Being a die-hard music fan I instantly had the Louis Armstrong song in my head over any links to Moses. Which I always appreciate so I was happy with the line 😅
I just finished Episode 2 last night. Think I pretty much agree with all of Mr. Underhill's comments. I thought the Annatar reveal was fairly well done, which again makes me question why this sort of thing wasn't how they revealed him to begin with. It would have been far more convincing from a plot standpoint than the "random man is such an expert on metallurgy that he's teaching Celebrimbor" version they went with in Season 1. They could have had him work closely with Celebrimbor on developing the 16 lesser rings, and then maybe he gets called away to deal with Adar briefly and Celebrimbor achieves the 3 without his direct involvement.
So far in Season 2, it seems like the the specific writing within each storyline is fine, but the overall narrative choices make little sense. If you start with the premise that Galadriel didn't tell Celebrimbor, what follows is fine. But the narrative decision to have Galadriel conceal Sauron's identity makes little sense. It seems like they are forcing bad plotting to create situations that will give them certain scenes they want to include. This isn't even a critique of how far away from the source material it is (because that ship sailed in Season 1), but the sort of "forced hand" technique they continue to employ sacrifices the inner consistency of reality that Tolkien emphasized as important for any tale and really takes me out of the experience. The visuals and music continue to be great though.
So far in Season 2, it seems like the the specific writing within each storyline is fine, but the overall narrative choices make little sense. If you start with the premise that Galadriel didn't tell Celebrimbor, what follows is fine. But the narrative decision to have Galadriel conceal Sauron's identity makes little sense. It seems like they are forcing bad plotting to create situations that will give them certain scenes they want to include. This isn't even a critique of how far away from the source material it is (because that ship sailed in Season 1), but the sort of "forced hand" technique they continue to employ sacrifices the inner consistency of reality that Tolkien emphasized as important for any tale and really takes me out of the experience. The visuals and music continue to be great though.
Former RAF airfield is new home for Middle Earth(sic)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1l57n0y1lmo
Bovingdon Airfield Studios said it was estimated the second series cost $700m (£533m), with three film units working independently around the country.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1l57n0y1lmo
As for Rings’ ratings, third-party services show a steep drop from the series’ debut season. The spin from Amazon goes like this: Of course the ratings are down, they were so huge last time. There is something to this. Even Prime Video hits like Fallout and The Boys haven’t matched Rings’ season one on a global basis (Fallout did top the show in the U.S.). Amazon says the new season is doing well internationally and is on track to be a Top 5 season for Prime Video.
The company has also said 40 million viewers worldwide have watched at least some of the first three new Rings of Power episodes through the sophomore season’s first 11 days. The company did not make clear, however, how much of the season, or an episode, those 40 million people viewed.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/t ... ings-of-power-1235997632/
I hate all this gatekeeping hate watching negative spin. The figures for season 2 are up on season 1, and according to Variety
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’s first 3-episode premiere becomes @PrimeVideo biggest opening weekend of the year,(764.7m) surpassing The Boys S4 (744.4m) in minutes watched.
Both shows had 3-episode premieres. “
And this bit ? “ The company did not make clear, however, how much of the season, or an episode, those 40 million people viewed.” since when is that a thing ? Do other programmes have to somehow prove that ?
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’s first 3-episode premiere becomes @PrimeVideo biggest opening weekend of the year,(764.7m) surpassing The Boys S4 (744.4m) in minutes watched.
Both shows had 3-episode premieres. “
And this bit ? “ The company did not make clear, however, how much of the season, or an episode, those 40 million people viewed.” since when is that a thing ? Do other programmes have to somehow prove that ?
Trotter wrote:
As for Rings’ ratings, third-party services show a steep drop from the series’ debut season. The spin from Amazon goes like this: Of course the ratings are down, they were so huge last time. There is something to this. Even Prime Video hits like Fallout and The Boys haven’t matched Rings’ season one on a global basis (Fallout did top the show in the U.S.). Amazon says the new season is doing well internationally and is on track to be a Top 5 season for Prime Video.
The company has also said 40 million viewers worldwide have watched at least some of the first three new Rings of Power episodes through the sophomore season’s first 11 days. The company did not make clear, however, how much of the season, or an episode, those 40 million people viewed.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/t ... ings-of-power-1235997632/
Not surprised viewership is down after the absolutely terrible season one. Season two has started better, but there are still some aspects that are pretty hard to stomach.
This adaptation is like a David Day book: nice images but not much on substance.
We will not know very much on viewership until the season is done, but in the US almost all streamed shows are down. This could be economic, or perhaps the lead up to an election.
But one thing is clear, if RoP first three episode of season two are close to what is being reported (c. 550m minutes), then it is sinking fast compared to the 2 episode opening of season one.
A 70% drop off is beyond disastrous. Netflix would not sustain that, they would cancel now and cut their losses. Amazon are however in a more unique position given their retail arm where they will no doubt covert some viewers into sales. That is where Amazon will turn to decide if this show is a success.
But one thing is clear, if RoP first three episode of season two are close to what is being reported (c. 550m minutes), then it is sinking fast compared to the 2 episode opening of season one.
A 70% drop off is beyond disastrous. Netflix would not sustain that, they would cancel now and cut their losses. Amazon are however in a more unique position given their retail arm where they will no doubt covert some viewers into sales. That is where Amazon will turn to decide if this show is a success.
I don’t really care about numbers: how it compares to previous or future seasons, if another Prime show has more viewers…. All I care about :
A) I like it
B) it does well enough for them to do seasons 3-5
C) Bear McCreary keeps doing the music
D) the music keeps on getting releases like we saw with season 1 (vinyl, soundtrack for each episode, etc)
If people don’t like it, why are they watching it? Also, as has been the case with both of PJ’s trilogies, nothing is being ‘ruined’. The words in the books on your (general, non-specified ‘you’) shelves are the same as from the day before it came out, and they’re the same after it’s out. No adaptation will alter the source material.
A) I like it
B) it does well enough for them to do seasons 3-5
C) Bear McCreary keeps doing the music
D) the music keeps on getting releases like we saw with season 1 (vinyl, soundtrack for each episode, etc)
If people don’t like it, why are they watching it? Also, as has been the case with both of PJ’s trilogies, nothing is being ‘ruined’. The words in the books on your (general, non-specified ‘you’) shelves are the same as from the day before it came out, and they’re the same after it’s out. No adaptation will alter the source material.
Scarlet_Sorcerer wrote:
I don’t really care about numbers: how it compares to previous or future seasons, if another Prime show has more viewers…. All I care about :
A) I like it
B) it does well enough for them to do seasons 3-5
C) Bear McCreary keeps doing the music
D) the music keeps on getting releases like we saw with season 1 (vinyl, soundtrack for each episode, etc)
If people don’t like it, why are they watching it? Also, as has been the case with both of PJ’s trilogies, nothing is being ‘ruined’. The words in the books on your (general, non-specified ‘you’) shelves are the same as from the day before it came out, and they’re the same after it’s out. No adaptation will alter the source material.
Immediately above we are talking about viewing figures. Those numbers have nothing to do with our own opinions of the show, rather the broader effect of the first season on the second. Which is a shame because on its own merits the second season does have some very interesting things going on.
That our books remain unchanged has long been my own attitude, and most of us here will not look for a TV show to inform us on Tolkien, but others do, and if it doesn't meet their approval, they will talk about it.
So while you enjoy it, and should be able to say so, and why, those people also should have the same rights. If it upsets anyone, that is on them, not the person saying something they don't like.
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