TV Review: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER: Season 1, Episodes 1-2 [Prime Video]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power A Shadow of the Past and Adrift

Prime Video‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 1: A Shadow of the Past and Episode 2: Adrift TV Show Review.

Fans of fantasy in general, and of Tolkien in particular, will find the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power off to a rousing start.

The writers who penned this adaptation, J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, teamed up with impressively eclectic colleagues in terms of experience: Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), Jason Cahill (Fringe, The Sopranos), and Justin Doble (Stranger Things, Cloverfield). They cobbled the plot from backstories in the “The Lord of the Rings” novels, and more importantly perhaps, from its appendices.

This latest streaming series of the Rings collection intends to encompass the events of both the Second and Third Ages, thus joining Peter Jackson’s two epic film trilogies, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, with forging of the Rings of Power central to this one.

The plot launches at the beginning of the Second Age. (The First Age embodies Tolkien’s ‘creation myth.’) As a frame of reference, Sauron has displaced his master, Morgoth, as the Enemy. This is especially notable because the first line spoken in the series is taken from Gandalf’s direct quote in the novel, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’: “Nothing is evil in the beginning.” In the book, however, he finished with: “Even Sauron was not so” — according to this reviewer, an important (but not crucial) thematic point omitted.

Shadow of the Past

The primary thread in A Shadow of the Past introduces the peoples of Middle-Earth in olden times, focusing on the major players later battling in the War of the Rings: Young Galadriel and Elrond for the Elves; for the Dwarves, Durin III and his wife, Dís; the human Bronwyn, a woman healer in a Southlands village; Arondir, the Elvish watch-warden protecting (and surveilling) the village, inhabited by descendants of Morgoth’s allies; various members of a Harfoot community representing the Hobbits. (Tolkien purists might grumble at negligible liberties taken here with surnames, Brandyfoot v. Brandybuck, for example, and so on.) And there is Celebrimbor himself, of course, the Elvensmith who will forge the Rings of Power, who takes Elrond as his apprentice for this purpose at the insistence of the Elvenking Gil-galad.

Adrift

The second episode, Adrift, moves the plot along pretty much as expected. A new character gets introduced: a bearded man, thus far unnamed, falling to earth on a fireball. To those of us familiar with the books, it seems an appearance fitting for one of the five Ishtari — that is, the wizards. Credited only as the “Old Man,” I’d bet dollars-to-donuts this dude turns out to be Gandalf himself, more so because two adventurous Harfoots, Nori and Poppy, rescue the Old Man from the pile of burning ash and nurture him to health. This would account for Gandalf’s signature fondness for (and special understanding of) Halflings later in the series. Gil-galad, appearing more hopeful than wise, dismisses the growing evidence of Sauron’s revival, but Galadriel does not; she declines immortality, navigates the Sundering Seas, and returns to Middle-Earth.

Not surprisingly, according to the producers, the events are said to be condensed. Even so, the pacing and exposition are brisk and dynamic in equal parts; the dialog is quite good; the performances expertly complement the action. The special effects are outstanding, on par with the two feature film trilogies. The remarkable sequence in which Galadriel refuses passage into the Undying Lands at the last minute bears special mention. Bear McCreary (House of Cards, et al.) puts another notch in his belt with a terrific score, along with some lyrical tribute to Oscar winner Howard Shore.

The overall narrative approach in The Rings of Power results in a well-balanced story, action to exposition, very carefully constructed according to the exacting criteria given by Tolkien scholars and the Tolkien Estate, Ltd. Six more installments for Season 1 are forthcoming. Based on the production so far, this opus promises to be a winner right out of the gate — for fans of the genre at the very least, but possibly engendering more fans of the Oxford professor’s written masterpiece.

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