The Reel Rejects - REJECT RECAP: The Rings of Power EPISODE 5 "Partings" - REVIEW!!

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

TRUTHS ARE REVEALED & still not sure who Sauron is?! Lord Of The Rings The Rings Of Power Episode 5 Reaction, Recap, Breakdown, & Review featuring a Balrog, Galadriel, Isildur, Durin, Elrond, Arondir, black sword, & more! #TheRingsOfPower #LordOfTheRings #LordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower #AmazonPrime #PrimeVideo Become A Super Sexy Reject For Full-Length T.V. & Movie Reactions + RINGS OF POWER Watch Alongs! https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects We Got Great Merch. The Best. AND IT SUPPORTS THE CHANNEL If You Buy Some Of It! Win Win! http://shopzeroedition.com/collections/reel-rejects-merch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Carvana. Financing subject to credit approval, additional terms and conditions may apply. Podcast listeners of the Reject Nation, Greg's voice. John's voice. We're going to watch Rings of Power Episode 5. If you want to catch our reaction, you can go over to YouTube.com slash Real Rejects. But if you just want to hear our thoughts, stick around.

I got that reference. I understood that reference. I understood that reference. I comprehended your movie thing. Yes. All right, let's do it. Zippity-dudah. Here we are.

Zippity A. Somebody take my headphones off for a tiny bit while you talk. Okay. It's just been on for a long time in my ear. Your ears probably are sore. It really hurts. Yeah. Shot some stuff earlier.

So why don't you go ahead and talk for a little bit? Sure. What do you think of the episode? Honest thoughts all around. Honest thoughts all around. I thought this was a decent episode. It's not every week I come in hoping for like a slam dunk. And last week is still as close as we've gotten.

But, you know, I'm here for it. And I'm not like in love with anything, but there's a lot I really like. I agree with what you said. Elrond and Duren are thus far, clearly far and away the heart and soul of the show. And I loved their moments. I feel like even in Little Bree. moments, those two manage to ring a lot of richness and a lot of life out of the circumstances, both big and small, and that helps to really ground things in a sense of, I don't know, I feel

like when you get too far into just the desperation and just the burden of purpose, you can lose the idea that what we're really fighting for is these little, you know, human homey things, you know, is our bonds and our, you know, good-natured ribbing back and forth and, you know, visiting a friend after a long time and, you know, rejoicing in each other's prosperity. You know, all those things. And those things are alive within those characters. And I feel like the rest of the time, like I said, the world remains beautifully realized. The cast remains, I think, well chosen. I like everybody. But yeah, they are far in a way the most alive thing about the show to me.

And then certain characters get moments to be like that. But this episode kind of called my attention toward like the way they proportion everything out because I'm curious as to what like the, I imagine most writers are like this have to have a big board with a lot of cards on it. And, you know, you've got your five-season arc probably vaguely sketched out. and then you've got your first season all broken down. And I'm like, what were the proportions for where they decided to place all these different stories? Because, you know, like we get the Harfoots back in this episode.

And a couple of things happened with them, but it kind of felt like they went, oh, yeah, yeah, they weren't here last week. So we got to check in on them really quick. All right. So now let's move on. And, you know, you've got a whole bunch of other trouble of brewing in most every other pocket of the episodes. but you're back with the headphones on so I don't want to take the whole

thing before you've had to go in but yeah I don't know like I like seeing things with Adar and wondering if he's Sauron and I don't know it's everything it's weird a part of me wishes I like everywhere we cut to and I like again

all the actors that populated in the world itself But sometimes I feel like if we could really treat each of these settings, I don't know what the solution would be, but basically treat each of these settings kind of like they do with Elrond in turn, because with them too, we get personal moments and circumstances, but we also get the big picture stuff. And I feel like with most of the other plot lines, like with Bronwyn and Arundier,

I feel like that is a lot of the big strokes. You know, we see another, you know, rousing speech, and you get that people dividing into half. And it's like that moment where they go and swear fealty to Adar, to Sauron, or whoever you are, I don't care, I'm loyal to you. Like, that was interesting. But I feel like that moment could have had that sequence could have felt more like a whole part of the episode rather than just one of many scenes.

And one of many moments that seems like it's going to amount to some kind of big punch. And then it just transitions into the, they're marching and oh there's a whole lot of them and that's kind of a scary image um and and you know you've got everything going on in numinor which is not like i i appreciate the arguments back and forth and the debate but it is falling into that hole for me with a lot of these plot lines where it's like okay i get it you know our gladriel is she's suffering this great loss and she can't let go of her fight and she needs to you know rouse everybody to her cause, but I feel like in some of those intimate moments, they could make up so much ground

by doing a little bit of personal character work instead of just checking back in with the core wound and then, you know, I don't know, I feel like some of these debates should be a little more rich and a little more hard one because I feel like then they would feel more cathartic. But what do you think, gee? I thought it was the best episode we've gone so far. Really? No, no. I was like, oh, I'm ready for a surprise. No, I agree.

I mean, I thought the episode was fine. I don't have a disdain for it. I wasn't like, I wasn't bored. I'm not exactly thrilled or excited during it. It was like, it was fine. I still feel like we're five episodes. episodes in and how many episodes are do we have confirmation

it's an eight episodes it's eight episodes I feel like by now we should be a much more compelling territory and maybe you are and we just aren't I think what dawned on me because yeah you bring up good points and there are two things that I thought of in terms of the writers

with this I'm like I imagine there's a very great outline they have for this and and And I think what happens, what kind of holds this show back in certain episodes is there's a lack of compelling qualities and the actual immediate execution of these scenes. I'm like, on paper, this seems like the right scene to do. This seems like the right step.

Like, yes, okay, you've convinced the queen. Now we've got to convince the people. And the people are they going to be on board? and there's a little bit of political upheavals you've got to go through as well with certain people on the council and what does this all mean so i i think like yeah okay so we got to have a debate about it now the thing that's happening is like you said that you thought like some of this more personal stuff and everything being just debated about could be more rich and i agree that part of it is not exactly rich to me it seems very

kind of i don't want to say perfunctory it it's like you can see to me the direction of it was just so obvious of everything that was about was like okay we know we're we're gonna like by the end of the episode they're all going to set sail so yeah and and it didn't like we need to throw a couple of things in there and then there's some of the things about looming threats they feel so generic it's usually just there's a darkness there's darkness coming and and and i I felt like the thing that's really missing for this particular series, when you are having these moments that are supposed to feel like monumental and sweeping and epically heroic on journeys that they're going to be setting forth, the thing that kind of misses for me on these episodes is really the feeling of there's some dark shit ahead, though. there's some like terrible shit ahead or like even i've heard theories about the um brawn when i'm about the brawn winning character that and this is just a theory like and by theory

i mean i've seen like you know the circle in the question mark of uh that he might be the remember when um a oen and return the king cuts off that guy's head i i'm no man that seems i have no man yeah like that might be him oh like I've heard a theory about that and it's not confirmed I haven't seen thing pieces wait you mean Hallbrand which one's Bronwyn

she's the mom of Theo my bad bad yeah right Bronwyn's the mom of theater what it was like I don't know I'm not the king yeah uh yeah Halbrin yeah the guy with the men people who apparently did some shady stuff terrible stuff in the past

well they succumbed to Sauron or they thought was so they with Hallbron. So Hallbrand, Hallbrand, God damn it. Hallbrand. Like, if he's just destined to be an Aragorn path,

yeah. Like, okay, it's cliche. And if there was some type of hint, kind of what they're applying with, with the storyline that should be more interesting, but it's just not quite as interesting as you're hoping it with the giant guy among the hard foots.

Yeah. Of like, this got good or bad, which direction is this going with him? Like that is kind of, it's weird because for him, they are doing the thing that I'm like, that is unknown if he's going to be good or bad, yet I'm not as interested in it as I'd like to be. And it's one of the richest prospects because you're like, oh, a character who's being nurtured by someone who's going to bleed them along the path of goodness, but what if they're just, that's just in their blood, just is the darkness, yeah. right so you have that character who who has that quality yet is not that interesting as interesting as i hope to be and personally obviously it's all personal all subjective whereas with um like any of our main player setting sail it's like i want to other than just we're going to go into battle you know like it's the only this only dark thread is is the obvious but it's like what what can make it really compelling is what will become of these people You know, that's the fear. And you mean, take like Lord of the Rings.

It's just one example you can pull from is what will become a Frodo. You know, is he going to, it's a test of like, will he descend to the darkness? Will he give in to the ring? And here it is, I think they're trying to plant some of those seeds, sort of. Like, I don't really know other than there's, the only threat is like, yeah, they might die in battle. You know, but I think the real thing that makes. things feel more personal is what will become of these people and is there a threat there of what might be coming them like we know because of who galadriel is that eventually she'll become like oh my god

she's not as a fucking bitchy and angsty of an elf you know she's gonna become even more wise down the line yeah like you know el ron then to become like oh turn a hugo weaving apparently you can't see it who's the more accurate interpretation of who el ron Yeah. Stoic-ass El-Rond or El-Rone with the personality. Like, which one's the more accurate one? It cracks a smile once in a while to the Hobbits, you know? That freaking Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies is just like Agent Smith.

Yeah. So I think that's like the main missing quality for me. Whereas I kind of get some of that with El-Rond and Duren. Yeah. Of what I'm talking about, of what will be kind of. of them what will become of their friendship like that's such murky territory like obviously the me thrill is such like we we we have an awareness of what becomes a me throw but what becomes of them as as friends what's going to happen to their relationship how how murky and and and and soiled will

where their friendship become because you got the dad of durin who's like i urge ourselves at all then no don't be this is our greatest secret to you yeah it's the secret talk and restoration and then and then king elf has like doesn't seem to have any real respect for the dwarves but just want something from them and or so they can live and then that's going to that can get very ugly and so that's the part of it that makes it really compelling to me when it comes to the me thrill is ah shit this could land into like what's going to happen with the elves and the dwarves and what will happen with during and Elron. That's what I mean by.

It's not about, are they going to fight in a battle together? It's like, what's going to become of them? Well, that's the most interesting. To me, that was the most interesting thing of the episode

because it makes the best combination of the macro stakes of this could be the end of the elves and then the micro personal stakes of I made this oath, I'm taking this seriously, and also I don't necessarily trust everyone who's advising me.

And that makes a real relatable and also very just palpable situation between them, and it makes a lot of room for tension and release. And I think with those characters, they also understand the value of release. Because through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and beyond there, you know, we start to kind of fall off and take the wrong lessons. But through that trilogy, I feel like you frequently have these sweeping epic, you know, grandiose and, you know, very gravitational moments, these gravitas-heavy moments. But you also have always some level of brevity and a very personal touch in between those things. Like, no matter when a huge battle is, you know, when characters are prepping for a huge battle,

you'll oftentimes get like a little aside moment of humor or something a little more real to remind you. And I feel like that's, again, yeah, them talking about that whole dilemma is the one place where both of those stakes feel present together at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. I think this was so much of this is kind of lacking in is truly getting a little bit more in your show. You know, you should get it a little bit more personal from time to time. And I feel like they're attempting it, though. That's the thing of why I'm not, I'm not saying they're not doing it. I think there's a, they're definitely trying. It just doesn't feel like the execution of it is hitting home. home and again all subjective opinions here just for myself it doesn't feel like it's quite hitting the mark that it that it sets out to hit with with having more of a personal effect because you kind of see it all over this episode like we didn't really land anywhere different than we did last episode other than they left yeah like we they've they agreed last episode

and now they're leaving in terms like the main big plot and of course you have i i forget the name of the camp with that Aaron Deere's watching over. Yeah. I forget what they were called. Because some parts

of this episode felt edited funny. Mm-hmm. Like there were, it moved slow, but like fasts at the same time. Like you would just like, things would just skip ahead in time or you'd start in the middle of

something where I'm like, kind of like a little bit of a pre, like a lead into this moment a little bit more. Kind of like the like Dordurin sitting at the table with the elves or like, like, the way how some shifts and choices happen like with Bronwyn and like

hey we all got to stick together and then the next scene, well, fucking everything, everything sucks, we're losing. And now let's look at the tower and cut away. And I understand some plot stuff happened in between like half the people leaving so that can make you sad or you're worried about your son like I understand it's like

but that's what I mean by the editing of it kind of just sometimes cut off some things that I think could have just made some things breathe better so we've had this weird mix of this is a slow episode but it's also kind of a jarringly fast episode at times where i'm like i that that richness that you kind of crave for just a little bit more ingredients is being left off the plate i feel like maybe the key and not to slight the hard foot's in particular i feel like maybe the key would just be to leave one of

the places plot lines etc leave one of the threads mostly out each episode to give us time to maybe miss it and be to give a little more time to the bunch of other things we're focusing on because in a way those editing nicks and the more surface level qualities of some of the arguments they make the map feel smaller and it works against how beautifully produced everything is because it feels like okay we're going to cut back to numinor and we're going to come back to here and we've got to come back to here we're going to have all these these, yeah, conversations to get the plot. This was the most

I felt like, okay, we've got to get the plot going places. Like, the guy blowing up the ship. I was like, there are aspects of this that could be interesting, and I get that not all the people are on board, but it feels like everybody's on board, and now the ship is blowing up, and that's our device to get a Cildor on to the, you know, into this part

of the story. This is the solution. I like him a little more. I do like him. I didn't really give two shits about him in any of the other episodes, and there's the first time like but by the time he like hugged his friends at the end and like sweep the horseshit like that was all right you know i think i'm a well i'm getting on board for this guy yeah they made him work for it and i think that works for the episode still very like the most

repetitive shit about this kid it was like same thing with like galadriel very repetitive types of yeah types of dialogue uh for them and i feel like it works against her as an actress sometimes and it was like in that moment I kept I just keep wanting them to go a little further with everything and to maybe I wonder if too there's some kind of beholdenness to the land I'm sure there is to some degree a beholden quality to the language and to the perceived demeanor of these stories but if they would maybe give more a little more voice to each character because I I remembered I like her performances a lot when she's talking to Hallbrand and he's confronting her and they're trying to convince each other of you know she turns away as she's touching back on that core wound of her brother and stuff and you see her eyes start to tear up and in that moment I was like oh this is drawing me in

I'm more than interested now I'm actually being drawn in and I'm actually being compelled and it's good they did that but I feel like especially with her as a character like in this episode you mostly just have to watch her maneuvering people into getting on board with her again

and it seemed kind of barely opening her mouth wide eye delivery Again. Yeah, and it takes actors who I feel like it is a pitfall that I found throughout the Hobbit movies, and I do find is kind of ailing this, is you can't be too stoic and too, I know the elves are, the age way different than everybody in their perspective is totally different because of that, but I think there's still a way, as we saw in the Lord of the Rings movies. Everyone loved frigging Legalis, and he was still kind of laconic and mysterious in ways, but you still got that. character umph and i feel like here i'll be honest if legolus was the lee i would be kind of bored oh sure yeah yeah yeah you don't and you have to also know in this position he plays yeah yeah and that's why getting more legolice in the hobbit movies isn't necessarily a good thing uh but yeah i don't even still though i feel like they he's got at least the the fun back and forth with gimley like if they'd give her something

to temper again. It was like Thorne Oaken Shield in those movies. It's kind of reminding me of what they're doing here. It's like most all of what we check in with you about is kind of the same, you know, stern resolve and I'm not wavering in my mission. And, you know, I just have to fight. Like even the conversation, the debate

wasn't that interesting in the writing because it was just like, why fight? I have to fight. Okay, fine. You have to fight. Well, I think with everyone, whatever emotional point they have put every one of the, these characters, I feel like everyone just kind of stayed at a very neutral spot of wherever that emotion lies, basically.

Like Galadriel is supposed to be the hard-ass, aggressive, difficult to communicate with character. And it's always kind of stayed a little bit in the same realm of that trait. Yeah. When part of me is like, make her more of a bitch. Like, just go out there and just make her be like, God damn, you are unreasonable woman. Like, go out there and push it. Like, push that aggression then.

Like, push it further. Like, you got some shades of... Make us really question if she's going too far. Yeah, like, show that, okay, yeah, this thing's really gotten the best for her. You get why some people, like, why her people commit a mutiny on her. Yeah. Because the way she is is just awful. But then, you know, you got to bounce it out with, like, having certain moments where you see.

that she actually is a good person. But it pushed some of those qualities, you know? And again, like the ones who I think they just nail it with are Dern and Elrod. Like, they're the only ones who I'm like, they don't feel neutral to me. Ever. A Seildorf feels very much the same shit.

The Harfoots feel that way, you know, other than like Norrie being like, oh my God, he almost hurt me. Even though I walked into this extraordinary situation and put my hand on. He was in a zone and didn't look at me. Yeah.

You know? Like there's, it's, and some of it starts to feel like it's not, it's hitting kind of flat. Like Aaron Deere and Bronwyn, like, man,

I wasn't really, that was something I was craving. Like, I like the choice they're making. Again, outline, interesting outline. But there's something about the details

that feel, like it's lacking and I can't even have lost more words to put my finger on what it is that it's didn't it could be what you're saying too many plot lines like early days of Walking Dead and apparently

later days of Walking Dead but not that quite middle part of Walking Dead did a great job at doing that or you're like you don't see your main characters for like a few episodes you know some of the best some of the best animas I've ever like Marudo does an amazing job at like you're only going to focus on these few

characters for a few episodes and you're not really going to check in with these other people so sometimes the the affect of it because it is kind of weird like what you said with the harfits of they're running out of all the last episode they're in for like 10 minutes here and spread it over the course of five different minutes pretty isolated effect overall so it's hard to be affected by what just happened when I'm like you barely check in with them so I don't really give a shit because we haven't really had time to breathe with these guys it's since we last saw them two episodes ago and that part is what is uh that's what i mean by some of the the way they it i think it honestly some of these issues might come down to a they don't have time to truly

dive into the the debates the conversations make the dialogue more enriching because they do have so many characters they're cutting around too like they just introduce some other people this episode i just remember right now who's we're standing over the freaking spot where a giant guy landed and i'm like who the fuck are these guys i don't know and draw Gen. M. is here. Yeah. I'm like, what are, what are these things? So, yeah, I have, I, like, I didn't, I really didn't hate what we saw. And it was like, there were parts I enjoyed. And, but I am, I am, what I'm, my hope, the thing I'm holding out hope for is that because it seems like they've really had to, because they've done, they mapped out like several seasons. So maybe they got carried away too much in their outline that they've, you sometimes. forget that you got to make that each episode really goddamn compelling instead of waiting for

the end result for everything to click. So what I'm hoping for is that by the time you get to the final episode, it suddenly makes all these episodes feel better. Yes. That's my hope. I'm not confident. I have my doubts. I'm not fully sold that by the time we get there will feel that way. I'm waiting to see like, okay, what happens when we get these big actions? set pieces that they've been teasing for so long now. Like, what's going to happen when we get there? And the conflicts are much more fully formed because everyone's just kind of gearing up

and hearing whispers and blah, blah. Yeah, because I don't, I really personally don't give a shit about what happens in New Menor. Like, not that, what I mean by that? I guess what I mean by that is, I don't know the people of the New Minor and I don't care. I guess I mean what I said

Like I They're like Oh these people of Newman or they Like when a Seilder's dad is talking with the Seildor Yeah And like they've fucking you know They earned their spots here and stuff Yeah you know what

I don't I don't care I don't know who these people are I I don't And all I witness them do is be a mob And yeah Either be very adverse serial Or just hop on board for stuff Yeah

So I have no sense of the community Or even much about the queen Other than she's had to make some decisions. L.N. Deal is the only character in Numenor who actually has the full heart and soul right now. Ellen Diel is the dad. His dad is dad.

Yeah. Like whenever he shows up, I'm like, I care about Numenor because of you. But I think it's because he, the actor brings it. Yeah. The actor has that great like British play yet modern quality. Like, you're the kind of actor who could be in a modern day movie or period piece. And you could be either a super.

super stoic or like someone's uncle I'm sure yeah I think he brings it yeah it's like you got plot lines like freaking silver sister I'm like well you're not even a real character where does come from why is why are we giving any attention to this right now like I it felt like attacked on conflict I was like last week they were they were at least you know I don't know I didn't feel this coming on last week and then this week I was like oh okay I guess we have to have some kind of other family conflict that we're not going to pay that much attention to yeah i think there is a it is bogged down by by too many it is the thing that i think a lot of people how to worry about is that there are too many character syndrome because even i'm from a writing standpoint i i think even from a writing standpoint it's

it's hard for you to be like oh yeah let me just get fully invested in like the character's moments right now yeah because you're hopping around a whole history and a freaking war and and all this other shit to live up to? Because you got, yeah, you got do world building and then talk exposition, necessary exposition, but the only thing I think they've really got a good grasp, like a solid grasp

on is Elron and Duren. That is the main thing that I'm like you keep the plot moving and you keep a character driven and it's the only time I feel like you're hitting all cylinders with those two. So whereas the other ones really

sway for me. This show, I would say a lot of things, maybe even most things to me, are interesting. Occasionally, things are very engrossing, and occasionally there are things that don't move me in one way or the other. And I hope, my hope is that they will hear some of these criticisms. And then for season two, you know, everyone has been up in arms about which rights they have and how much of just a fan fiction is this. And to me, now, I almost feel like, go even further into fan fiction. Like, keep the important continuity points

you need to keep while we figure out how canonical this will be regarded in the future. But, like, go even further. Don't worry as much about being respectful. Because this is just me projecting, I don't know, but I almost wonder, like, maybe they're trying to be a little too respectful to the stoicism and to a certain type of language.

Not just go in, like, yeah, really go in on characters, take some swings, take some chances. You might upset more people, but you might also gain more people to what you're doing that's interesting in this room. This has to be exciting. Yeah. This has to be exciting and emotionally gripping. And for some, I see you on social media, for some, it does hit those marks. And that's great for you.

I don't think this is a majority consensus that, like, most people, I don't feel like we have a minority opinion. no and nor do i share that other opinion about anything with a woman being woke like i don't share that side um but i think in terms of what the storytelling is and how that's being displayed i don't feel like we have necessarily an unpopular opinion about stuff uh i i but i do want to acknowledge that there is a complete opposite side where people people really are in love with this show and that's great that's that's really good that's really great to have that I see something like this though and I'm like this this these last two episodes really didn't be like 60 million dollars right and then you

forget you start to forget about those high production values in the wake of things like that and they can sometimes work work against I mean that's the thing is is I think you know the filmmaking barring some pace issues some of the times is usually pretty epic pretty world class and I can see some people really latching on to it from that perspective you know what a lot of this feels like lately in this show

to me it feels like the first half of the two of the two towers where it's just like a slow dark drama without any of the really compelling darkness that that movie had it's just like a drama

like a well because you're watching so many people be tested and I think that those movies, not to always harp this, but I think those movies had a better grip on, even your heroes, even your cipher characters have conflict and deteriorate and really have to go through the

hard battle of choosing to do good and do the right thing and follow the mission and people get corrupted and people experience remorse whereas I feel like here you have characters who are presented nobly, maybe misunderstood from the outside, but from your narrative

perspective, you're never given reason to suspect they might waver. You just know to trust their judgment because they, you know, are these archetypical characters. And, you know, again, I feel like that gray, not everything needs to be anti-heroes and, you know, like really grungy gray areas. But I think that harshness of the entire undertaking needs to be applied to the beauty of everything. And I feel like we only check in with that harshness when we, you know, go check in with the orcs. Yeah, I think you're checking with the darkness when it's like, this is a dark scene because there's violence happening. There's a shadow, and we got either wargs or orcs or something. Yeah, like it's a physically dark scene. Yeah. Well, that's the thing is I feel like the most effective elements, I feel like maybe, you know, like sometimes the physical elements are what sweet people up the most. And I feel like that's probably where I would imagine that's what works for the.

the people it works for the most yeah i think i just need everything to kind of i would end up with just saying i feel like i i'm getting this this this this craving for things just to hit harder of okay uh arndier and and and and uh god brownie brownwin brownwin um um i heard of brownwin i want to feel the desolation and and the fear i want to fear i want to fear i want to feel i want feel the fear of what they're dealing with i want to feel the desperate desperation of what they're stacked up against i want to feel that with the people the numinor the the again those same emotions of like i want to feel why they're going to war why they have to fight what they're afraid of instead of just laying out like facts about things and you know we got to fight yeah why

are these people fighting to protect and to vanquish i want i want that like why we must rise up why we must band together what will happen if we don't and you know as opposed to just like people talking council all the time yeah you know we we need that punch and and we're not quite there and we're five episodes in and i'm just like everything's just been fine It's always about to take off, except for episode four, which felt like it was actually taking off. You know, like even in the two towers, when the people of Rohan fought, like, joined the battle in the end of the movie, I'm like, we've only met them in this movie, you know? But when they join, you're like, fuck, yeah. Because the debate is really palpable, and you see where everyone's coming from, even if you agree,

with certain people more than others, and then you get that huge catharsis when they actually do make the choice. You can feel what it is of why they were afraid to join the fight, and then now they're in the fight. There's like this elf who dies in the two towers and this like really slow

away, and I'm like, I don't even know who this elf is, but when those elves show up in that fight, you're like, they joined the fight that didn't think it'd be happening, but here they are. My man, let's do it. Because you're so enrol, wrapped in like, oh, God. Now it feels impossible.

And Gimley have to lead these people into a fight that seems like there's no real odds in their favor. Yeah, it convinces you that this is all we have and we just got to work with it rather than leaving you to go, no, they'll show up. We just got to figure out how it's going to happen. I guess that's what we need is like we need to feel how we really need to feel the odds stacked against them and we need to feel how just horrendous and desperate everyone is. And it's, and maybe it'll get there. But right now, it just feels like talking heads about politics. Like, even for a Sealedor, I'm like, what the? It's hard for me to get him.

Like, I like him. He's like passably likable. And he, but there's like no real emotion for me of like, like, why do you, I'm kind of with his dad, like, what's your deal? Like, why, why do you want to find it? You seem really aimless. You seem like you're just trying to make a name for yourself because you want to make a name for yourself as opposed to

you're fighting for something you believe in that you need to be a part of or else you're going to regret not having been a part of this fight for your people like that's not the impression I get yeah I was with his friends when he goes to ask him to his buddy to sneak him on the guy the lieutenant no I want a good reputation I want to look good not this time I'll get with it this time I promise

that's what it seems it doesn't feel like there's something truly inspiring about about overcoming odds with anyone here and it's bumming me out yeah like that's the basis of your big

war fantasy idea is just what are the odds you got to overcome and then you rouse people up and you get together and here we are let's kick some ass like that's not as simple as it gets

yeah well and I don't know the way they've drawn to seal door is so far far if he just kind of feels a bit like a like a flippant character like uh well i guess uh screwed up well what's my next opportunity joining this uh royal guard thing all right i guess i volunteer for that yeah like this is our chance to meet assildur and assyldur was more interesting in the movies as a man of like the man who who could have been the savior yeah and like oh what was he and he gave

into the ring it's like the three minutes of screen time that man has by now is way more intriguing than anything we've got to know it. We should at least, yeah, see the seeds of his ambition and the seeds of his benevolence. Like, we should at least see a little bit of each of those. And right now, we see basic, like, a bit of... He doesn't seem like a bad guy, so that's benevolence enough, I guess. I feel like you got, like, spoil the Latin. Yeah, that's exactly what he feels like.

The brokeness is what she got. Richelette, who's still doing Aladdin shit, but he doesn't have to be. He's got all the means necessary to not be. doing like he's not connected with the people he seems to try to like you know um nepotism his way through life when he can yeah uh there's there's there's there's there's there's things about here i'm just like come on show you're you're i feel like you i feel like episode two set us up to get everything i'm kind of craving and then we just even episode four even though i thought that was technically the best one we've gone on so far didn't even do hasn't even didn't even deliver on

what I'm talking about. Episode two really starts setting us up for that of those qualities to start getting that and it still hasn't quite got there. And if we can just get there, I'd be a happy camper. Just that emotion. I'm just talking about the emotion. If you can just get us to the emotion, then you're set. Like anything else is like whatever, you know, like you can argue logistics over this

fictional world all you want. But if you can just get the emotion, you can solve a lot of problems. engaging show. Yeah. And you'll shut a lot of people up. Yeah. Emotion's everything. Yeah.

Emotion is literally everything. Yeah. And you're just not quite there. And I think you can even do that with stoic characters. Absolutely. Stoic people, you can totally pull that off. You know, Ryan Gosling, stoic is stuiced his way through some of this best rules. A Ryan Gosling elf.

Yeah, no, you absolutely can. Like, it's just about making the shades more subtle. but you got to put you got to put that stuff on the page or let your actors improv of it you know to some degree because a lot of the dialogue does feel more at least in this episode felt more like beats turned into debates they felt like debates yeah rather than real conversations and real convictions colliding you know you know yeah if we have stuff to praise if you've actually stuck around with our little weird journey with this show we will praise the shit out of thinking to praise. And when it works and it's working for us, I feel like we're both pretty overjoyed to say so. You know?

This has been, I mean, I am fascinated. This is fun to me, if only for the fact that I haven't had this experience with the show in a while, especially like here in this environment where we're like, man, this is a really strange up and down journey. I think next episode has to kick ass.

It has. I think episode six has to be the ass kicker. Like, I really think that. The story of this show to me is just constantly being painted into a corner of like you got to bring greatness now and i think your last three have to hit home otherwise like who's going to i mean you got to start winning over some people you got to start winning over some people like frankly here's the thing is you know i i do question like if we weren't covering this for the channel would i have really continued with this show or would i have been like eh i didn't get around to it i fell off you know

But because we cover for the channel, like, there's a consistency with having to view it. And I do wonder if, if, like, I was just on my own, if I would have just dropped the show, you know, out of, like, out of other things to watch that are more interesting. So, sure. Well, and as it builds up, it's got a, yeah, like, it doesn't even have very much of a form once you get distance from it. Because usually, I mean, you know, with a binge, I'll lose, you know, certain episodes of the line, obviously. but with these ones that are very much separated off like even then it still feels just kind of like a jumble of moments jumble of scenes but anyway guys that's it for today uh thanks for sticking around for long-ass discussion if you had coming to our ted talk and uh subscribe wink that bell leave a like we will chat with you all soon thank you

what'd you think of the episode yet that question too