By Clay Thompson | Arts and Life Intern
As of Friday, one of the year’s most hotly controversial and debated shows,”The Rings of Power,” premiered its first two episodes on Amazon Prime. Serving as a prequel TV series to the original “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogy of movies, “The Rings of Power” details the Second Age of Man in the realm of Middle Earth, and introduces the audience to the origin of many familiar, as well as new characters.
Without spoiling the first two episodes of the show, it can say it is visually spectacular. Seeing as it is currently the most expensive show ever made, I expect the visuals and effects to be top-notch, but I was truly blown away by how great the show looked. Even in its first two episodes alone, I caught myself audibly gasping at the beauty of Valinor or the craggy depths of Khazad-dûm. The first two episodes in the series have many wonderful establishing shots, showing off the massive budget of the series and creating truly impressive visual quality on the show.
However, visuals are not what carry a show’s quality in my mind, and so far, that seems to be what Amazon is banking on.
Let me begin with my first critique: the pacing. The second episode does a better job at this, but after watching the first episode of the show, I had no idea what it was going to be about. Being a reader of Tolkien’s work regarding Middle Earth, I had an idea, but I never would have found it out from the show. There are several plot points introduced that are supposed connect to each other or have some meaning, but it really just felt disjointed and very fast-paced. Exactly what you don’t want from a pilot episode of a show.
Secondly, I don’t love the acting or writing. Shouldn’t I feel for the characters? Getting emotionally invested and caring about their journeys? From Galadriel being an arrogant lone wolf to the absolutely wooden portrayal of the elf Arondir, I felt the first two episodes should have, at least, shown the audience some glimpse of what their character arcs would be, but if there was any hint of them, I did not see it. As far as the first two episodes go, they should be building up their protagonists. Sure, show the audience their flaws, but don’t let that be all they see. I don’t really care for any of the main characters so far, except for maybe the human character Bronwyn, played by Nazanin Boniadi. She is the only actor I commend for a decent performance.
Overall, the first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” are a mixed bag for me. The visuals are amazing, but that does not excuse bad acting and writing from establishing compelling main characters. There is always room for improvement, seeing as there are six more episodes of the first season to be released, but I’m getting a bad feeling from the two-episode premiere of the show. Aside from arguments about casting diversity or Amazon temporarily pausing reviews for the show, choosing to value visual style over character and story substance is a misstep that I hope this show can avoid for its future episodes this season.
