Joel S Pattison

As a serious Tolkien fan, I was concerned about the pacing and writing of this show after the trailers, but was impressed by the first two episodes. Given the huge interpretive challenge posed by adapting the Silmarillion and Akallabeth, the writers have done an admirable job in setting the tone for the Second Age of Middle Earth, with a feeling of loss, beauty, and creeping uncertainty about the return of Evil. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, the music is evocative, and the series feels Tolkienesque. I was also pleasantly surprised by the writing, and by the performances, esp. Clark, Aramayo, and Henry. Generally the casting is very good, and if the pacing is, at times, deliberate, that's in keeping with the ambitions of the series (and Tolkien's own prose, of course). One concern I have is the difficulty of condensing the events of the late Second Age into a six season series-- that will greatly accelerate the action and I'm not sure how or whether the writers will pull it off. Is there room to improve? Sure. Will I keep watching? Absolutely.