Annelise Melander

I’ll start with the good: • Visuals were usually quite nice. I really liked some of the environments, especially Lindon. • I liked the depiction of Elrond as a young elf, doing his best but still inexperienced. • Occasionally Galadriel’s quiet intensity showed through, and you could see the beginnings of the Galadriel we know and love. The actress did very well with what she was given. • I actually quite enjoyed the Harfoots and their quaintness. And now for the Bad: • Pacing is very off, especially in the beginning. • Characterization is inconsistent, some relationships/motives are told rather than shown, motives and prejudices are grossly overexaggerated so that they can make extra sure the audience gets it. • Main character was generally unlikable. • Storylines seemed disjointed/unconnected. • Costumes looked both cheap and impractical (why are there huge, chunky adornments on chainmail worn in a frozen wasteland?!) The cheapness of the costumes is especially apparent next to the expensive sets. • Occasionally the over-the-top CGI just resulted in things looking fake and ungrounded. • General lack of internal consistency. In summery the show is ok if you ignore how completely different it is from the source material, but the lack of actual storytelling made it unengaging for me. The biggest weakness is the focus on grandeur over subtlety. The quiet scenes between characters are few and far between, everything is overexaggerated, the world/characters seem ungrounded. The Bronwyn/Arondir storyline is completely boring because they have no chemistry whatsoever. At one point I took a break for two minutes and then didn’t come back because I genuinely forgot that I had been watching the show. I’m not sure if having read the Silmarillion was a hinderance or a help to me because there were so many moments were I went “What? That makes no sense!” because it contradicted the established lore, but also I feel like I at least had some context for what they were trying to do. The show looks good and has some nice moments but generally it just felt meh.