Shadow and Flame

Strong 7/10 - this is a challenging show to rate because what's good is _very_ good but many of the storylines are uninteresting and poorly executed.

Overall this season had some excellent Sauron/Annatar material, with Galadriel, Adar, and Celebrimbor as excellent foils/mirrors. All four performances were great, and this storyline has a satisfying conclusion in this finale.

The Dwarves storyline was also satisfying (though to a lesser degree.) I think the actors struggle with the greenscreens and with the stiffly written material.

Unfortunately most other stories were short-shrifted by the abbreviated episode count and accelerated pace. Arondir, the Stranger, Nori, Isildur, and Elrond all felt like afterthoughts and the conclusions to their storylines felt unearned and abrupt.

And then there's the worst part of this show: all the humans. The Numenor scenes have been irredeemable for the entirety of the series. They feel like high school theater instead of a billion-dollar prestige TV show. Uninteresting and momentum-killing.

Just finished season 2, after a rewatch of season 1, the trilogy and the hobbit, I have also found myself re reading the books (not done yet)! The series will never be as good as the first 3 films, nothing will be... there are the best movies of our time, timeless, carefully crafted works of art, not even the Hobbit trilogy was close as good as it's predecessor, and it was made by PJ, he could not even best himself!

With that said, I think we are attaching ourselves to much to the past without giving new things a chance, I am as polluted with the bad comments and the hate for this series as anyone else. But I actually thank the series and the creators for returning me to middle earth and turning that fan flame on again, I have enjoyed the trilogies , the books , the hobbit as the first time I watched them! So yes , the series is not as great as the other stuff, AGAIN NOTHING WILL BE! But we are back in Middle Earth , and that for me is priceless !

Last 4 episodes of season 2 are very good! I think there is a lot of potential for this series if we see them as an individual !

So if you are a Tolkien fan, or a PJ fan or just a LOTR fan, sit back , enjoy and rewatch or read whatever got you here in the first place !

Galadriel a unique actress of your very own, set amongst idyllic private gardens. This is the key to success doggedly, or rather craftly, the series go a game of shadows endless determination by everyone involved to a high class acting play perfomances the series thing straight. Originality for computer graphics and motion camera tricks, and the script, by Galadriel, she is my favourite with everyone who embrace the delighted acting played will linger long after you leave. In the most painterly the lavish visual palette of for the rural settings, for the battle scenes. Admirations to all cast & crew from Lachezar.!?

I know that most of the LotR fans are still hating and they will continue to do so. I am a very steady LotR fan too, but I am also eager to feed myself with this series too, as it is something that I really expected for so long and it seems, for me, that I am nourished with the feeling that RoP explains in such a lovely way, in a visual way, what I have read all the time through Tolkien's books.

I know that this is not of the grandeur of the most-acclaimed trilogy, but this episode just caresses my soul and makes me wait with a great warmth in my heart for the next season. I was smiling and gasped through so many moments in this season finale, that I really am thankful I can relive this Middle Earth fantasy story with such great actors and such a fine combination of visual almost eye-gasm.

Please, the writers and show runners need to focus on what works, Sauron being evil and manipulative, Galadriel being a bad ass, Elrond and Gil-Galad adding elvish wisdom, The Dwarves under the mountains and The Stranger and the The halflings discovering the magic of middle-earth.

The best things about this episode were the opening scene in kazad-dum and the scene with Gandalf and Bombadil.

The second season is a huge improvement on the first. They are doing something right.

But there's still the same issues from season one sprinkled throughout, feelings of clunkiness, bad editing, not great dialogue and just a lot of waiting. A lot of nothing, you can easily fast forward 30 seconds in every scene and you won't miss any dialogue just people staring into the distance.

The action isn't great so you end up noticing the corny dialogue and not caring about alot of side characters who don't need to have so much story time because it ends up just typical B line stories from every show you've ever seen.

They have the greatest source material in the world USE IT and stick to it, focus on what works and let go of what doesn't.

I hope season 3 is even better than season 2!