And all I can say is that I'm underwhelmed. It's not great, but it's not terrible. I'd almost prefer it was bad over mediocre. I'll dive into the details of where I felt it was weakest, but first let's start with the highlights.
In every scene, you can feel the billion-dollar budget. Everything looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous. Lindon, the frozen wastes, the harfoot village, etc. While some people who came of age with the Jackson films may find the differences in the elves and dwarves designs jarring, I don't. I appreciate that they had the boldness to step out and do something different, regardless of whether or not that was a legal requirement due to rights situations.
However, the writing and screenplay was very hit or miss for me. The best parts of the show were those that logically flowed into one another. Galadriel, returning from her aborted quest to pursue Sauron to the ends of the earth, introduces us to Elrond, who then serves as the vessel to introduce us to Gil-Galad. Gil-Galad then serves to introduce the audience to Celebrimbor via Elrond. Their discussions and planning provide the impetus for Elrond to go to Moria, where we first see the dwarves and meet the fantastic duo of Durin and Disa. Here, the narrative is natural and the character choices drive the story, introducing us to new members of the ensemble cast.
Galadriels journey is a disjointed contrivance after contrivance. Rather than a wise, farsighted badass, we get an obsessive half-wit continuing the pursuit despite any useful evidence. She is obviously going to end up in Numenor (which we knew from leaks anyways). So, instead of simply sailing directly to Numenor, we're to understand she survives jumping into the middle of the ocean, is found by shipwrecked survivors, is lost at sea again only to be rescued at least two more times by an increasingly smaller group of survivors, followed by one last rescue by (spoiler warning) Elendil.
How many one-in-a-million chances is that? Is this supposed to be credited to Eru, or merely lazy writing? If you want to get her to Numenor, why not just have her commandeer a ship to travel there directly in defiance of Gil-Galads command? I just don't see the need for any of this.
Next, the Harfoots. I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would, but many of these sequences went on far too long. I feel like this subplot stole time away from Tar-Harad, which is supposed to be the source of dread and tension in these episodes. Besides, if Meteor Man ends up as Gandalf...
Tar-Harad: Very underdeveloped so far. I don't care about the villagers here, so the sight of a destroyed village nearby did absolutely nothing for me. Nothing was done to make me care about the forbidden love story between Arondir and Bronwyn, so I don't feel for them. Thus far, Theo is annoying. The magical sword... wtf? The sequence at the end showed off some nice horror, but it was far too clean.
Next, little things that bothered me:
The elvish garrison watching over Tar-Harad: Are we supposed to feel like their vigil over these people is unjustified? Because it is not working: I actively dislike these people for being filthy, dirty jerks to one another. If anything, the narrative so far has made me distrust them.
Time and Distance don't seem to mean anything: Celebrimbor and Elrond talk about going to Moria, then are shown outside its gates wearing the same clothes. Why not have them change clothes to show they had to travel more than a little bit? Or ride horses? Perhaps give Celebrimbor a small entourage, so we're not left with the impression he is walking back home by himself?
Gil-Galad announces these are days of peace. Almost immediately, in the far-off land of Tar-Harad, the elves pack up and go home. That is some fast communication, don't you think?
Already, I feel like things are happening yet nothing is happening. These are days of peace, yet when the lunatic who has been searching for evil is pressured to depart, signs immediately portend that evil is returning. This is one of the things that worried me when I learned about the compressed timeline.
Long story short, 6/10.
