*Warning!
Spoilers Ahead!*
I can still recall the excitement when my mother first introduced me to Tolkien’s The Hobbit—that treasure of a first line, riddles in the dark with Gollum, the dragon Smaug, our favorite wizard Gandalf, and this bedeviling ring that would capture the imagination of Western fantasy for ages. I grew up in the age of animated Tolkien movies, and even today still find “Down, Down to Goblin Town” catchy. Easily my favorite scene in this era of Lord of the Rings is when Éowyn slays the Witch-King of Angmar (although kid self thought he was ridiculous cool, up there with the likes of Darth Vader). The series was an utter success at creating a memorable story that would stick with me for decades.
| Look how cool I am! - Return of the King 1980 |
I was enraptured with Peter Jackson’s
later adaptations. The bar was set high for any succession to Tolkien’s work,
especially when Amazon announced a TV series based around the lesser-known Silmarillion
material. As a newcomer to this age of Middle Earth, I waited with trepidation
for the first trailer to drop.
Now as we all know, sometimes the
trailer is better than the show. However, it was clear from the start that this
was a teaser with nothing to tease. There was nothing particularly compelling
at stake, especially when everyone knows how it all works out in the Third Age.
I regret to report that this lack
of particularly compelling characters ultimately makes “The Rings of
Power” a lackluster fantasy series, its only saving grace the star power that names
like Galadriel and Elrond have. Frankly, I was bored. As others have voiced, for a series titled
“The Rings of Power,” the first season fails to convey the scale and
grandeur of crafting rings that would grant Galadriel and Co. unparalleled authority.
Let’s appreciate the good. The
story arch of Elrond’s deep friendship with Durin and Disa under duress by the
animosity between their peoples is by far and large the high point of the
season. The dwarven society was interesting and the actors made me care about
them. Seriously, the rest of the elves were as bland as cardboard, but Robert
Aramayo as Elrond pulled off the bantering chemistry with Owain Arthur’s Durin
so well that I somewhat cared if The Tree was failing.
I also thought Charlie Vickers as
Sauron in hiding did the best with the lines he had, but again, he was paired
up with meanderingly dull plot lines and didn’t have strong actors to play off.
Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel was distant and unrelatable, Isildur and Elendil were
a big letdown, and the entire Harfoot plotline with the Stranger was painful to
watch. Arondir as the obligatory ass-kicking elf was cool and I think Adar
could have been used much earlier to create a sense of menace. Númenor,
visually a feast for the eyes, but a yawn-fest in terms of plot, could
really benefit from taking some notes from A Song of Fire and Ice and The
Wheel of Time when it comes to court intrigue (or simply from Tolkien
himself—who could ever forget how much fun King Théoden and Steward Denethor
were to watch?)
Overall, the season would have
benefited from a more focused plot tied around the challenges of crafting the
rings themselves. There is maybe one episode dedicated to this, which makes it
look like Sauron is a patient instructor walking the elves through how to make
the best homemade bread. Using little known actors can be extremely effective (just
see the Harry Potter trio’s breakout performances), but if they can’t convince the audience to care for them, it becomes just another generic fantasy no matter
how big Tolkien’s name is. The Rings of Power has stunning imagery and a
clear love for the world; now it needs to find its captivation factor.
