The first season was ok, and the second season was a little less than ok.

The show simultaneously feels very drawn out in some places and unrealistically quick in others, though usually the first. The different storylines seem completely unrelated or take too long to come together, and almost never in a way that’s satisfying.

There’s some good actors hamstrung by bad dialogue and uninteresting choices. For instance, one of the few intriguing choices they made in the first season is badass warrior Galadriel, and she spends almost the entire second season being aloof and ineffectual. To the show’s credit, season two does have a real climax near the end (looking at you House of the Dragon season two), but they built up zero tension leading up so you don’t really care much.

They also fell for the really big trap in adapting this age onto the screen: there’s too many elves, and they’re boring. They need foils (Gimli to Legolas), yet Durin Jr. and young Elrond aren’t around each other enough for it to do anything.

It’s nice to look at though.