Christine Kelley

And there we have it: Alloyed is the most plodding season finale I’ve watched since The Timeless Children. The culmination of The Rings of Power’s malicious pointlessness. It contains every stupid, banal, ugly impulse this ultra-capitalist Mormon disaster has slung at its tormented viewers across ei

Ah, they’re doing that “late first season” trick where characters meander for several episodes before the show’s general direction becomes clear. That’s useful. It helps clarify some of the show’s blunders in retrospect. The ways in which The Rings of Power was figuring itself out early on is going

“Partings” is The Rings of Power settling into a status quo. Characters in different locations face down interlocked threats, all of them vaguely pointing to Sauron, while their interpersonal relationships are threatened by Sauron’s return. Some subplots, like Durin and Elrond’s relationship, work q