Thanks to dropping three episodes at once last week, The Rings of Power is already at its mid-season point with this week’s episode and I certainly felt like the show was a bit lost this week. The dwarves, Celebrimbor, and Sauron were noticeably absent this week, which created a somewhat unfulfilling episode.

This week, we followed The Stranger, Nori and Poppy, Isildur and company, and Galadriel and Elrond’s attempt to reach Eregion as quickly as possible. Of the four, the Stranger’s chunk of screen time proved the most interesting, thanks mainly to the live-action debut of Tom Bombadil, played here by Rory Kinnear. Book readers know that Bombadil is a bit of an odd fellow, to say the least, and I thought the show did a decent job with him. He’s not quite as jovial as he appears on the page, but he’s just as cryptic, speaking in riddle and the occasional melody. It was a little weird to have Goldberry in the background singing with Tom, but have him completely dismiss her existence when the Stranger asks about her singing. The Stranger believes Tom has been presented to him in order to learn the ways of magic, but this seems more like a detour on the journey, rather than the destination. Also, that end-credit song with Rufus Wainwright, so good. The show is strongly implying yet again that the Stranger is Gandalf (“he’s a grand elf”, explains one character) and that the Dark Wizard is Saruman, and I will let out the biggest groan if this proves to be the case.

Meanwhile, after being hurled into the sky by the Stranger in episode two, the two harfoots find themselves quickly in the company of the Stoors, another type of proto-Hobbit. I wasn’t a big fan of the Harfoots in season one, and the Stoors continue that tradition. I found their overall design to be too wacky and their introduction to the story didn’t feel compelling or interesting. If anything, there’s too many characters in this show and introducing more just makes the show feel more crowded and less focused.

Arondir, Isildur, and Astrid find themselves fighting giant mud worms and conversing with Ents but I didn’t really find myself invested in that arc. I will give props where it’s due though and state that Arondir is the most “Tolkien” character of the original characters. Talking to the Ents and trying to comfort them feels very right for the character in respect to the author’s works.

Galadriel and Elrond, a long with a few other elves, make their way from Lindon to Eregion meanwhile, and the duo continue to trade snarky remarks at each other. Elrond doesn’t trust the ring and this is creating some tension between the two characters. The company is then beset upon by Barrow-wights and as a book reader, I found this odd, as the wights were created by the Witch-king in the Third Age. Including them here felt like the writers were shoehorning cool stuff from the books into their show just for the sake of a cool action scene, and while the design was cool, the overall scene felt like padding the runtime; something this episode did quite a few times, whether it be an extended shot of mud, the introduction of the Stoors’ homes (do we care?), there’s a lot that just feels unimportant screentime.

One thing that I’ve noticed about season two is how much Rings of Power seems to be pulling from the Jackson films and from the novels in ways that feel more like nostalgia-baiting, rather than organic storytelling. The Stranger gets consumed by a tree and rescued by Bombadill mirrors when Merry is eaten by Old Man Willow and subsequently saved by Tom. The Dark Wizard (who should really get off his butt and do his own dirty work), also asks his Easterling subordinates to “find the halflings”, a direct quote from Fellowship and a term Saruman uses for hobbits. Arondir mentions something to the effect of fouler creatures in the deep, evoking Gandalf’s line as they descend into Moria. It reinforces this notion I had with my Barrow-wights comment about shoehorning Middle-earth stuff and my fears about the identities of the wizards. The end result does come off as pandering to the fanbase after the divisive first season.

During the first three episodes, Charlie Vickers as Sauron/Annatar was carrying the show alongside Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, and their absence this week was sorely missed, to the point where it impacted the show. The Rings of Power is a show that juggles interesting and dull plot lines and when an episode tilts in favour of the latter, it does make for a more dull viewing experience. There were some fun moments, and some great shots and music, but the overall experience was unfulling. With the promise of battle at Eregion looming, here’s hoping the show can pick up the pace and bring the focus back to more interesting plot points.