Cherry-Picking the Good Parts

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I have to second, third, fiftee... nthise... ?!? Sorry, my English has failed me here... the sunlight and the Orcs. Yes, going over the top and capitalising it, actually a great plot device, making the Orcs more distinct - because after all, what would they be otherwise than just ugly men?

And the Uruk-Hai lover that I am and always have been, I so much appreciate this portrayal of the "inferior", pre-Saruman Orcs, who cannot even be in the sun! (And I like to think that given how far in the past we are, maybe these are even "less evolved" and take the sun worse than their Third Age versions. Maybe by the time of LotR, even the basic Orcs can be in the sun without totally dying - they have some years of Dark Power-enhanced evolution for that. But the Uruk-hai, now there is a pinnacle of Making [as opposed to Creation, see what I did there] and always shall be!)
Compare to PJ, who sometimes half-heartedly ran along with it in LotR, but by the time of the Hobbit at the latest he stopped giving a damn and his Orcs can stroll in the sun and not even notice.

So for all the Uruk-lovers in the world, and all Orc-lovers in general I guess, well done!

***

As we delve deeper into the Harfoot culture, I like (even though with some reservations) the more sinister aspect of it, ie leaving others behind. It gives them sort of a rough edge that balances out all the merry poppy fluffy stuff we expect and know also from the sedentary Hobbits. (But then, perhaps this is a way to show the hidden rough edge of the Hobbits, too - thinking of the Scouring of the Shire.)

At the same time, the memorial service is amazing. And I still love the entire "worldbuilding" of the Harfoot culture the more we learn about it, the migrations, the way of camouflaging even their vehicles, etc.

***

Míriel's headdresses. They are just beautiful and I'd wear all of that.

***

And yes, definitely happy to see more of the "trees vs. cutting down living things" theme. I feel like it should be an automatic thing, something to inherently Tolkien, but it is certainly something done right.

[Galadriel55]

Faithfully adding to this thread (so that, maybe, if all the things here were combined into a single episode, it would actually make a good movie):

• Numenor anthem song: firstly, that there is one, and secondly, the lyrics are actually appropriate - a land created in the Sundring Sea for mortals, the Land of the Star, etc.
• The Harfeet Walking Song: and in particular the "not all who wander are lost" reference.

[Formendacil]

A comment on Facebook mixed with my latest stream-of-thoughts in the Episode VI thread has made me realise that I think RoP's writers have spent a lot of time absorbing the Tolkienian ideas: I really like their decisions to include things like the origin of orks (and what this says about them morally), Light and Shadow, the clash of understanding that comes from immortals and mortals interacting, the political tug-of-war and insularity of the King's Men vs. the Faithful. There's a lot of Tolkien in this sort of stuff--more so, I think, than the PJ movies ever invented. It's pretty much never expressed in a plot or dialogue I would call Tolkienian, but it's still there to be recognised.

[Gil-Galad]

I concur with most of the sentiment posted here so far: While it may drift away from many Tolkienisms, I can see where the inspiration has come from. Ultiamtely, they are taking chances and some will work out but others will not.

I do like the focus for the Uruks, both story and costume, and giving them something of a tragic backstory. This is supposed to be an origin story of Middle-Earth, so at least there is some "Origin-ing" going on.

The long location scenes of landscapes harkens back to the trilogy, and are always beautiful.

[Boromir88]

The Harfoots remain the best parts of the series. I really enjoyed Malva's character in Ep. 7

I like how she was sort of a Lobelia character...crotchety and antagonistic towards the main protagonist hobbits. In an earlier episode there was a mention of either Poppy or Nori playing a prank on Malva. So, I imagined something like a Bilbo/Lobelia dynamic, and I liked getting a bit of a darker, antagonistic hobbit character.

But at the end of the day, Lobelia wound up in jail by standing up to Sharkey's ruffians, and Malva here admits to being wrong and supporting the younger hobbits. Malva's motivations and character are more convincing than Galadriel randomly deciding she wants to give up her sword to Theo now.

[Boromir88]

So, I wish Celebrimbor looked and sounds more like the greatest Elven smith, who inherited his grandfather's skill. He doesn't, but I have to highlight Charles Edwards' acting, because it's a nice little treat.

I loved his introduction and how he spoke highly of a desire to watch dwarves work their craft. (I think that was Episode 2)

And I loved his interactions this episode with Halbrand. It sets up nicely for their future friendship and I want to see how their relationship plays out, and ultimately how it ends in tragedy. But I particularly liked Charles Edwards' expression when Galadriel says "We are to never treat with Halbrand again." It files under the subtle Tolkien nods that I like the best. Galadriel rejects Sauron/Annatar's "gifts," Celebrimbor welcomes it and his look after Galadriel's words is spot on.

[Thinlómien]

I think this thread would be the right place to point out that while some of the actors on the show failed to convince me, after seeing the whole season 1 I can genuinely applaud others. I was originally very sceptical of Robert Aramayo's shot-haired (gasp!) "cunning politician" Elrond, but he managed to win me over. One of the more nuanced and likeable performances. Lloyd Owen as Elendil also stood out, and my definite favourite was Joseph Mawle as Adar. Other highlights were Megan Richards as Poppy and Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn. I was also positively surprised by Charlie Vickers being able to pull off the Sauron reveal; I did not expect that after seeing him as "Walmart Aragorn" (or what was the great term someone here coined ) for several episodes.