Matthew Novak

There is no way around it, this is just a badly written show. I really wanted this to be worth watching, but after feeling like my time was wasted watching the first 7 episodes, i decided to drop it before the finale and i dont regret it. I grew up with Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy, and I’ve watched it more times than i can count. I am by no means a purist or tolkein fundamentalist who thinks any deviation from the books is heretical. The only book i have read is the hobbit, and i knew nothing of the first or second age before watching this. The show is not ALL bad, there are some redeeming factors. For example, durin and elrond are an awesome pair. Their chemistry is entertaining and their friendship feels sincere and honest. This was what initially hooked me in episode 2 as i felt very disappointed with episode 1. Unfortunately, all the momentum built from the introduction of that relationship gets lost by the plot going in circles. My biggest issue with the show is the characters. Most are either unlikeable or uninteresting. With the exception of elrond and durin, many characters are either a complete jerk for no good reason (old papa durin, gil-galad, celebrimbor), or a perfect winner for no good reason (Arondir, Bronwyn). Galadriel actually fits both of these descriptions. She literally spends a lifetime chasing revenge, then scolds a child for rotting his brain thinking of revenge. If you havent watched the show, maybe you think this is an expression of self-awareness from galadriel, but that isn’t the case. She flip flops from savage warrior girl who crushes her enemies with zero effort and revels in their destruction to moral paragon whose conquest is righteous and her pursuits are rooted in some perfect timeless wisdom. She’s a joke of a character and by far the worst offender that I have listed. Characters like Isildur and theo dont quite fit either case i mentioned above, but they suffer from being weak-willed and directionless. This would be completely forgivable if they showed any other meaningful, positive character traits but they dont, so they just come off as whiney and ignorant. Its such a disappointment. When i watch a show or movie, i want to relate to the struggles of the characters. I want to see them hurting, learning, growing, fighting for what’s right and not being afraid to make mistakes along the way. I want characters that i look up to, not characters i look down on. I want the narrative to make me think hard about my beliefs and why i hold them, to make me question my own decisions and aims in an attempt to be better. In this show, characters feel completely detached from reality. Any successes are either dumb luck or forgone conclusions because a character is so powerful. Nothing feels meaningful, and my time feels wasted. The narrative does not make me ask any questions besides, “where the hell is this going, I’ve been sitting here for hours.” All in all, it’s plain disappointing and i hope they make serious changes to their methodology before releasing season 2.