I said after the first cast reveals that this show would be a utter travesty, (next clue firing Tom Shippey) and here we are. You cannot expect C list actors and nobodies to carry a 1BN Tolkien adaptation, look at the cast for S1 GOT, a much smaller IP particularly at the time, much smaller budget etc etc and it is absolutely stellar.
So what did this early casting tell us about ROP? - It told us that the produces and showrunners hadn't got the first idea what they were doing, they did not care one iota about making a quality faithful Tolkien adaptation, and they did not care about casting either, other than how much they could virtue signal about its "diversity" - oh and boy oh boy did they bang on and on about that...how could anyone who worked in TV and had read or watched LOTR could possibly think Morfyyd Clark was Galadriel?
They were going to make their own show, a nonsensical, non-canon, bastardisation and "correction" of JRRT, and just hoped with enough money thrown at it, some laughably bad "mystery boxes" and plenty of "shipping" would carry them through. I think once they realised they had no story, they decided to make a Wish.com Peter Jackson trilogy - it's just scene after scene after scene ripped off PJ, 'memberberry after 'memberberry.
I give them no credit either for spending 1BN and then managing to have some good CGI.
There are no saving graces for this show, it is at every single level absolute dog****.
