The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: Season 2 (Amazon Prime)

I feel like this series would go down better if all the episodes were dropped at once. It is far too slow-paced to be released on a weekly basis. And I LOVE the show! But the episodes are always overlong, and the ending is always unsatisfying. This would work better as a season-length binge.

Galadriel starts off the episode lacking both credibility and capital. And Elrond is spectacularly unforgiving of that. But she spends the rest of the episode building up her cache and goodwill with the Elves. Elrond saying Galadriel sacrificed herself for the Ring is not the whole truth. Because if she did, that means the Elven Rings are sinister, and secretly forged by Sauron. But the fact that she willingly gave it to Elrond without a second thought proves that is not what is going on. Been awhile since I read The Lord Of The Rings, and I only slogged through the Silmarillion once as a teenager (who was a glutton for punishment). I don't remember if the Elven Rings were corrupt or not. Galadriel giving one up so easily says they were not.

The Ents are a truly wonderous race of beings. They almost always start out antagonistic, but truly virtuous people like Arondil can talk them down and get them on their side.

Not many opinions from me about the Harfoots and Stoors and the Dark Wizard. I am in wait-and-see mode there.

I'm glad Theo sort of made up to Arondil, but I think the kid actually owed him a real apology.

I love that Estrid is busted immediately, and the show isn't gonna dick us around for episodes on end. Honestly, that would have pissed me off.

Finally, we get to Tom Bombadil and the Stranger. We are all certain the Stranger is a young(er) Gandalf, and if that is so, I feel a little uncomfortable with Bombadil being his Jedi Master. Gandalf was singularly unique among the Wizards in fighting on behalf of the races of Middle-Earth, and despite Bombadil being a jolly fellow, I got the sense he gave less than two shits about the political situation around him. Very early on in The Fellowship Of The Ring, giving the One Ring to Bombadil is seriously considered. He is the only being we've ever seen who is unaffected by it. But the reason against doing it is that Bombadil wouldn't care about it, and would easily lose track of it, or lose interest in the mission of destroying it in Mount Doom. And while that is the dominant facet of Bombadil's jolliness in the books, I don't like the show having him confound Gandalf with supposed wisdom, when ultimately Gandalf is far wiser and more righteous than Bombadil could ever hope to be.

Yes, Gandalf COULD be corrupted by the Ring like a normal person. But he actually GIVES a damn, which is why I don't like seeing a flaky dude like Bombadil being his Sage. For any other character it might have worked. Not for Gandalf though. Not remotely.

The episode starts, goes on for an hour and a few minutes, and just stops. I do believe the series would be better served to be viewed as a whole for this reason. 3 1/2 stars.

The Kemen cat is the biggest little shit ever shown in Middle-Earth. He sucks so much he belongs in Game Of Thrones. The worst thing about his sociopathic evil is it's clearly working against the King building support. I get the king is a shithead too, but he's not actually stupid, and Kemen clearly is.

We saw the alliance between Adar and Galadriel coming, didn't we? Properly built up.

I wish I believed Prince Durin when he told Muriel he would never wear one of the Rings. But I don't.

The thing that bugs me about Celebrimbor is he seems to KNOW Sauron is manipulating him. And let's him anyways. It's annoying.

I think this was a legit weak episode. I hate to say it, but once the show became ABOUT the Rings of the Power, it's become a LOT less interesting. 2 1/2 stars.