Fresh Take: Rings of Power Ep 7 Spoiler-Free Thoughts

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Thoughts

We have one more episode to go this season, so how was episode 7 of Rings of Power. The episode picks up right where episode 6 left off with the fallout from the creation of Mordor. Galadriel finally realizes she may have been the cause of the tragedy with her relentless pursuit of Sauron. There was a nice bit of character work in my opinion in this episode, I just wish it would have happened earlier in the season. This week focuses on the Harfoots, the Southlanders, and Durin's family. The best-written plot continues to be that of Durin and Elrond's friendship in the face of both of their kings keeping information from them or flat-out lying. I still believe the Elven King is lying to Elrond but that's just me. The high point of the episode to me was Durin and his father's clash of ideals. I saw both sides of the argument but this is one of those conversations where if you're upfront about things it would end up better for everyone. One thing this episode does extremely well in my opinion is the homages, callbacks, and easter eggs to Fellowship of the Ring. There was one scene that was straight-up lifted from Fellowship but I didn't mind it as, in the context of the story, it made complete sense. They did a good job setting up the tension in this episode, especially with so many characters missing. To be fair a few of those characters aren't dead because they have to show up when the eventual showdown with Sauron happens. It's going to be interesting to see what happens next week in the season finale. 

So far the series has been consistent for me, even as a book fan I still like what they have done with this series, for the most part. It's been confirmed that season 2 is filming so I hope next week's episode sets up some good plot threads going forward. Have you seen this week's episode? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. Don't forget to catch Fresh Take Sundays at 10am EST for our spoiler-filled review/discussion.

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