The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – A Shadow of the Past/Adrift Review

Say what you will about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the new massively epic from Prime Video, but my god if this isn’t the most visually stunning television series I have ever seen. The cynic in me says, “Well, it better be – the all-in cost for the series is around $1 billion, so it better look good.” But it’s more than that. Yes, you can see the money pouring out of every nook and cranny – from the sweeping New Zealand vistas, the stunning sets, the spectacular costumes and make-up, and the gorgeous score from Bear McCreary (with a theme song from the Lord of the Rings trilogy composer Howard Shore) – this is a series that looks better than anything else on television. And, as someone who often laments how darkly shaded many of our fantasy and sci-series are shot (looking at you, House of the Dragon), it’s also incredibly refreshing to be able to see this expansive cast of characters as they struggle to comprehend the growing threat to Middle Earth – and not squint at the screen trying to discern just what is happening.

But that’s all well and good – it looks great, it sounds great, and the color contrast means you can actually see the action. But what of the story? Well, with the caveat that you really can’t tell all that much from the first two episodes of what will become an expansive epic story, I found “A Shadow of the Past” and “Adrift” a bit of a mixed bag from a story perspective. The series knows that fans of the film trilogy – or those, like me, who watched the six films and read the four main novels (“The Hobbit” as well as “The Lord of the Rings”), but never ventured into the appendices or any other piece of Tolkien writing about Middle Earth – will be most curious about characters like Elrond (Robert Aramayo, who captures both Elrond’s keen mind and charming nature), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, given the nearly impossible task of living up to Cate Blanchett’s performance and managing to absolutely hit it out of the park thus far), and the Dwarves (thus far, Prince Durin IV is taking on the Gimli role – complete with the delightful interplay with Elrond – there’s nothing like some fun Elf-Dwarf banter). And, it’s not that surprising, these were the elements of the first two episodes that resonated the most with me from a story perspective.

Clark’s Galadriel is strong, stubborn, and just mysterious enough to keep the audience on their toes. Yes, we know that she and Elrond will survive all the trials and tribulations to come – such is the weakness of telling a prequel story, but it doesn’t have to be a killing blow in a series such as this if the writers are quick to make us care about the characters we know less about as well as those of their own invention – but she was far and away the most interesting character in the premiere. Her story started to falter a bit when she was sent off on her ill-fated journey into the sea – the Men are, unsurprisingly, the least interesting part of the series thus far, although I suspect that might change once Isildur appears on the game board – but it’s intriguing to watch this less controlled, far more emotional construct of the character we know will emerge years in the future. Similarly, Elrond’s character development is also interesting to watch. A politician who is unwilling to ruffle feathers at this stage in the game, we’re starting to see the emergence of the stoicism that will mark his dealings with the Fellowship – and his daughter – while still seeing the youth of this leader to be. His relationship with Durin is particularly intriguing – we know that the Dwarves will be decimated in the years to come, and the question of how Elrond will see that occur and stand aside is one the series will likely come to at some future season.* But for now, watching the interactions between two slow to trust factions is fascinating.

*As I said, I haven’t read the appendices or the “Silmarillion” – or any other text this series might be pulling from. So, while these reviews will discuss the series as a whole – and may reference things from “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” – I’m not going to be digging deep into any source material. I’m treating this series as something that stands on its own, apart from Tolkien’s texts. Getting too far into the weeds comparing similarities and pointing out errors will detract from reviewing the story they’re telling – and I know this isn’t going to track nicely with the source material based on some things I’ve read. So, if you’re looking for a review that lines the television series up against the Tolkien stories, this isn’t it.

And then there are the Harfoots. Yeah, out of all the elements within the series thus far, this is the one that isn’t really working all that well for me. While I know the Harfoots are precursors to the Hobbits, this portion of the story just feels a bit too much like the series is trying to capture the magic of the Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings while not taking the time to show us the uniqueness of the Harfoots. Again, this may change as the series continues, but thrusting what appears to be the human manifestation of Sauron into this part of the storyline also doesn’t have the same impact as it would have had if The Stranger had been placed in the world of Men or Elves. The Harfoots also lack the complexities of the storylines seen in the other races within the story – trying to avoid wolves and Men and remain unseen doesn’t hit as hard as the Elves squabbling with the Men or the Dwarves trying to decide if they wish to lock themselves away or keep themselves open to alliances with other races in light of the recent declaration of peace. Interpersonal conflict between tribes of characters is always richer than minor squabbles between underdeveloped characters – which might be why the Harfoots just aren’t doing it for me as of yet. But as of now, the story would work just as well – perhaps even better – if it were more focused on the other three key races of Middle Earth – the ones that we know will survive and thrive well into the future.

That all being said, I’m more than interested enough to come back for more tales from the Second Age of Middle Earth. Even if the story peters out and falls apart – unlikely, but always a risk – the visual spectacle is more than enough to keep me happy and enraptured. Prime desperately needed The Rings of Power to work to save the streaming network from its own doom. It’s not quite time to declare it a hit yet, but boy is it better than I ever dreamed it could be.