Rings of Power - Season I
🔷 ⚪️ ♦️
No spoiler review
Score 8/10
I admire their dedication to Tolkien's emphasis on the romance of friendship rather than sexual tension. Despite the opportunity for the romantic tropes taken advantage in most other franchises, they maintained the allure of modern characters as well as adding fresh love of humanity through new female characters (who always pass the bechdel test may I say haha) and new characters of color.
Although romance is present, it holds a deep warmth and is not easily taken for granted as the main player as so many other shows do when they are trying to make something cheaply entertaining. Instead, it is presented with fondness, trust, and deep passion, not fleeting glances and first kisses, but deep true bonds. The same is true of friendship. There is nothing lacking in how they present the means of brotherhood and bondage to one another through oath of both word and presence.
Despite the modern plot devices that are not always perfect, there is still a deep sense of continued world building that is extremely impressive given the quantity and quality of the material available. These characters and this world that have so long belonged to Tolkein, are preserved through the imagination and true creation of those who care most deeply for them and all of Tolkien's work.
