This continues to be a thing of beauty and when scenes land, they land really well but goodness to they could have squeezed episodes 4 and 5 into a single episode.
I would go as far as to say the five episodes we've had so far could have been squeezed into three. Here are some thoughts I have thunk about the show so far:
(Fair warning, this is a bit meandering, nit-picky and spoilery)
There was a weird bit in episode two where Elrond and Calebrimbor resolve to go and visit the Elrond's Dwarf mucker. I was expecting a big ol' procession with guards and carriages, but nope. Cut to the two elves sauntering up to a wee door in the side of a mountain. They didn't even hop on a horse. Didn't even put on a coat of bring a picnic bag for the journey. No pomp or ceremony. In the most expensive TV show ever
Maybe the dwarves just have entrances to their mines everywhere, so they just sauntered down to the entrance down to the nearest one. Maybe it's just elves being elves and a multi-day journey doesn't seem like a big deal. At least that's one part where they just progressed the story, and they do address the Elvish disregard for time later.
The dwarves injected some much needed levity into all the Elve stuff, Elrond and Durin's friendship is really endearing. Not a full blown bromance, but I think that makes it a bit more genuine and charming.
The Harfoot culture is feckin' brutal.
"We will wait for them"
Will ye fuck.
I wasn't invested in the drama of the Nori's da being left behind because it was obvious the big man would sort them out.
The big man is the most interesting part of the harfoot plot. Who is he? Amnesiac Sauron? I want to say Tom Bombadil, but he was cut out of the Jackson trilogy, so why bring him in here? Could be to address that omission, but his coat is not blue and his boots aren't yellow. A Bombadil origin story would also ruin his mystique and he doesn't seem to be all that care-free. I will concede that his attitude could easily change over the millenia. Galadriel's certainly did.
Gladriel's character has just been idling. Sure she has achieved stuff, but I don't get the impression that she has learned anything or developed in any way. She remains obsessive and haughty, so I'm looking forward to see if the events in this show turn her into the aloof and wise being that dumbfounds the fellowship with her other-wordly beauty. The ecstatic horse riding scene was a bit strange, her love of a good ride wasn't really established and I don't like when shows pad their running time with slow-mo. There's been a lot of that throughout.
Númenor looks awesome, but I don't think we needed two episodes of politicking. This isn't A Song of Ice and Fire. But I like how they're setting Elendil up. Seems to be a rise and fall arc going on there.
The Southlander's plot is my favourite. The showrunners have correctly judged that rubber face orcs are way better than CGI ones. They're properly menacing and have provided some of the best action scenes so far, with Arondir Legolassing all over their asses. Benjen Stark makes a good villain too.
Overall, the run-time would put us roughly at the last act of The Two Towers theatrical cut, so here's hoping for some Helm's Deepish* swording next week.
*Peter Jackson's staging of that battle scene was insane, so I'm not expecting anything near it. Nor should I. Even from the most expensive TV show ever.
