REVIEW: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 1, Episode 7, “The Eye”

Television Reviews

The beginning of the end of the torture that is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has begun with episode 7, “The Eye.” Only one more week and episode remain in this dragging and idiotic Frankenstein’s monster of a show. While “The Eye” is still as poorly written, performed, and produced as has become the norm for this series, it is leaps and bounds superior to last week’s horrific “Udun.” Few creative endeavors can compare to that abomination. As such, “The Eye” ekes out a minor victory. This episode sees a thematic return to the boredom and pointless nature that defined Rings of Power during its middle four episodes. Nothing of note is accomplished; the few important plot events could be distilled in a matter of minutes. “The Eye” exemplifies why Rings of Power is an utter waste of time. With the end of season 1 nearing, this season could, without doubt, be a single short feature film without leaving the audience any the wiser of its larger ambitions.

**Spoilers**

Many audience members may be surprised to hear that there was an additional episode this week, considering the majority of the main characters were utterly annihilated by the pyroclastic flow that wiped them out in “Udun.” None would be remiss for assuming this would be the final episode, merely wrapping up the Duran and Nori storylines. However, in staunch opposition to all logic and common sense, the show continues, still following the events of those who should have, by all rights, been reduced to ash. Funnily enough, the only thing that’s affected them from the volcanic eruption is some ash covering the characters and a couple of unstable buildings, which kill more than the actual volcano does.

“The Eye” sees Galadriel and the humans miraculously surviving the eruption with little to no damage before they all regroup. The Harfoots think they’re going to starve to death in the winter, then they’re not, then they are again, the second of which was wholly Nori’s fault. Instead of being repentant for her crimes, Nori goes to warn the now solo wizard that Feminine is after him. Durin wants to dig for mithril for Elrond, but he can’t, but he does, then his dad wakes up the Balrog. Adar stares at the sky and watches a title card name the Southlands “Mordor.”

If you seem surprised by that shallow and quick summary of the episode, that is all due to the fact that nothing really happens in “The Eye.” The majority of it is comprised of “I wanna dig.” “No, you can’t.” “I wanna dig.” “No, you can’t.” “I wanna dig.” “No, you can’t.” Or “We’re gonna starve.” “No, we’re not.” “We’re gonna starve.” “No, we’re not.” Two out of the three main plots of “The Eye” are entirely repetitive.

What isn’t driven by repetition is driven by coincidence. Galadriel and Theo happen to find each other; then they teleport away from the other survivors, who were only a few feet away moments earlier. Durin happens to throw a piece of mithril at one of the infected leaves, healing it; they act as if this is game-changing, but that’s exactly what they expected to happen and why they tried to convince the king to give mithril to the elves. King Durin happens to throw that same leaf down the chasm to wake up the Balrog – the same Balrog that wasn’t awoken by earthquakes and mining, but a leaf was enough to do it.

In the few moments that don’t revolve around repetition or coincidence, stupidity is the only substitute of which these writers are capable. Elendil can’t tell that the queen is blind, despite her walking around like she’s blind. The queen can’t smell or feel thick smoke in her breathing, so she asks if they’re out of the smoke. Lastly, Halbrand is one moment dying in a bed and barely able to speak; then, in the next, he’s easily getting on his horse, preparing to ride for hundreds of miles to get lifesaving elvish medical treatment. Funnily enough, Arondir said in episode 1 that the elves don’t have doctors. So what medicine is going to be saving Halbrand? These idiotic and plain stupid decisions and scenarios created by the writers must have seemed profound to them, as they have never to date demonstrated the basic qualifications for intelligence.

Perhaps the greatest sin of Rings of Power, which is again evident in “The Eye,” is the writers’ constant mistrust of the audience. They consistently avoid showing the audience anything, choosing instead to not only tell but tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell. This episode features the classic removing rank from a subordinate seen by ripping off the sign of their rank. The audience has seen this scene many times before, so they do not need to be told what King Durin is doing when he rips the crest off his son. However, the writers realize that they would be too stupid to realize what that meant, so they assume the audience would be as well. King Durin has to turn around and spell out what the scene means as he leaves.

The second main example of this baffling phenomenon comes in the final moments of the episode. The orcs are celebrating their victory and chanting Adar’s name, hailing him as the new Lord of the Southlands. Adar stares off into the distance, mumbling that this land needs a new name now. The audience has known that this is Mordor since it was first shown on the map in episode 1. As such, the audience could immediately infer what he’d be renaming the land to without being told. Yet again, the writers insult the audience’s intelligence by literally putting up the name change on the screen. The text literally changes from “Southlands” to “Mordor.” These hack writers don’t even trust the audience to make this simple leap in deduction.

“The Eye” is everything that should be expected from the Rings of Power. Galadriel is just as flat and broken as she’s ever been. Even when reminiscing about her dead brother and husband, she barely cracks a facial expression. The rumored excitement and character arcs that Amazon and the shills insisted were coming are nowhere to be seen in this penultimate episode. Luckily, the end is nigh, with only a single addition to this series left. This hell is almost over, at least for now.