‘The Rings of Power’ Season One Was Beautiful, Big, & Amateurish

Let’s take a look at how The Rings of Power season one shaped up.

Well, that’s it. The Rings of Power’ season one is over. We got some big explosions and some major revels along the way. It was, at times, a devisive ride. Now that we’ve seen the whole thing, it’s time to take a look at the season as a whole and if it delivered on its promise and premise.

The Most Beautiful Show Around

via Amazon

Right off the bat, The Rings of Power Season One is one of the most beautiful shows ever made. It might be THE best-looking show of all time. Even matched up against blockbuster movies this show looked good. You can argue that on a subjective level you or someone else doesn’t like its look. However, I think it’s really impossible to say it’s not a technically great-looking show.

via Amazon

It’s not even limited just to big sweeping shots. Nor is it limited to amazing CGI. The show has both and is in spades. Multiple massive cities from various cultures are shown. But on top of that, the show delivered also delivered smaller particular effects. The Orcs in particular are amazing looking and super diverse. It’s been great.

The Rings of Power Season One Was Big

via Amazon

The Rings of Power Season One wasn’t just pretty, it was also big and ambitious. Season One tried to do a whole ton. We had four to six major storylines. Galadriel, The Harfoots, The Southlands, Númenor, and the Elves and Dwarfs all have their own, though intertwining plots. Each plotline comes with its own host of characters and issues and conflicts. It’s a bit sprawling and really introduces a whole world.

But It’s a Bit Messy

The Rings of Power Season One large scope is also one of its weaknesses. The show is trying to do a lot and introduce a ton of characters. As a result, you jump around a lot and it can feel hard to focus on anything. In addition, the show is drawing from a lot of different stories. The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age and is supposed to adapt stories from it. But it also drew some major plots from the Frist Age and the Third Age (both the Balrog and Wizards-related events are Third Age).  Some plot points feel rushed. The creation of the Rings and the Celebrimbor/Sauron collab, one of the major events of the 2nd Age, got about 15 minutes on screen.

The Rings of Power Season One Was a Bit Amateurish

via Amazon

If there was one thing that really held back The Rings of Power season one is it just all felt a little… amateurish. This shouldn’t really be surprising. It is a show from a newish studio, made on a scale never seen before. Its showrunners have never done anything like this before. While the production had plenty of experienced people involved, many of them at the top are doing something like this for the first time.

That amateurish feeling kept cropping up and made The Rings of Power Season One fall flat of being really great. There are times when it seems scenes are missing. The pacing often seems off. A lot of the emotional beats don’t really hit me. These are things that it feels like more experienced runners could have avoided, but the show didn’t.

Let us know what you thought about The Rings of Power Season One down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.