There are plenty of criticisms that you can level at the Rings of Power, Amazon's TV series set in the Second Age of Tolkien's Middle Earth. I don't dislike the show as much as some people, but the first season didn't really work for me. That's partly down to the show's creators, but I also have a lot of sympathy for them because they face what might be an impossible task.
I'm skeptical that The Lord of the Rings, or any other story from Tolkien's mythology, can really work as a TV series. It's a square peg in a round hole situation. TV as a form just doesn't play to the strengths of Tolkien's vision. To understand why, we have to look closer at what makes Tolkien stories special and also what stories TV is best at telling.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy consists of epic high fantasy novels. Fantasy is a genre indicating a story with supernatural elements. High fantasy means a story told in an alternate or secondary world, and epic means a story that has the highest possible stakes, like the fate of the world. However, the word 'novel' is crucial here. A novel is a form that focuses on ordinary people and plots structured by their choices and conflicts, unlike epics which are more rigid with characters bound by fate.
In Tolkien, the characters reflect shared values of fellowship, courage, and hope amid darkness, larger-than-life figures like Aragorn and Gandalf. The films directed by Peter Jackson managed to capture this epic essence, as films are able to convey completeness with a sense of finality in their stories, which TV struggles with due to its open-ended nature.
TV is better suited for character-driven narratives, making adaptations of Tolkien challenging. The Rings of Power tries to balance epic storytelling with complex characters, but struggles, as seen in season one. An attempt to dive into characters’ psychology, especially with second age myths, is difficult.
The article suggests that Tolkien’s epic narratives might not fit TV’s format. Movies like those directed by Jackson leverage elements of film to convey these epic tales effectively. The struggle of transforming mythic sagas into TV serials often ends in sacrificing core elements vital to Tolkien's vision.