Review: Eldest
A week ago, I would have expected much worse from The Rings of Power than “slight structural mess.” I’m shocked the show has graduated to “collection of good scenes with some real gems in the mix.” If last week’s episode was an unexpected step in the right direction, “Eldest” stumbles off the trail a little bit before more or less getting back on track. I’m still not optimistic for the season finale, but seeing The Rings of Power embrace quality even for a minute is pretty unexpected.
After “The Eagle and the Sceptre” spent its runtime exploring how power changes families, “Eldest” goes smaller, focusing on the development of Tolkien’s characters before they became legends. The episode puts its characters in early chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring, essentially turning them into fantasy protagonists embarking on a quest. The strongest scenes are the ones with The Stranger and Tom Bombadil (and having Rory Kinnear play this role so soon after Men is funny). Letting not-Gandalf be a confused Istar in a post-regenerative haze figure out his purpose works better when Bombadil is leaning over his shoulder, instead of a couple of hobbits constantly asking “who is the Stranger?” Bombadil could easily be fanservice, especially in this show, but here he serves a thematic purpose, as the “Eldest” who shows not-Gandalf the nature of names and substance (“Who are you?” “Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer”). It’s a nice little rebuke to this show’s exhausting tendency towards guessing games about a character’s identity – or at least a redirection. We’re graduating from JJ Abramsesque puzzle boxes to Steven Moffat-ish games.
Sadly, there’s still fanservice. Galadriel and Elrond’s encounter with the Barrow-wights adds fuck all to the episode, doing little other than extending the runtime and homaging one of the least interesting chapters of The Lord of the Rings. The whole sequence fucks the episode’s pacing. While things are finally starting to happen in this show, fewer things are happening this week than last. That would be fine, but four episodes into an eight-episode season, it constitutes a massive pacing problem.
There are other nice bits. Galadriel talking about her experience of Nenya actually lets us understand what the Three Rings do. The encounter with the Stoors is funny, and shows that tyrannical matriarchs are a hereditary problem in their tribe long before Sméagol’s grandmother comes along. And it’s always good to see some Ents. This episode isn’t great, but I’m shocked it doesn’t suck either.
