Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' Prequel Ends Season One. What Did You Think?

Friday Amazon released the season finale for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But Amazon's 8-episode first season "might have been best known for its extravagant price tag," jokes the Los Angeles Times. It ultimately cost $700 million — making it the most expensive TV show ever — and they note one viewer's assessment that "Visually, it's great. All the money in production shows..." (The Times' critic called it "visibly expensive.")

Can you tell me if the show is good or bad? The premier attracted 25 million viewers on its first day, a new record for the streaming service, according to The Times. It's no wonder that a long-gestating TV show based on the mythology behind a beloved fantasy series has received mixed reviews from audiences. Critics have been more positive according to review aggregation websites.

And CNN is a little less charitable: After initial reviews admired the scope and visual grandeur, though, more critical voices have drifted into the naysaying column, pointing out — as the Daily Telegraph's Duncan Lay put it — that the series "managed to be both pretentious and boring." Forbes' Erik Kain sounded a similar note, writing that after the opening chapters, "The Rings of Power" has demonstrated "how quickly a badly written TV series can wear out its welcome once the shimmer fades."

But there's also this from Business Insider: Creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay promise that if viewers were disappointed with season one's story because they expected more Sauron, then they'll dig the second season, which started filming earlier this month. "There may well be viewers who are like, 'This is the story we were hoping to get in season one!,'" McKay told The Hollywood Reporter. "In season two, we're giving it to them."
Indeed, this season accomplished "the hard work of setting up who all those characters are," Amazon Studios head told Variety — possibly hinting again at that surprise reveal of Sauron in the season finale.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show's creators have high hopes for the second season. There is a place where Satan is a really compelling character. Who is Galadriel? is the first question of the season. She came from where? What happened to her? Payne wants to know why she is driving. In the second season, we're doing the same thing. All the missing pieces will be filled in by us. Sauron can now be called Sauron. It was like Tony Soprano or Walter White. He's evil but complex. He would overshadow everything else if we did that. The Dark Knight is the next movie and the first season is similar to Batman Begins.