Rings of Power Season One Review

When I reviewed this on Amazon two years ago, I give it 3/5 stars out of deference to many creative professionals who did their jobs as well as the framework of this show would allow. The departure from Tolkien’s lore, however, was a great disappointment. To a true Tolkien scholar this show deserves zero stars, as the aforementioned problem is a non-starter. But by that logic, how many stars would Peter Jackson have earned?

What Worked: Great credit must be given to the world builders and the concept artists who brought this universe to life on screen. The flyover of Numenor, and the detailed depiction of Khazad-Dum were exceptional, (although the CGI was more like that of a top-notch RPG video game instead of a billion-dollar cinematic experience.) The design of the world was well thought out, honored the lore to my knowledge, and was simply wonderful to experience. The background score composers and musicians also did top notch work. In fact, if you were not paying close attention, the music was so good that it may have fooled you into believing that the stakes of the narrative were actually meaningful. There were also a select few acting performances that were noteworthy.

Sophia Nomvete’s Disa was the only character that I actually liked. She brought levity and humor to the show, and acted in a manner consistent with what LOTR readers and movie viewers would expect from a dwarf princess. Although she does not have the beard that lore implies dwarf women should have, it is plausible that a princess would have different grooming habits than a common dwarf woman.

What needed work: Acting and character development. Nazanin Boniadi’s Bronwyn character also had potential, but her arc fizzled out and proved to be little more than a tease. The rest of the characters, sadly, were lukewarm at best and intolerable at worst. Galadriel for example, is already thousands of years old at the start of the second age; so why is she acting like an angry teenager? The fight scenes...well...if you didn't see how nonsensical they were, good for you; enjoy them. Anyway, I need not reiterate the mountains of criticism that were levied against this show, but you heard it all if you were paying attention. Some critiques were hateful, but most were legitimate.

My biggest issue was the departure from the lore. Not being a scholar of Tolkien lore, I can't nitpick what details are consistent with canon and what are not. So, I’m not going to assume a newfound passion for Arda and start fishing for problems. I respect the scholars’ critiques though, and it is disappointing to learn that so much of the lore has been tampered with. Star Wars canon being twisted into something completely different has been a tough pill to swallow, but I respect those changes as part of the industry, since Star Wars has always been an entertainment property. Tolkien’s work, however, is not an entertainment property; it is a pillar of Western literature and deserves a different level of respect. In all fairness, therefore, it bears mentioning that Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy departed significantly from the written narrative, and his Hobbit trilogy even moreso. More on that below.

Post script/Looking to season two: I have watched the first four episodes of season two and…sigh…just watch some angry youtubers. They may be hateful but they’re not wrong. I have found watching their commentary to be a similar sort of guilty pleasure as watching the show.

So yes, I find myself entertained by this show, kind of how I enjoy McDonald’s French fries. Yes, they are empty calories. Yes, the potatoes are grown with horrible pesticides. Yes, I may find a foreign object that fell into the fryer and is clearly not a piece of potato. (In such instances I dispose of it, purposefully shirking any need for deeper investigation for fear of what I might find, kind of how I avert my gaze from this show’s cringeworthy acting.) Yes, I will unapologetically engage in this guilty pleasure. But just as I acknowledge that the fries are providing no real nourishment, I acknowledge that this show is not providing me with any creative nourishment. And that’s OK in small doses, as it’s just entertainment after all.

But I think that’s the biggest problem with Rings of Power; It’s not the cringe acting, the illogical storytelling, the absurd fight scenes, or even the departure from the lore. It’s the simple fact that Tolkien’s work should not be relegated to entertainment. And I have to wonder if Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, while certainly a cinematic masterpiece, was the first step down this dark path.   

From a very big picture perspective I still have some hope that this series adheres, at least in theory, to the stories of the Silmarillion. For now, however, this show is simply alternative universe fanfiction propped up to palatability by the work of many excellent creative professionals who are doing the best they can within the flawed constraints of the world they are given.