Summary: Galadriel is hunting for Sauron following his defeat in a war that claimed the life of her brother. Her group abandons her since she is defying orders. When she returns to the Elvish capital Lindon, she meets with Elrond who convinces her to accept Gil Galad's reward for her: to return to Valinor. Galadriel ultimately leaves but jumps out of the boat, choosing to stay in Middle-Earth. Gil Galad introduces Elrond to Celebrimbor. Meanwhile, Elanor is a Harfoot hobbit who lives in the forest in a small community. They spot travelers and take it as an omen. A meteor lands from the sky and Elanor sees a man lying in its crater. Elsewhere, Arondir is an elf watching over Tirharad, a town of men who supported Morgoth in the war. He is in love with Bronwyn, a woman who works as a healer. When it's time for the elves to leave, Arondir goes to say goodbye and he sees a cow that is badly sick with some sort of evil. Arondir goes to investigate at a town called Hordern along with Bronwyn and it is burning.
The Good: For a show that's been hyped up as the most expensive show ever made, this absolutely lived up to that expectation. The show looks gorgeous, at times having the same presentation as a movie. The locations, costumes, and cinematography was all excellent. It's exciting to see all of these new locations in Middle-Earth, and they are realized with the same beauty as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies. It does not have the same atmosphere and feel as the Peter Jackson movies, but seeing how long ago this story takes place, it makes sense that the world will look and feel quite different. I was pleased to see that Harfoot hobbits will play a role in this series. It would be easy for the show to get lost in the grandiose acts of the Elves in Middle-Earth's history, but the show would have lost its relatable human element by doing that. So I'm very pleased to see a storyline involving a different community of hobbits, who carry that same sense of whimsical adventure that you feel while following the likes of Frodo and Bilbo. Despite being a prequel, this show does a good job of incorporating world-building in an intriguing and exciting way. I did enjoy most of Galadriel's story. Her revenge story is simple enough to connect with, and I liked seeing how reckless she was due to her determination to accomplish her mission. The character was written consistently well in this first episode, and I think that there is plenty of reasons for us to connect with her and Elrond with how they were presented and how different they felt from the characters that they will become thousands of years in the future. The Bad: The show is effective at making us connect with Elrond and Galadriel on a shallow level, but it does not accomplish more than that. This is a big problem because Galadriel and Elrond are part of just one of the three storylines that are introduced in this episode. The other major characters Elanor, Arondir, and Bronwyn are not compelling at all because they feel too familiar. We have yet another inter-race love story with Arondir and Bronwyn, which is familiar territory. Both characters are also completely uninspiring so far. Elanor is more likeable, but she feels too familiar to Frodo and Bilbo, who were also adventurous hobbits that didn't fit in with everyone else. I'm not interested in either of these storylines right now because the characters are uninteresting. Another reason that those two storylines failed to inspire in this first episode is how stagnant they were. Nothing happened in these stories. No exciting inciting incident, no plot development, and nothing of any note at all. It was a simple introduction that was missing a hook. I know some names and locations now, but I've been given no reason to keep watching. I liked Galadriel overall, but she had some significant problems in this episode. The first, and biggest, is that she feels too powerful to be an effective main character. The way she effortlessly dispatched of an ice troll made it crystal clear that she can solve pretty much any problem without any concern, making any problem presented to her in the course of this series much less interesting. I was interested to see how the ice troll would challenge these elves, but Galadriel killed it so easily, robbing us of any character drama or thrills. It's a moment that feels like it is written to be "empowering", which robs the story of its suspense and drama. I was not happy with that scene. I also did not like Galadriel's decision to stay in Middle-Earth. To be clear, I definitely buy that she would stay. But for her to do so in the middle of the ocean is laughably stupid, and it again makes the character feel too infallible when you consider that she will be able to swim all the way back to Middle Earth without any issue. I'm disappointed that Sauron is going to be the villain again. We've had two trilogies with him already and it's time to move on to somebody more interesting and exciting. Morgoth as a main villain could have shaken things up, but he is only mentioned in passing in this episode, which is a shame. I know a lot of people are going to be angry that the modern world's attempts for diversity will ruin the image of the world Tolkien created. I am not as bothered by this as most people, but I will admit that having a brown-skinned elf with a contemporary hair style was distracting and took me out of the experience of this episode. If there are going to be racially diverse castings, I would like for them to be explained within the world, or else it will break immersion. The Unknown: Where has Sauron gone? Was he in Forodwaith at that old fortress recently, or long ago? What was being done on the dead orcs there? What happened to the cow? What is that black substance? What is going on in the East? Why is Hordern burning? Who burned it down? Was it an attack? What's going on with Sauron's sword that Theo had? How did it get there? What will it do? Who is the guy that crashed from the sky? How will the Harfoots deal with him? Best Moment: Elrond forcing Galadriel to accept her return to Valinor was a great scene, the only emotionally effective moment in the episode. We can understand the perspectives of both characters: Galadriel wants to stay for vengeance, while Elrond is looking at the bigger picture for her sake. Their conflict was well acted and well written. Character of the Episode: Elrond probably. Conclusion: At best, this was an average pilot episode. This introduced things well enough, but it was slow and there was no hook that made me want to keep watching. I am all for slow television, but we needed more excitement in this episode for it to function as an effective pilot. Score: 56
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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