Your one sentence, "Something is simply off", rounds this show off very nicely.
However your assessment "of all the fantasy babble feels tailor-made to true fans of the LotR franchise - it's not made for people like me". As a true LotR fan myself, it isn't made for us in any way, shape or form.
It's truly horrible writing as if a grade school child wrote it, (not to offend any children with writing ambitions here), and even the showrunners declaring this as a Tolkien, Lord of the Rings show is an abomination and sickening to even equate this as such. Tolkien's masterpiece of the mythos of Middle Earth should in no way be connected to this monstrosity albeit a couple familiar names and locations.
As you come to the conclusion, "it's not made for people like me, who aren't true fans of the LotR franchise", and considering my conviction that this is Not made for the true fans of Tolkien's works, it begs the question, "Who is this mess really made for?!?
@tropolite Interesting. I always had the feeling that my limited knowledge of the LotR universe saved me from all the disappointment that inevitably comes with a TV adaptation of books. I can't even tell how well the show follows Tolkien's ideas. And it's simply not important from my point of view. But I also assumed that fans of the franchise really liked all the details, foreshadowing, name-dropping, references and items only true fans will recognize and appreciate. Sad to hear that I was wrong.
PS: it's not a mess when you invest that much money. That's just not possible. You can still enjoy all the landscapes, costumes etc . Even if this show has not yet met my or your expectation, keep in mind that most shows have a weak season one. It's not hopeless.
@tropolite Please don't pretend like you're speaking for every Tolkien fan in the world. You're speaking on your own, personal, behalf. That's it.
@alexlimberg Not all Tolkien fans are extremist purists. The show's gotten a lot of flak simply for being produced by Amazon, or having dark-skinned people in it even. There's a lot of politics surrounding the review-bombing and negative attention. None of it has anything to do with the actual story it's telling though.
@tropolite As a LOTR fan, I wouldn't agree. I like it. I don't love it - yet, but it has potential to become something great. The books will still be there. This is a different thing and some of us can actually separate the two and enjoy them both.
@Alexander von Limberg Well I, having read most of Tolkiens material and most of those multiple times, would probably count as a Tolkien fan but the writing, especially the dialogue, doesn't even come close Tolkien's style. In terms of content or story there have been so many changes that there isn't much foreshadowing either.
So yeah... to those watching for the reason to find something familiar, this isn't the show either, I would say.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2022-09-16T08:46:58Z— updated 2022-09-18T19:48:34Z
I have a bit of a mixed opinion about the show. It still looks nice. Perhaps a bit too clean (does Bronwyn really always looks like she's about to attend the Met Gala? All other peasants are wearing rags and she's sporting a clean and sexy dress. Really?). But that's apparently where the budget went to. I feel that they neglected characters and stories though. They jump from location to location but I'm not sure we learn all that much character-wise. And the best described character Galadriel is strange. I would even call her a bit childish and immature. Isn't she supposed to be wise, composed and clever? Although I know very little of the LotR lore, I always thought the elves don't behave like humble humans (the worst example of this was of course last episode's Baywatch-horse scene). I mean, I get it: the first season is used to introduce the various locations and characters. Given the sheer number of different locations and people that's a monumental task already and in this snail speed they need more episodes to create believable characters. Thus, I'm afraid, most time of the remainder of this season will also be allotted to this rather boring introduction. And boring it is: all the character building via dialogue is mediocre. Plus, over the course of the first season, they want us to show the slowly growing threat to this mostly very peaceful world. So they can't have too much action w/o the stakes having reached existential levels. I'm okay with that. They should take all the time needed to have a credible climax later, but surely this is another factor why this episode doesn't feel exciting.
Something is simply off. I watch this episode and I profoundly enjoy the locations, costumes, props, wigs and make-up, but the story just passes by. I don't really care too much. Why should I pay attention? It's very one-dimensional and very black and white. You know exactly who is good and who is bad and who will forge alliances with whom (after some initial reluctance). There's still some mysterious aspects left (primarily surrounding the orcs, their handler and the comet guy), but it's not really important to pay attention: Orcs are bad, the comet guy is good and he will help the elves and their allies eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if the essential parts of season one's story can be summarized in one short paragraph. And all the fantasy babble feels tailor-made to true fans of the LotR franchise - it's not made for people like me. It's just a bit dull and unsophisticated story telling with unnecessary pathos and it's way too dragged out. Tbh, this is totally in line with the movies in the LotR franchise.