The Rings of Power – Season 1 Review

The first season of The Rings of Power is behind us. It failed to meet fan expectations. However, it did manage to trigger a wave of criticism and negative viewer feedback like perhaps no other series before it. Distinguishing between deserved criticism and just loud noise is difficult these days.

Amazon took on a massive project. They spent a record-breaking amount of resources and hoped for the best. However, they ran into fans who know how to fight for their passion and are sensitive when things aren't as they expected. I get it. I know the feeling. Satisfying a die-hard fan is sometimes impossible. When things change – they complain; when things are exactly like the source material – they complain that the work is unoriginal. It's a lose-lose situation. Moreover, Tolkien holds a unique position in pop culture. He has influenced the lives of several generations. But at Amazon, they decided to borrow only a piece of him and believed they could fill in the gaps their own way. Bold! But I don't understand why they entrusted all of this to writers without experience or vision.

A Good Start

The first three episodes didn't start off badly at all. We were introduced to an old, different, yet familiar Middle-earth. A host of new and old characters in new contexts were introduced. We explored the unique visual style sketched by the illustrations of John Howe and Alan Lee, which Peter Jackson perfected in his two trilogies. We got a glimpse into places we only knew from fragments and hints. In principle, it worked.

But then the introductions ended, the creators had to rely on their own strength, and suddenly it became painfully obvious that they couldn't even come close to measuring up to Tolkien (who can, anyway?). They started changing and adding things insensitively, speculating, and in the end, everything fell apart even more epically than Sauron's tower in The Return of the King.

A Screenwriting Dragon Desert

Imagine how many people work on a production like this. Today, the credits are often longer than the film itself. It's a wonder that among this crowd, not one person said: "This is nonsense, let's do it better, we have enough money for it." But the writers probably thought it was more reasonable to ditch logic, interesting dialogue, or the philosophy of the source material. Most of the main characters lose their depth, their motivations are strange, and the words coming out of their mouths are confusing. Not even decent acting performances can save that.

Somewhere in the middle of the season, it dawned on me that I might be torturing myself for nothing. I'm not watching a cult adaptation of a cult work that will change my life. I'm just watching a series… Eventually, I caught myself having a heretical thought – is it my problem that I love Tolkien's work so much that I can't enjoy this with a clear conscience? I understand, however, that this is the wrong approach.

Jackson's films are far from perfect. They left out or changed quite a few things. I remember well how many people were hissing back then. But in the end, the fandom accepted them because love and respect for the source material radiated from them. Jackson himself often said that whenever he was in a tight spot, a simple thing always saved him: going back to the text of the books. Amazon, on the other hand, entrusted everything to writers who probably thought today's consumer wouldn't think about the logic of the plot and scenes. Wrong!

Beauty Hidden in a Pile of Manure

When you shovel all that away and your headache from all those regular facepalms subsides, you'll find plenty of nice things in the first season. They clearly saved a lot on writers and directors, so there were enough resources left to make everything look beautiful. Few series today have such an expansive production. Truly a joy to behold. A strong whiff of Middle-earth often flashes across the screen. The atmosphere regularly works very well, and tension and mystery are skillfully built. You can even believe some of the characters and watch their development with satisfaction. Even that Galadriel doesn't turn out to be just an arrogant harpy blindly chasing revenge.

The Dwarves Are to Blame for Everything!

The clear best storyline of the entire series is the friendship between Durin and Elrond. It's beautiful to see that when you dial back the vain attempt to create something epic at any cost, it can work. Here, the simple Tolkien truth surfaces: friendship and love always win. But immediately after, the plot involving Mithril comes along, and you're back to shaking your head in disbelief at the screen. Why?!

The straightforward, almost naive "hobbit" pathos also worked for me, which fits into the later small-town nature and kindness of the Shire. In the end, even Sauron's reveal worked, even though it didn't get as much attention as it deserved. It's surprising that there was room for drivel like "The sea is always right." :)

The Rings of Power will only satisfy a fan of Middle-earth and its history with difficulty. It's hard to say if it would even be possible. Even if you approach this work with a truly open mind, you're still left with a strange aftertaste of disappointment and indignation. Especially when any fool on Reddit writing on their phone in the bathroom comes up with better plots and dialogue. Hopefully, the creators will learn a lesson from this and understand that they must approach this brand with more respect. They certainly have the potential for it. Unless some major production intervention occurs, we have seven more seasons to go. All that's left is to hope. So far, we've only gotten a very average (and at times, severely below-average) fantasy series. But I'm curious to see what happens next.

author Karel Krajča