The inner editor in me can’t help but notice when scenes can be cut without impacting the plot, and there were a lot of those even in the first two episodes. Did we really need to meet a boatload of castaways just to see them die in the next scene, or a rock-breaking competition which the characters then ignore?

I liked a lot of scenes as well. The conversation on the lift right after the rock breaking was wonderful! There’s just so much filler already, I had trouble staying focused on what was going on and my girlfriend fell asleep in the middle of one episode.

The biggest issue however is the way this is plotted and edited. It feels very much like many other Big Dumb Shows. I’m talking Foundation, Westworld, His Dark Materials. They all seem to throw out a bunch of loosely connected characters and have them wander around until plot happens to them while the viewer flies from one meandering scene to the next, often by map. Maybe something will happen to these characters, maybe they meet. Will they? Who knows, apparently not the show.

Hopefully this show has a destination in mind. I’ll keep watching for now, but I’m not going to expect greatness.

Also, to address the controversy: don’t think I didn’t notice how wrong some of the characters look. I get that it’s an adaptation and not strictly adhering to Tolkien’s vision, but characters like Durin’s wife take me completely out of the world; JRR would be spinning in his grave if he knew that the world would one day be forced to behold a clean shaven Dwarf.

😉