The cinematics, visuals, and similar elements of this show continue to be fantastic. It's also at a point in the story where it's expanding into other realms and cultures (Numenor, Orcs, etc.), so this is also an exciting part of the series.
The thing that sticks out and, in my opinion, is lacking is the writing and storytelling. There's a lot of (for lack of a better word) lazy dialogue that's added to explain the deeper lore or character history. For example, Muriel asking Pharazon who the captain (Elendil) is not only doesn't make sense for the greater lore, but I think it's also a device the writers use to quickly tell the audience who the character is. There's a similar moment when Halbrand doesn't seem to know what Numenor is so Galadriel just tells him the quick backstory. Just my opinion but this feels like lazy world-building. Strangely enough, mainly because she's such an important character to both the show and in Tolkien's universe, Galadriel's storyline is the only storyline that I've completely lost interest in. I do like Morfydd Clark and think she's doing as good a job as she can, but I'm just not interested in Galadriel's storyline.
Overall, I did enjoy the episode and think there are some interesting storylines developing, but I think it fell short when it came to writing and world building.
The thing that sticks out and, in my opinion, is lacking is the writing and storytelling. There's a lot of (for lack of a better word) lazy dialogue that's added to explain the deeper lore or character history. For example, Muriel asking Pharazon who the captain (Elendil) is not only doesn't make sense for the greater lore, but I think it's also a device the writers use to quickly tell the audience who the character is. There's a similar moment when Halbrand doesn't seem to know what Numenor is so Galadriel just tells him the quick backstory. Just my opinion but this feels like lazy world-building. Strangely enough, mainly because she's such an important character to both the show and in Tolkien's universe, Galadriel's storyline is the only storyline that I've completely lost interest in. I do like Morfydd Clark and think she's doing as good a job as she can, but I'm just not interested in Galadriel's storyline.
Overall, I did enjoy the episode and think there are some interesting storylines developing, but I think it fell short when it came to writing and world building.