Adrift

Actually found quite a bit of enjoyment out of it. Prince Durin and his wife were great additions and I loved the dialogue between them and Elrond. Nori continues to be my favorite character so far, and the scenes she had with that strange man from the fireball were fascinating. Arondir and Bronwyn grew on me this episode, and I even found Bronwyn's son to be entertaining. Some really good suspense moments throughout as well. Low point for me is Galadriel's story line. I don't find her likeable at all, and have no idea how she is gonna turn out to be the Galadriel we all love from Jackson's films.

I was so surprised by the difference in quality from the first and second episode, that I checked the writer for the 2nd, and low and behold, she was previously a BCS and BB writer. Doesn't surprise me that I found this episode to be much stronger.

It was a very good idea for Amazon to drop both episodes because if they dropped that 1st episode only, then I probably would've let this go by the wayside.

Adrift is a better episode than the choppy first, it is paced better, acted a little better and sets up the story going forwards. Like episode one, Nori is still the highlight so far, and I though the scenes with Elrond and Durin were pretty funny and well done. The scenes in Khazad-dûm were the best part of this episode, and they very much felt like they belonged in the Hobbit Trilogy. The sets and quality of the visuals during these scenes were fantastic, so props to the guys responsible for carrying these few episodes.

That being said, Galadriel is still boring, as is the elf warrior guy - Arondir and his weird relationship with Bronwyn.

We got an opening title, with was ok, but getting to hear Howard Shore do some more LotR music was a joy, and it's glad to see he hasn't lost his touch. The rest of the music, done by Bear McCreary is also very good, but this should be expected by the guy who composed the music to a much better Amazon show, The Outlander and the video game God of War.

Adrift was just fine, not great, not bad. I do hope the episodes get better going forwards, but I think Amazon should have released 3 episodes instead of 2, because I'm still not invested in these characters or the story.

Neither better nor worse than the first episode.

Most characters continue to be quite uninteresting if not unlikable.

4 story arcs is too much to handle for these writers. The episode is quite poorly written. The dialogue seems off and the subtext is unclear: The characters simply send mixed signals - not because they are nuanced or multi-dimensional, but because they are porly written. Stone face / unhappy face Arondir seems worst, and Nori seems best. But generally speaking none are convincing.

The Tolkien lore is smashed to pieces, but that was clear from the first episode. So I was willing to give this episode a chance on its own terms. But it is simply uninteresting and unengaging. It's a very expensive piece of fan fiction made by casual fans who don't really care about the lore.

The CGI locations look nice, but you should expect that from the most expensive TV series ever. A lot of the characters look too "clean" and unnatural, almost like cosplayers. I get no sense of real metal, leather and silk. Everything looks like plastic or CGI. The dwarves were almost good, but they ended up looking a bit too much like a guy in a costume (kind of like a Santa Claus costume).

The score is forgettable and I really hope Howard Shore didn't put too much effort into it. If the LoTR trilogy soundtrack is a 10 then this is a 4 or 5.

All in all a very weak episode, and I'm pretty sure I won't watch any more episodes. As a Tolkien fan it hurts to see what they have done. And as a busy person it feels like a complete waste of time. It's 1 hour of boredom, so I'd much rather watch three episodes of Seinfeld.

Lights of Galadriel sparkle, a majestic tree line greets you upon arrival, special glow to the air. Extraordinary places where memorable stories continue to be written and where legends are made. For a moment for yourself a soothing of the senses. Whatever you need action, compassion, comedy as well. Arondir moments are simply the best! Elrond range from beautiful to unforgettable experiences. Joyful & magical moments with Nori & Poppy nothing quite like walking into The Dorchester at Christmas. Filled with glamour and celebrity intrigue, it's no wonder this is regarded as one of the finest series in the world right now..!?

Is this show the best thing ever made? No. Would I even call this show good? I'm not so sure. But what we have gotten so far has been serviceable, and has exceeded my expectations, although they were low to begin with. What we have here is an absolutely stunningly shot show with good acting, but the story and pacing could us some work. With how these first two episodes went, being practically all set up, following multiple different stories, it is clear this show is building to something they are confident in. I believe it will only get better from here, but as of right now, the shows just ok. A shame to see so many people rating it a 1 star without having actually watched it, it is not THAT bad.