Barnald

So you're saying he's to blame for all this? I knew it.

The showrunners seemed to me the first indication that Amazon just wanted malleable people in place. That stuff about them rejecting notes from Bezos (or let's say higher ups of some sort)... yeah right.

If nothing else, I feel like Hobbit Complete Recordings are more likely if Warner Bros see Middle-earth as an active property.

That your defence of the show often entails criticism of Tolkien (and disregard for his lore) kind of speaks volumes, no?

I think that was fairly evident the moment some started praising Rings of Power... Obviously BCS by its very nature leaned heavily into backstory - to what extent any of that was unnecessary, I'll leave up to you (and since we're dealing with something that had no prior existence in any form, and takes place within a mere 10 years or less of the world of its successor show, comparing it to Rings of Power in this regard is absurd). But to leave perhaps the biggest enigma of the entire series largely untouched has to be commended.

Apparently everything and everyone needs a (crap and unnecessary) backstory now. How refreshing it was for Better Call Saul to resist the temptation to delve into Gus' (obviously eventful) past in Chile, and just leave it one big tantalizing mystery. But there was a writing team who knew what they were doing...

I'm also intrigued to know about this apparently solitary tree flourishing atop of the Misty Mountains.

Even if you look at it as a made-up story to manipulate Durin into giving them access to Mithril, he'd have to be the most stupid person in Middle-earth to fall for it (naturally he will).

Wow. I'd love to have been in the writers room when they came up with that one...

The masks make sense in an age of pitched battles involving fire-breathing dragons, but in later periods, they very likely would have fell out of use almost entirely, given that any dragon attacks would have been very sudden affairs, a la Smaug's attack.

So they actually have Numenoreans complaining about Elves 'taking our trades'. You couldn't write it... unless of course you're Amazon's merry band of scribes. Why not just have them proclaim 'Elves will not replace us!' while you're at it?

NDAs? But yeah, I'd say this definitely confirms something is amiss.

Have we heard anything from Shore about his experience? You'd expect to see some words from him during that initial press release - you know, the usual 'It was wonderful to go back over 20 years after I started my adventure in Middle-earth, happy to be handing over to Bear to continue the journey, blah blah' - but as far as I'm aware there's not a peep, which seems to me rather telling (especially when one takes into account Doug's initial response to the first Bear tracks we heard).

I agree with you on the first bit entirely, but as for the second part, my mind was made up some time ago. It's not for me I'm afraid, but I hope you and others who watch enjoy it.

Reviews may sway some, but I think most have already made up their minds either way - they're either going to watch this show (at least until they give up on it), or they're not.

Hang on - they actually refer to Galadriel as 'the Warrior of the Wastelands'? What is this, Mad Max?

An earlier Gandalf vs Balrog encounter is something I'm sure we've all craved. Anything Kenobi can do eh?

So when the chips are down and Sauron is knee-deep in rings-related business, is this Gandalf just going to be having too much fun hanging out with Hobbits to do anything?

Thank goodness we have that bastion of fidelity, the Tolkien Estate, to keep Amazon on the straight and narrow, eh?

That's about the only scene I'd watch at this point.

Amazon's mind must be in a seriously dire state if that's the case.

People have been banned for far less.

1) The wait goes on... 2) I suddenly feel very old. Feels like yesterday we heard the first samples of the score...

My Borgias of choice is the 1981 BBC drama, which was unfairly maligned at the time. Sure it's hamstrung by a modest budget as were many BBC costume dramas of the era, but, like the BBC's magnificent earlier series' about the Tudor monarchs, it's wonderfully acted, superbly written, and just all round strikes me as an intelligent take on a historical subject which we wouldn't see today. In particular, I don't think Oliver Cotton's brilliant take on Cesare has been bettered.

I've always thought of Irons as one of the great perverted actors of the age (along with James Spader back in the day). I'm sure it would have been quite something. I also think Frank Langella would have been an interesting choice (and like Lee he'd have real presence with his physical stature).