Season 2 - 8 episodes (2024)
Rent The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Patrick McKay, John D. Payne
Starring: Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, Charles Edwards, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Robert Aramayo, Robert Strange, Markella Kavenagh, Daniel Weyman
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer
Plot
Set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both familiar and new characters confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
Verdict
Does the beautiful scenery and last two episode make up for the rest of this season? Not really. The plot dictates what characters do, regardless of how silly it is, and which characters live, despite the improbability. The problem is that the plot boils down to good versus bad with very little nuance. We get so many characters that seem to exist only because they're in the source material, but they lack motivation other than to just exist in this world. For most of the season we spend so little time with the characters and there's so little development, other than pushing the plot forward, that we don't know these characters. We're rooting against Sauron because we're told he's bad. His plan is to take over the world which lacks motivation and creativity. When the plot needs characters to live, they do. When the plot needs characters to act, they do. Unfortunately the plot is no more than to conquer Middle Earth or defend it depending on your side of the river.
Skip it.
Review
Amazon wants that big culturally relevant show like HBO's Game of Thrones. The show certainly has the budget and that cinematic look. It also includes various story lines to give everyone something they might like. The first season was good enough, but I'm watching the second season because I 'might as well' since I saw the first season. This checks the boxes, but I don't really care about the second season because I don't care about the characters. They mostly exist for the overarching plot. This is a show that should be popular, but it lacks the fundamental basics of likable characters with clear personal goals. I had to look up what even happened in the first season. The series has a five year plan, and while season three hasn't been confirmed it seems likely.
 |
| Morfydd Clark plays Galadriel |
To recap Season 1, elf Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is the only one that believes Sauron is still alive despite his defeat. She's scouring Middle Earth for any sign, and she teams up with Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) and eventually they raise an army to take back the Southlands. Elrond (Robert Aramayo) is on a quest to see the dwarves. The dwarves have discovered mithril which could be just the thing the elves need to cement their position in the hierarchy.
Meanwhile in the Southlands elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) is stationed as a sentry, but he notices a growing faction of orcs. The orc attack intersects with Galadriel and Halbrand's army in the Southlands, not before orc captain Adar finds a key, triggers the eruption of Mt. Doom and the Southlands are now christened as Mordor.
We also have the Harfoots, a proto-hobbit species, who come across a stranger, a man that doesn't know who he is and could be Sauron reincarnated. It turns out that the stranger is a blue wizard and the reincarnation of Sauron actually is Halbrand.
This season opens with Sauron (Charlie Vickers) ready to crown himself King of the Orcs, but they don't agree. Sauron has a few tricks ups his sleeve and this fills in the gaps between this moment and the beginning of season one. We're following Sauron on his rise to power. He has to stall so the elves can make plans to stop him, and that's the issue with this show. Sub-plots feel reactive. The plot is built on results first, then trying to figure out how to get there. If an episode needs a dramatic ending, the show forces the characters to produce that. Since Sauron can't be too far ahead of the elves, he has to slow down for no real good reason.
This show does look really good. The landscapes of Middle-earth look great. I love the wide shots, but it's also a marker of how this show is style over substance.
 |
| Charlie Vickers plays Sauron |
My least favorite plot line, and not without plenty of competition, is the Stranger (Daniel Weyman). The first season teased that he might be Sauron. We know he's not, so that narrows it down to Gandolf. I don't think the show would throw in another character. There are already so many characters in this show, but the problem isn't the number. It's that they aren't that interesting. Focusing on just one character could give this energy by building a backstory and the character. Instead this is spread thin. Game of Thrones had a ton of characters, but it used small moments to build them into people with nuanced stories. This show lacks any nuance. We visit the dwarves, but I think that's just because they were in season one and the show doesn't want to abandon them. I kept wondering what they added to the plot. Despite all the characters, the story boils down to Sauron scheming. He wants to use the rings for control.
 |
| Ismael Cruz Córdova, Morfydd Clark, Benjamin Walker, Robert Aramayo play Arondir, Galadriel, Gil-galad, Elrond |
Since characters do things for the sake of the plot and not because they have an inner motivation, it makes me think I don't know what's happening because I don't understand the why. While I see what's happening on screen, I don't know the characters' goals. There motivation extends only as far as the next scene to push the plot forward. I know Elrond (Robert Aramayo) is worried about the rings, but what is he doing about it? The Stranger wanders in the desert because we have to keep him around until we reveal what everyone likely already knows. Characters don't have traits, they have names.
The concept is that Sauron is evil, tempting others to seek power through deceit and greed, corrupting them. It's not a new concept, but there's a lot you could do with it in this setting but you would have to focus on interpersonal relationships and this show is too big and broad for that as it tries to keep track of everyone.
This picks up towards the end, but it's an endurance test to get there. Battles are always fun, but part of what helps this battle at Eregion is that we stay on one story line for more than five minutes. For most of this season the show is bouncing around due to so many characters. I like the last two episodes, but it's not worth watching the prior six to get to that point. Both seasons have given us a lot of runway that's too long. While it all comes together at the end, it's a challenge to get there.
No comments :
Post a Comment