Amazon Prime’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” was always going to be a gamble for the streaming service. The company spent around $465 million on the series according to James Hibberd in an article by the Hollywood Reporter in April 2021, quickly making it the most expensive television show ever made. That’s an egregious amount of money to spend on name value and assumptions. Yet, the company’s inclinations paid off, and the show became Amazon Prime’s biggest debut for a series. The quality of the show justifies the hefty price tag, but the first episode of what might become a $1 billion original series according to a September 2022 Forbes article written by Paul Tassi is not without its flaws. 

The first episode of “The Rings of Power” is a beautifully shot introductory episode. The set designs are gorgeous and intricate. Valinor, a land that includes the land of the elves, is an expansive, bright land that contrasts perfectly with the land of Middle Earth but Middle Earth is not without its charm. The beautiful landscapes of New Zealand once again have a starring role. The bars and houses feel cozy yet haphazard. The harfoot encampment is joyfully made, with their grass-roofed tents and homes popping from the ground. The makeup and costuming are equally detailed, with each character feeling separate from the masses: an easy pitfall considering how simple it would have been to reuse character designs. 

The design is by far the best aspect of the episode, but the acting here is also deserving of praise. Even though this episode only served the purpose of dumping exposition on the audience (something almost every television show fumbles with), the actors were able to wield their dialogue naturally and imbed emotion into even the clunkiest of dialogue. Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) and Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir) are standouts in the episode. Clark can wordlessly convey her character’s inner-conflict and bring a strength to the vengeful warrior. Cruz Córdova perfectly embodies his character’s stoicism in the face of blooming feelings, bringing a complexity to the elf. 

However, the first episode is not without its weaknesses. The dialogue and pacing are the biggest problems I have with the show so far. The dialogue can feel awkward and unnecessary at points. This is especially apparent in scenes where the action is motivated by dialogue. Take for example the scene where Arondir talks to the watch warden about the humans they look over. Instead of subtly suggesting that humans will return to evil, the watch warden instead explicitly talks about his discontent with the humans he watches and professes that elves are superior to humans. It’s difficult to believe the contradictory idea that elves are both stoic and loudly egotistical, especially when it would be just as easy to write in scenes where the watch warden and other elves look down upon the humans as they walk past. While the dialogue isn’t always clunky, its occasional weaknesses can cause the scene to buckle under its weight. 

While the dialogue is a weakness, the pacing is most definitely the worst part of the episode. The episode wants to juggle as much as possible, but the multiple storylines only seek to bog the episode down. It’s easy to forget where one storyline left off when you return to it, and it’s often difficult to recognize when you’ve entered a new subplot. It can become disorienting and take away from the rest of the scene. This could improve as the story goes on, and I for one hold out hope that this is a symptom of being an introductory episode. 

“The Rings of Power” is not perfect, but it was never going to be perfect. For what it’s worth, this expensive venture into Middle Earth leaves a lot to look forward to.

Ranking (1-10): 7

My Life is Worse Having Seen This

At Least They Turned on the Camera

Not as Bad as Morbius

Almost Bearable

Hey, It’s a Movie

Not Bad, Not Bad

I Actually Liked That

At Least an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

Yummy Oscar Bait

Is that Citizen Kane Over There?

Article by Zoey Mueller