The LOTR series' second season is improved but still flawed.

After mixed feelings about the first season, it took me awhile to get around to watching the second season. Overall I thought the show was much improved. It appealed to both myself (who has only ever seen the movies) and my son (a huge LOTR fan who has dived deep into the lore). But it wasn't without its flaws.

Lord of the Rings

In the first season, the construction of the show's eponymous rings felt like an afterthought. Here it's front and center, as it should be. The scenes between Sauron (Charlie Vickers) and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) are stellar. It's heartbreaking to see Sauron's increasing attempts to manipulate, isolate, and gaslight poor Celebrimbor. That makes it all the more poignant and tragic when Celebrimbor finally fights back. Edwards delivers a tremendous performance, and turns Celebrimbor from an extraneous elf to a central, relatable anchor.

Durin's Bane

Durin (Owain Arthur) and his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) were among the standouts of the first season, and they are equally awesome here. You can feel Durin's growing desperation as he sees his father falling more and more under the ring's influence. He's a complex character, trying to balance being a good son with being a good prince and looking out for his people.

I love the relationship between him and Disa. Disa supports but also challenges him, pushing him to do what he needs to do and even swallow his pride. It was awesome to see them standing together to save their kingdom. (Though the show heaps on enough foreboding foreshadowing that even I, a LOTR newbie, can see this isn't going to end well.)

The Siege

The centerpiece of the season was the siege of Eregion. Strategically it's a mess, but dramatically it's perfect. Storylines intersect in a satisfying way, and many characters get big payoff moments in their respective story arcs. The elves put up a heroic, albeit doomed, defense. It really feels like an Empire Strikes Back level low point for the characters, and that works great.

I really love the friendship between Elrond and Galadriel. He really steps into his own this season, while Galadriel is deservedly humbled. We see her struggle and fail, but that actually makes her a more well-rounded and less obnoxious character.

Not All That Glitters

Despite those high points, the show still suffers from some maddening flaws.

Maybe the whole Nori/Stranger storyline is building up to something, but it has been utterly disconnected from the rest of the show for two full seasons now. It's really quite jarring to go from epic sieges and political backstabbing to the Stranger having tea with Tom Bombadil. I was also disappointed that they revealed the Stranger to be Gandalf. My son thinks it would have been far more interesting if they'd made him the Blue Wizard. I don't really know who that is, but I think it would have been far more interesting if they'd made him literally anybody other than Gandalf. Why work so hard at the mystery box if you're just going to go with the painfully obvious answer that everyone guessed from the first teaser trailer?

The Numenor storyline was a little better, but still frustrating. It's trying to be "Game of Thrones Lite", and it just doesn't work. Queen Miriel is bafflingly passive. I like Captain Elendil, but it doesn't seem like he has any actual goal or plan. Everyone else in the city is horrible.

So many of the scenes were too dark. Not thematically, but literally. I turned the brightness up on my TV and still couldn't see what was going on sometimes. I get the desire for gritty filmmaking, but come on!

I'll still give the show props for having a plethora of female characters in different kinds of roles, even if many of them took a back seat this season.

My main issue with the show, though, is that there are too many side plots and characters. Jamming so much into every season dilutes the narrative, keeps us from really getting to know the characters, and makes it genuinely hard to follow. We're two seasons in, and I keep having to look up Arundir's name because he barely interacts with anyone and nobody ever says it. I still don't know the names of most of the characters in the Numenor story. I just call them things like "Isildor's sister", "King Jerkface", "Blind Queen"... it's really not great character development. When there's the exchange between Celebrimbor and the elven lady smith (paraphrased):

"What's your name?"
"You don't know my name?"

I feel you, Celebrimbor. I feel you. (I don't know her name either.)

Ratings

• Princess Power:
• Overall:
• Bechdel Test: Fail (technically there's Nori/Poppy, but they're such a minor part of the show that I'm going to fail it overall)

Learn about my Ratings System.