Jason Sloan

There's been a lot of negative user reviews lately, but I watched the first two episodes over the weekend, I usually like to get 3 episodes under my belt before I make a final decision, but I wanted to respond to all the negativity. First off, the production quality is on point and fantastic. The wardrobe, set, music are all beautifully done. There are a few familiar characters touched on fans will recognize the names of Elrond and Galadriel if not the faces. However, you could be completely unaware of the events in the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and enjoy the series to this point. There are some new races we haven't seen before they may be precursors to Hobbits and what I believe is one of the 5 Istari (though we don't know which one yet - I'm hoping for Gandalf obviously). The true meaning of returning to Valinor remains a mystery. Apparently you can leave but a return seems to have much more significance and it keeps a parallel to dying and going to heaven that was first illustrated in the Return of the King. This was a little confusing to me as the story opens on Galadriel as a child in Valinor. All in all some good story baselines have been made, we're waiting to have them get tied together. Fantastic production quality, solid performances from the cast. I love it, and I have no idea where the critical reviews are coming from. Remember this is an episodic progression of character development you're not going to have all the answers to who's who and what's what after 2 episodes. Watch, be entertained, the answers will come.