TV Review: The Rings of Power SEASON 2

RINGS OF POWER Season Two was something that I was looking forward to watching but not for probably the best of reasons. No, I was going to watch Rings of Power's second season because I thought season one was one of the stupidest things I'd ever seen in my life. I didn't hate it despite the above descriptor, but I thought it was massively dumbed down from The Return of the King's appendices let alone The Silmarillion. Worse, the original additions to the narrative and presentation of characters were just at a vastly lower quality than the material around it. I won't even comment on the fact the primary relationship in the story was Galadriel developing feelings for Sauron-in-disguise.

It was crap.

But it was entertaining crap.

Not everyone may agree with me on this assessment, but I found the show to be a three-star program that happens to be surrounded by a five-star story almost everyone knows. It was journeyman work that had massive amounts being spent on both its budget as well as licensing.

There was a lot to laugh at, but I didn't hold that against the show and was eager to get into the sequel. So, what did I think? Well, the answer is that it's better and that is to the season's detriment.

Season Two is a remarkable improvement over Season One in terms of storytelling, things happening, and having a good plotline (Celebrimbor and Sauron working to make the Rings of Power) to center things around. Yes, the Rings of Power are showing up in a show titled around them. There are some good bits that may have been hokey but were fun like Sauron being betrayed by the orcs when he revealed how much contempt he held them in, Sauron becoming Venom (long story), and the slow realization by Celebrimbor of just how completely he'd been used.

However, this is kind of the problem as the removal of the goofiest and dumbest elements of the show just makes it less distinctive. The works lows are lessened but the lack of the goofiness of season one means that it just is less memorable overall. Say what you will about turning Galadriel into Xena Warrior Princess and her colossal mistake after mistake, but it was always watchable, even when it was her doing something stupid. Here, she barely feels like she's in the show. Which is a shame because Morfydd Clark is always watchable even when her Galadriel is doing something stupid like starting a war.

The best part of Season Two is the handling of the forging of the Rings of Power. I wouldn't have done it the way the show did but the descent of Celebrimbor into madness is something I enjoyed watching. I also like how they don't attempt to portray Sauron sympathetically this time around but go into the full display of what an utter bastard he is. Even the girl you think he'll use as a Galadriel substitute is someone he horribly betrays, which seems a good counterpoint to all the Galadriel/Sauron shipping.

The dwarves of Moria are also well done even if the seven rings for the dwarven kings shouldn't be corruptive until Sauron has forged the One Ring.

The worst part of Season Two is the Stranger's plotline and the harfoots (hobbits) that are wholly removed from the larger plotline. The Stranger is revealed to be Gandalf very early, if it wasn't abundantly obvious before it became clear Halbrand was Sauron, but the show continues to act like this is unconfirmed. He has an encounter with a character that's supposed to be Tom Bombadil but who acts like a Blue Wizard and the Dark Wizard who is a fallen Blue Wizard.

There's also a desert-dwelling clan of harfoots that only increases how annoyingly the not-hobbits are written. There was a controversy over the character of Adar the Orcfather and the characterization of orcs in the show with some fans objecting to the idea the creatures aren't pure evil. This is a debate even at EPIC INDIE BOOKS as an article on them suggests that they should always be irredeemable monsters. I don’t have a problem with Adar or the orcs not wanting to be war because the corrupted elves is meant to be a tragedy. Even if they can't be saved and must be killed (which is a big if once Sauron is defeated), Tolkien would be the sort of guy who would think it's a terrible thing rather than making them cannon fodder to exalt in the slaying of.

Besides, at least Adar has an actual story arc.

In conclusion, it's better in technical terms but not as much fun. The first season provided a bunch of Mystery Science Theater 3000 mockability to Tolkien fans. Here, the inaccuracies are less egregious but there's just nothing worth writing home about either. The writing remains bland, the story remains far from Tolkiens, and it is incredibly obvious that Amazon wants this to be as like Peter Jackson's movies as possible without understanding what made those great.

You should probably give it a pass.