The Rings of Power (season 2)

⭐6.5/10

Boy do I have have some THOUGHTS about this show. I said in my season 1 review that I was happy they were trying to be faithful to the source, and ultimately came away with a positive outlook, and hope that this show could be good in the future. But I would say in the time between seasons, I had mostly negative memories of the show. The nice visuals had faded from legend into myth, and all I was left with was the memories of weak narrative, forgettable characters and terrible writing. 

A few episodes into season 2, and all that came flooding back. I was less forgiving, and honestly wanted to stop watching. The writing in this show is just so inexcusably bad. I feel like I roll my eyes or cringe several times every episode. It's just so lame and hard to stomach. The plot is pretty silly, or at least the motivations seem completely absurd. The pacing constantly feels off, at times feeling breakneck and other times going nowhere. While I can't necessarily point to any bad performances, I sure don't think there are many good ones. I dunno, it's just a bad show on so many fundamental levels of filmmaking. 

I'm not sure if the show got better or if my standards dropped, but things started to shift in the later episodes. I was really drawn to Adar and how he fit into this, and loved his interactions with Galadriel. I totally dug the Anatar arc with he and Celebrimbor. I would say that those four characters in the final few episodes were the only ones to ever make me feel like I was watching a quality TV show. The writing seemed a bit more thoughtful, and the delivery a bit more sharp. I don't think it was perfect, but it made me want to keep coming back at the very least. Honestly, I think it actually just made me feel like I wanted there to be a good version of this show, because they came near to the mark without actually hitting it. 

So that's kinda where I come down on this one. Some terrible episodes to start, but some decent episodes towards the end with a few great scenes spliced in. But again, there were very few arcs that I actually liked. Everything in Numenor was terrible and ought to be washed away. The hobbits with the wizard felt like a waste of time. The dwarves had some interesting ideas, but the execution was maybe the worst of all, often feeling like cut content that they quickly threw back in. The world feels empty, the relationships hollow, and for some reason we kept getting icky fan-servicey cameos like this is a Marvel movie? 

But I also want to focus on a few positives, because this show had a few qualities I liked. Of course it's worth mentioning that this show is gorgeous. It's maybe a little too sparkly and doesn't look real, but I actually think that's okay for Middle-earth. I loved the cities, the scenery, the monsters, the props, the costumes. The music was good too, though I'm starting to think Bear McCreary is a safe choice for a composer that hasn't actually composed something truly memorable. But yeah, the audio-visual is great and the budget clearly evident. 

I also think it's worth mentioning that I do think the creators love Tolkien. I think it's true that they are adapting a story that is difficult, and they are in over their heads, but I never felt they were like, disrespectful or anything. As I said last time, Tolkien is the only fiction I hold truly sacred, the only fandom where I feel like I'd be sensitive in this regard. I think they do their best to capture the spirit of Tolkien, though of course I don't always feel they achieve it. 

So I guess that's it. I've been talking about this show non-stop since the beginning. I still think it's primarily bad, but not so bad where I just had to stop, as was the case with the Witcher. I think they get a few things right. But I don't have faith that this show will succeed as seasons go on, and I will be watching something in the 6-7 range for the next few years. I guess that's okay, the spoiled fan that I am, but it does make me sad that we'll never get proper adaptations of these stories any time soon. I think this show proved that this story is adaptable... Just not easily.