are doing in their own little plot lines, and the writers seem to have a thing for ending on cliffhangers to keep viewers hooked.

My only real issue is that I'm not feeling as if I'm sucked into Middle-earth. The show certainly looks like Middle-earth. The scenery is beautiful. I want to go live in Lindon now. But I don't know about the story, even if I haven't quite pinpointed why. Is it the dialogue? The plot? The places where the show deviates from Tolkien? I want to give the show more of a chance to see if it can grab me, but I'm disappointed my general feelings are, "This show is okay, but I don't know if I would rewatch it for fun or go out of my way to recommend anyone else watch it."

Spoilers!

Here are some random thoughts I have about some details in the show so far:

I don't know that the Harfoots as a whole are doing anything in particular in the show (i.e. that they're "necessary"), but I've decided I kind of love Poppy, who doesn't want to be adventurous or take risks but does so for love of her friend. She wants to pretend she's not a good person sometimes, but she is. And she has a hidden sense of wonder.
I think the Galadriel plot line is causing a lot of issues. Like with the writers having Gil-galad send her and the other Elves to Valinor. (Uh, why is this his decision?) And then the weird portrayal of the journey to Valinor itself. I thought it seemed like Valinor was already outside the circles of the earth due to the magical protective cloud wall and the light that seems to assume people into it, but I don't know if that's what the writers were going for.
Durin and Disa are very fun. I want to see more of them.
I don't love Arondir as much as other people seem to. He comes across as rather stiff to me.
It's so awkward everyone just calls Finrod Galadriel's brother all the time, instead of his name.
Celebrimor seems promising as a character. I like his story about Morgoth and the Silmarils, even if it isn't canon.