Hey, There are Other Rings that it's the Lord of!

 Of course I knew about the other rings.  It's me.

Here is the problem.

As stated- I am a very rare breed when it comes to Middle Earth- 

A casual fan.

Most people are firmly in one of two camps.  

They either worship the works of Tolkien at a religious level...

Or they're like my sister and her famous quote, "I don't care about Frodo or his stupid ring."

Me, I like a lot of fantasy stuff, sometimes I'm in a Tolkien mood, and will go back to the Rings novels, or some of the other books. I've finally read the Slimarillion enough times that I could follow it. I still doubt I could explain it to anyone. 

I'm a huge fan of the storytelling and visuals of the Jackson films, and while not the same source, the Rings of Power series on Amazon Prime was an opportunity to revisit that world. 

Set in the Second Age it is dense. Part way through the first episode, while I enjoyed it, I didn't expect to want to watch it again. Now that's it's finished, there's a good chance I'll rewatch season one to get ready for season two.

This is a show that requires patience and paying attention. There were times I got distracted by something not on the screen ("Ooh! Shiny object!") and had to rewind. However, it does reward that consistent focus. There are several storylines running at once, and they didn't all tie in together. (Yet, I'm guessing.)

The dense set up is interesting and the payoffs pack a wallop.

Howard Shore did the theme, setting the right musical tone at the start of each episode. The rest of the music is by Bear McCreary. I've praised his abilities before and will do so, once more, now.

The dwarves continue to be the most fun, and I'm still laughing at the bit with the Elvish table. Also the interactions between Elrond and Durin were the best illustration of a friendship between races with vastly different lifespans I've ever seen.

Romance stories are more typical, but I've always been drawn to stories built around friendship. That's one of the reasons I'm a Mel Brooks fan, I think. Middle Earth has a great many of those tales built into it. Elrond and Durin is a fantastic example of one of them.

The elves were high and mighty but still fallible, and the humans were human, with all the good and bad aspects that entails. 

The Proto-Hobbits were, similar to their later kinfolk, full of surprises, resiliency and kindness.

The Orcs were nasty and brutish, but given a little more "humanity" than usual. 

As with the Middle Earth films, the scenery was gorgeous, and the action ranged from epic, to cheer inducing, to just a plain old hoot sometimes. Several of the Epic moments belonged to Galadriel, as befitting a member of the White Council.

There were some last minute surprises that I did not see coming. There was also one I did see coming, and then the show made me doubt myself right before revealing I was correct. Nicely done. 

It was also very cool how they showed the Numenorian designs influenced both Gondor and Rohan. 

Sure, some of the timelines don't line up with established cannon, but as a casual fan, I don't care. It is another fantastically beautiful window into the locations, characters and events of Middle Earth. And it can only get bigger and more impressive from here.