RINGS OF POWER Season Two was something that I was looking forward to watching but not for probably the best of reasons. No, I was going to watch Rings of Power’s second season because I thought season one was one of the stupidest things I’d ever seen in my life. I didn’t hate it despite the above descriptor, but I thought it was massively dumbed down from The Return of the King’s appendices let alone The Silmarillion. Worse, the original additions to the narrative and presentation of characters were just at a vastly lower quality than the material around it. I won’t even comment on the fact the primary relationship in the story was Galadriel developing feelings for Sauron-in-disguise.
It was crap.
But it was entertaining crap.
Not everyone may agree with me on this assessment, but I found the show to be a three-star program that happens to be surrounded by a five-star story almost everyone knows. It was journeyman work that had massive amounts being spent on both its budget as well as licensing.
There was a lot to laugh at, but I didn’t hold that against the show and was eager to get into the sequel. So, what did I think? Well, the answer is that it’s better and that is to the season’s detriment.
Season Two is a remarkable improvement over Season One in terms of storytelling, things happening, and having a good plotline (Celebrimbor and Sauron working to make the Rings of Power) to center things around. Yes, the Rings of Power are showing up in a show titled around them. There are some good bits that may have been hokey but were fun like Sauron being betrayed by the orcs when he revealed how much contempt he held them in, Sauron becoming Venom (long story), and the slow realization by Celebrimbor of just how completely he’d been used.
However, this is kind of the problem as the removal of the goofiest and dumbest elements of the show just makes it less distinctive. The works lows are lessened but the lack of the goofiness of season one means that it just is less memorable overall. Say what you will about turning Galadriel into Xena Warrior Princess and her colossal mistake after mistake, but it was always watchable, even when it was her doing something stupid. Here, she barely feels like she’s in the show. Which is a shame because Morfydd Clark is always watchable even when her Galadriel is doing something stupid like starting a war.