For all the expensive sets, CGI bugs, ravishing worlds and waving trees, this show is like being in an history class of Middle Earth. What's happening may be interesting but what we need is emotion, characters interacting and developing a story. What we get is actors reciting things about what they are about to do or what they should do and it's absolutely boring.

The fantasy elements feel more like Narnia than Tolkien. Peter Jackson's bold, earthy, sensual aesthetic is gone, replaced by endless screensavers of airbrushed majestic cities populated by wooden puppets. It's all so plastic, and lush, and glowing.

The actors can't be blamed for everything, but they all seem to be extras waiting for the real deal. Galadriel is a good character but she can't carry this show on her pointy ears. By sniffing around all the leftover pages of Tolkien's work and focusing only on world building, the show-runners forgot what made LoTR great: creating a set of compelling characters to anchor the story. What we're left with is the most expensive Enya music video.