Spontaneous Musings

I found a review that I sort of agree with? (One never quite agrees completely with others reviews, because we see things so differently, at different times, locals, and often venues.)

Here's the NY Times "professional" critic's review on the final episode and takeaways from the series as a whole - it's spoilery, so don't read if you are "avoiding" spoilers. [Also it may or may not be behind a pay-wall.]

I did not read any reviews prior to seeing the series - outside of the blurbs I saw here and there on my DW correspondence list. Also, I watched the series - completely unspoiled, outside of what I had seen in the Jackson films, and my memories of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - which I've not re-read in any form since the 1980s.

So a few caveats:

1.) I am by no means a purist. I've never read nor have any intention of reading any works by Tolkien outside of the ones that I already have, which are : The Hobbit, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King. I find Tolkien kind of grueling after a bit, and I grew tired of the meticulous attention to detail he applied. I did not bother with the appendices, I'm not even sure they were included in the editions that I read or that I was aware of them when I read them.

2.) While I loved The Hobbit, enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, and visited an impressive and extensive exhibition of Tolkien's art, correspondence, journals, work, and scholarship - I am by no means a fan. This means, I have no clue who half of these characters are, and was oblivious to any major changes or alterations from the books. I only know that there were alterations because I found them online after the fact.

I think as is true with most adaptations, if you memories of the source material are rather vague, you'll enjoy them more. Or if you don't care and see it as adaptation - you'll enjoy it more. It is after all called an adaptation for a reason.

**

Review

It is among the better fantasy series that I've seen to date. The characters are compelling, and it answers various lingering questions that I had after seeing the films. It stays, for the most part, true to Jackson's film verse. I don't know how to true it is to the book verse - it didn't jar me any, I didn't notice anything off about the story, but keep in mind the above caveats. I'm casual fan of Tolkien, I'm by no means an obsessive one.

Also, it didn't have some of the problems that I had with Jackson's The Hobbit. This is either because I was more familiar with The Hobbit, or Jackson was more into long-unending battles.

Rings of Power meanders a bit, and takes a while to get to the point. Some might say, too long to get to the point. There is fun to be had along the way, however. There are also more diverse characters in this fantasy series than most. The lead is female, here, and she's a warrior. Adept at battle, and rather powerful. Her weakness is that she's a bit myopic, and too focused on her mission - to the point that she often fails to see what is right in front of her. Galadriel arc is by far the best arc in the series. She is the titular lead in this series - and her arc kind of sits at its center.

The Harfoots, specifically Norie's arc is also satisfying, and I think a good counter-point to Galadriel and the Elves. They both come across "Stranger's" and both save these Strange Men's lives, but with ultimately different results. Norie's approach to the world is a non-violent one, one filled with curiosity, adventure, and boundless optimism, much like her people - who wander from glen to glen, with their homes on their backs.
The Elves are quite the opposite - in part due to their arrogance and vast wealth, and power. They live in idyllic castles, and build cities wherever they go, ruling those around them. Above it all. And Galdarial is exiled at the beginning of the series - because of her determination bordering on obsession to destroy all vestiges of Sauron. In doing so, she comes close to becoming the very enemy she seeks.

These two storylines kind of book-end each other, with the others thrown in between. And the others tend to be more male-centric, Elrond and the Dwarf Prince's friendship - which shows a softer, more humble side to the Elves, albeit, Elrond is half-human, half-elf. The actor playing Elrond isn't quite as strong as Hugo Weaving was in the role, nor as Galadriel portray-er. I also thought the white male elves looked a bit too much alike. This story, in part because of Elrond's rather weak portrayal, takes a while to get into or warm up too. But whomever is playing the Dwarf Prince and his wife, is rather brilliant. They pull you in, and through their performances, I warmed to Elrond. The Dwarves are interesting here - and both are excellent in their roles. They are among my favorite characters, and my opinion, by far the best representation of the Dwarves in the adaptations to date. Although the Hobbit was pretty good for the most part in that respect, this one had the added benefit of adding women to the mix - and showing how powerful they are, also providing a glimpse into the Dwarves daily lives, rituals, and beliefs.

Númenor,- we do get a bit more insight into what is happening there, and why it eventually falls. Elendil and Isildur are introduced, but I kept getting confused because there are a lot of names being thrown about, and a lot of characters. We don't really get much time with this group, and the point of view - is mainly Galadriel, the Queen Regent, and Halbrand's. That may be a weakness, I'm uncertain. If there is a weakness - there's almost too many characters in this story, and a lot of necessary jumping between. It was admittedly a problem I had with Game of Thrones, as well.

[Also I can't remember, pronounce, or spell any of the character's names. I didn't know - for example that the Ship Captain, and Captain of Numenior's Guard was Elendail, or that his son was Isildor (the direct ancestor of Aragon) - until I looked it up online - after I saw the series.]

The humans don't quite fare as well characterization wise as the elves and dwarves and harfoots, possibly because they aren't as interesting to either Tolkien or the show-runners. I don't know. They kind of are - just there for the most part. I did however care about young Theo and his mother Brownywn in the Southlands, as well as Miriel’s - the Queen of Númenor. I got a bit lost with Isildor, Elendial and Elendial's daughter Eärien. They may be a stronger focus in the next season.

Aron has the third major story-thread - with Browyn and Theo, and the people in the Southlands waging a seemingly endless battle with Adair and the Orcs. The origin of the Orcs is revealed, as is some of the workings of Mogorth and Sauron, and where they came from. Aron is the elf in charge of watching the Tower, and the humans living there. He forms a kind of romance with Browyn, and a relationship with her son Theo. When the Orcs, and a meteor shower, descend upon them - along with an odd object associated with Sauron. This arc is suspenseful, but weirdly hard to get into. I'm not quite sure why. The focus is more on Theo than on Aron or Browyn, which may be its mistake - since Theo does some dumb things, and its hard to really get much enamored of him. He becomes attached to the object he's found and goes out of his way to secure it - often putting others in danger as a result.

The story is for the most part, character driven, and the plot does flow from the characters, and things happen - they just don't necessarily happen quickly. I found the first episode a bit on the slow side, but it quickly took off after that. I would state that I agree with the NY Times critic that the episodes may be unnecessarily too long - I felt each drug a bit. But I also felt that way about all of Jackson's films - there seemed to be this necessity to throw everything in there. And a lot of sequences felt repetitive, particularly with the Harfoots, where we had repetitious farewell scenes that went on forever.

There are three intriguing mysteries -

1. What happened to Sauron, and more importantly who is he? (I figured this one out fairly quickly.) It works, it's intriguing, sticks fairly closely to the source material (from what I found of it online), and builds on it in an interesting way furthering various character arcs in the process, also it answers other questions from the books.

2. What is the object that Theo finds and what does it do? Also answered fairly quickly and answers other lingering questions from the films.

3. Who is the Stranger that the Harfoots found? This is kind of answered, and is rather interesting in how it leads to another story.

We do get answers on why and how the rings of power were made, and why the elves were the first. Also, how Modor came about. And the origin of the orcs.

For the most part, the series works on its own merits. The musical score is well done, it has an excellent production value, with far less obvious CJI than Jackson's films, and the performances are stellar. The dialogue is good, not great, but better than most. I liked it better than House of Dragon for example. (House of Dragon, I gave up on, while I continued with this series.) It's well plotted, if the pacing is bit off. And the character arcs work, as does the plot. It just needs better pacing, I think.

Overall rating: a solid B.