My one-word review: Disappointing.
Detailed review for Season 1 (This review is written after the Season 1 finale and while Season 2 is being filmed):
In a show called ‘Rings of Power’, a show supposedly about the forging of the great rings, the plot around the creation of the rings and their maker, Celebrimbor, is sidelined until the last episode of Season 1, so if you’re looking to watch this show to see the forging of a few rings, you only need to watch episode 8. Everything else is essentially filler.
I would not recommend this series if you’re a fan of Tolkien’s written works or if you’re a fan of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy - there are so many blatantly ripped off moments and references taken from Jackson’s LOTR trilogy that you might as well watch those movies instead of this series (or you might as well read the books).
Finally, to drive home just how absolutely garbage the Rings of Power is without any spoilers, the first season of George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, started and ended roughly the same time as Rings of Power, a Lord of the Rings prequel.
House of the Dragon (HoTD) started off at a disadvantage because the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones was so horrendous that people stopped talking about GoT and nobody wants to rewatch it. Rings of Power started off in a middling-to-strong position because it was coming off of Peter Jackson’s mediocre Hobbit movies and nostalgia for Jackson’s LOTR trilogy.
Now both first seasons have come to an end, and the tables have turned: House of the Dragon has slowly earned back enough of the fanbase’s goodwill that it’s considered “tolerable” to “likable” by most and people are talking about it (once again, GoT is inescapable in pop culture and casual conversation), while Rings of Power is almost universally despised and not talked about unless it is to meme it.
If you’re STILL determined to watch Rings of Power, then all I can say is only watch the first 3 episodes of Rings of Power (3 hours) and then watch the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring (3 hours), and then tell me which 3 hours felt better spent.
You'll also have your answer to if you want to continue watching RoP or not because TV shows tend to put their best foot forward by throwing the most effort and money into their first few episodes to hook you and draw you in, and the quality is usually consistent or downhill from there.