Chris M

I really wanted to love this series. I didn’t mind the first two episodes, I liked the look of it, I loved the diversity of the cast and was intrigued by the set up of some of the more mysterious plot elements. My optimism and excitement carried me through the first few episodes and I was able to look past some some of the initial red flags (mostly Galadriel based) thinking these would be worked out as the series matured, but gradually the realisation has dawned on me… this is not a good series… in fact…. ‘sigh’…. I think it might be a bit awful…. it has truly atrocious script writing and character development, the whole series, whilst looking very pretty, is riddled with characters you don’t care about saying and doing absurd or boring things. Considering how much money was spent on it, the terrible script is unforgivable. My issue is not with the departure from Tolkien lore, I could embrace that if I were given a compelling story with multi-faceted characters- but this is a toe-curling watch- clunky, cliched dialogue, lead characters always miraculously pulled from danger using some lazy deus ex machina , nonsensical plot lines (wafting mithril at trees to heal them, a band of harfoots singing about unity and overcoming hardship together whilst inexplicably abandoning anyone ill or injured, leaving them behind to die) and mad time jumps (the Numenor army seemingly riding the same distance overnight that the fellowship travelled in months) and each episode offering more questions than answers to the mysteries it presents make this a frustrating and disappointing watch. My patience and good will has been eroded and I can no longer subject myself to this life less, love less, laughter less nonsense. Thankfully it looks like House of the Dragon has just started to come good as my faith in Rings of Power ran out