There's also a lot of characters introduced and to be fair I still don't remember some of their names, like healer lady from the Southlands arc.
That's "Bronwyn," you cultural swine!
But since I'm on the Southlands, I think it's perhaps the weakest arc. It has some of the most interesting concepts (e.g. Adar), but I never really bought the Bronwyn/Arondir 'thing.' Heck, if I'm shipping stuff, GaladrielxHalbrand FTW!
Also, stop with the random Slo-Mo shots. Slo-Mo has a purpose, but a slo-mo shot of a guy on a boat or Gadariel riding her horse isn't needed and just slows things down, even more then they already are.
Ah yes, that horse scene...
Yeah, I have no idea what the director was going for there.
-The elves on the boat in episode 1. That boat has no seats. They presumably just stood there for days waiting to reach the big heaven portal. I know it looks cool but I'm pretty sure a couple of benches would have been appreciated because I'm sure elves sit down at times.
I assume there was a lower deck?
-The "Elves are gonna take our jorbs" thing felt super out of place. It's been a long time since I read the Silmarillion but it doesn't sound like something Tolkien would write and just feels very anachronistic. This is Tolkien, not Fritz Lang, guys.
I've seen this complaint before, but I don't get it. It's a complaint coming from the Numenorean equivalent of Average Joe, and Average Joe is going to be concerned about average things. So when you have a race that's 'better' than you in most ways, then yes, I can see that concern being translated.
That being said, there's something I never really got about the Numenor tensions. Extensive reference is made to "the old ways" that have since been abandoned for generations, but we don't really get any insight into how those ways operated, or how the Numenor of the show has changed from the Numenor of old bar being more isolationist (and elves are isolationist in general, so if anything, Numenor seems to be becoming more elf-like). And yes, from a thematic standpoint, I get it - Numenor is not!Atlantis, it's falling into 'sin,' even before Sauron corrupts Pharazon, but even so...
Also it doesn't help that how split Numenor is seems to deviate with the plot - Elendil tells Galadriel that "some" Numenoreans still follow the old ways, but as soon as Miriel sends out the call, everyone seems to want to play hero. So which is it?
-So the Mt Doom thing is very cool looking, but Its annoying how it's set up. So the big creepy key opens a dam which floods the valley below which then dumps water into the volcano and then......causes a Catastrophic nuclear winter type eruption that turns the Southlands into a the Death Land of Morder in a couple of weeks. The Volcano thing I can roll with, it's the whole "Dumping water into volcano causes catastrophic eruption that forever alters the land" thing I'm having a hard time buying, because while I'm not a geologist, I'm pretty sure that's not how volcanoes work. At best you'd probably get a ton of steam before all the water would boil off and then slow to a trickle as the water above the dam was expended, and even a catastrophic eruption should last maybe a couple days.
I'm also left to wonder how Adar's orcs were able to dig all those trenches without being detected ahead of time.
Also, the no. of orcs under Adar's command seems to vary in accordance with the plot (first it's an army that can take the Southlands, but then 500 Numenoreans can beat them in a simple skirmish, so...)
Otherwise I rather enjoyed the show even if it missteps at times and runs a bit slower then I'd like. Ir's also a bit fond of it's mystery boxes, considering how many "mysterous strangers who could be sauron" show up in season 1. The fact this is setup to what I presume is the defeat of Sauron and Isildur taking the one ring(and then failing to dump it back in Mount Doom) helps me tolerate the slow parts.
I think the reveal as to who Sauron was is handled excellently. Not only does it fit the theme/motif of evil wearing a fair face, but the hints are definitely there throughout the entire piece.
