Reviewing The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Stunning, ambitious, and fiercely appreciative of the lore it draws from, Rings of Power kicks things off with a season that earns its place as part of Middle Earth’s cinematic legacy.
It’s hard to believe that we had to wait for Season One for almost five full years from the moment Amazon bought the rights to produce this show. Everyone’s talked at length about how ridiculously expensive this series has ended up being – they spent over 200 million dollars just to get the rights, and then over 100 million to produce Season One. And when it comes to the rights, they actually got far less than many might expect. See, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was his biggest hit by far, but the time period that this series covers focuses on what happened three thousand years prior. Most of Tolkien’s writings on this time come from his books like The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-Earth, and so on. The showrunners don’t have any of that. So when it comes to what they’re allowed to draw from, they’re literally only allowed to reference things that are mentioned in The Lord of the Rings itself and The Hobbit. If that sounds like a death sentence, the good news is that Tolkien ended off Return of the King with a lengthy “Appendices” section that summarizes a lot of information that ended up being critical to this series. There’ve been moments where this show is clearly departing in some way from Tolkien’s original plans, but for the most part, the showrunners seem committed to honouring, building on, and referencing Tolkien’s writings every step of the way.
There’s been no shortage of criticism for this show, though much of the criticism that I heard about came before the series came out. People had issues with the ethnic diversity of the cast. We’d never seen black dwarves or elves before, let alone dwarf women. Without getting too much into it (though it’s a topic that certainly deserves discussion), I think it’s absolutely silly for people to get up in arms about diversity in fictional storytelling. If you were telling a story about a real person and casting them as a person of a different race, that would be one thing. But none of these characters are real people. So let’s just chill out and move on. Other people have complaints with Amazon itself and the absurd amount of money that was poured into this show – I won’t argue with that, because it is a ludicrous amount of money. And Amazon is a mega-corporation with a bit of a murky story. That said, neither of these points (the diversity or the producing company) impacted my ability to appreciate the story that was being told. People can be selective about what they watch – there’s certain things that I don’t put on my screens, and that’s okay. It’s the people who claim to hate something and then constantly critique every aspect of it every step of the way that make me scratch my head. If you hate it so much…why are you still talking about it?
Okay, let’s talk about what made this show such a blast. First of all, the budget definitely shows throughout the season. Everything is stunning, from the CGI to the props and prosthetics to the score. Even if this had been a garbage story, it would have been one of the best-looking piles of garbage out there. But the storytelling is where the show really kicks off. We get a host of incredible characters – too many to highlight in this review. Galadriel is the stirring heart and soul of the series, her dedication to finding Sauron something that’s easy to get behind. I’ve heard criticism that she’s too unlike her appearance in Jackson’s films, but I found her determination, wisdom, and stark devotion to the light totally in line with the version of her that we’ve seen before. Elrond and Durin’s relationship is a ton of fun, with Durin getting some of the best lines of dialogue in the season. Durin and his wife Disa also have great chemistry, and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. Elendil and Isildur were persons of interest from the moment we learned their names – I have a feeling that the Season Five finale will involve seeing an interpretation of that prologue scene from the Jackson films where they feature prominently. If the prologue of the Jackson films turns out to be the climax of this series, we’re on track for a spectacular blast of a finish. Then there’s Adar as an intriguing villain who challenges our understanding of Orcs, and every single Harfoot is lovable from beginning to end. That said, the season finale thrusts two characters in particular into the spotlight – Halbrand, who turns out to be Sauron himself, and ‘The Stranger’ who turns out to be Gandalf (in all but name, for now anyway). Sauron’s deception was a delicious gut-punch to figure out, and seeing the hints along the way that pointed to the Stranger’s true identity made his big reveal a really satisfying moment. Both of them no doubt will play massive roles in the seasons ahead, but it can’t be said that they didn’t start strong to begin with.
What I loved most about this season was something that actually drew criticism from others. Some friends of mine felt that the show was frustratingly slow, but I for one loved the show’s patience with getting us into its world before bringing out the big guns. By the time the first major battle sequence happens, we’re so invested in every character that the tension of the entire episode holds firm. The charge of the Numenorean riders was exactly the kind of Lord-of-the-Rings moment that we were all waiting for, and I can’t wait to see where we go next.
This show was the highlight of my week for eight weeks straight. This could have been a train wreck, but it turned out a modern masterpiece. However long we’ll have to wait for Season Two, it will be too long.