Why is Emerald Fennell’s live-action headcanon of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights a box office hit, even as critics are divided and literature fans and cinephiles recoil?

Fennell’s formula

Emerald Fennell, who wrote the screenplay and directed, has built a brand on pretty poison. This is her third feature film, after Promising Young Woman (2020) and Saltburn (2023), continuing her style of provocative, stylized storytelling.

Those quotation marks around the title are doing quiet work: this isn’t an adaptation of Wuthering Heights but, in Fennell’s own words, essentially her own teenage fever dream:

“I can’t say I’m making Wuthering Heights. It’s not possible. What I can say is I’m making a version of it. There’s a version that I remembered reading that isn’t quite real. And there’s a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never happened. And so it is Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”

It is, in effect, a pseudo-adaptation. Fennell extracts the most iconic, marketable elements—the Brontë name, Heathcliff and Catherine’s toxic pull—and filters them through her signature aesthetic: hyper-stylised, emotionally heightened, and engineered for shareability.

BookTok & romantasy

There’s a vast, TikTok-fuelled audience primed for this kind of trope-heavy gothic intensity. The romantasy boom, supercharged by BookTok, runs on familiar hooks: enemies to lovers, slow burn, souls intertwined.

Even before its Valentine’s Day release, Fennell’s elevated fan fiction was circulating across feeds. The film is visually sumptuous and inherently clip-ready, designed not just to be watched but to be excerpted, edited, and re-performed online.

What reads onscreen as excess—eroticism, emotional extremity, aesthetic overstatement—functions, in this ecosystem, as optimisation.

Gen Z

Fennell clearly understands her core audience: Gen Z women, the primary consumers driving BookTok and the romantasy surge. She gives them a smut-inflected tragedy built for fixation.

Many have rushed to defend the film, praising it as “more fun” than the novel, celebrating its “big emotions” and “sex-positive” framing, and admitting they “can’t stop thinking about it”—with the soundtrack lodged in their heads “rent free.”

One prominent Gen Z creator, Ellie-Jean Royden of Style Scholars, gamely attempts to rationalise Fennell’s changes to Isabella—transforming her from a survivor of domestic abuse into something closer to a romantasy proxy heroine, drawn toward Heathcliff’s cruelty rather than destroyed by it.

Star power

Jacob Elordi isn’t unappealing to women, but it’s post-Barbie Margot Robbie who commands a massive female fanbase. She’s far too old to play a spoiled teenager, and her bombshell, high-maintenance look is anachronistic for the period—but it fits perfectly with the film’s heightened, stylised world.

Prestige fan fiction

William Shakespeare got the Hamnet treatment, a kind of prestige fan fiction about his life. Now it is Emily Brontë’s turn. Her classic text is reworked to dial up emotional volatility, prioritising “vibes” over fidelity to the source material.

In both cases, creative liberties invent emotional backstories or motivations for canonical figures and works. Shakespeare’s genius is recast through family grief, while Brontë’s wild passion is reframed as modern kink and romance.

Why impose a contemporary emotional lens when the original is already profound and messy enough? The answer, possibly, is accessibility and marketability.

Loss of place

The novel is profoundly rooted in the rugged, isolated Yorkshire moors. Brontë’s prose evokes a specific Northern English world, where social hierarchies were rigid, outsiders suspect, and the moors themselves almost supernatural.

Fennell dilutes that local flavour. The moors are no longer a character in their own right, and the story becomes more universal, less tied to its English setting.

In flattening that context, the story shifts toward more familiar modern themes. This also helps fuel discourse, hot takes, and algorithm-friendly reactions, making it easier for the target audience to follow.

Why it wins anyway

Industrial factors still matter: a recognisable IP, a Valentine’s Day release, and a substantial marketing push aimed squarely at women.

Eye candy wins in our ADHD era. Fennell’s name generates buzz, and her films reliably deliver memeable moments. Add to that the glossy package—Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, a soundtrack by Charli XCX—and it’s engineered for circulation.

Fennell’s Wuthering Heights doesn’t so much adapt the novel as emotionally overwrite it, under the banner of a “personal” version. Critics can protest. Her audience has already delivered its verdict.

A clean sweep

Made on a $35 million budget, The Housemaid has cleaned up at movie theatres, sweeping past $250 million worldwide, outshining industry projections, and dusting off plans for a sequel.

Adapted from Freida McFadden’s 2022 bestseller, Sydney Sweeney stars as a young woman with a troubled past, hired by Nina (Amanda Seyfried), an eccentric housewife with secrets of her own.

With straightforward visuals, modest production design, and a lean runtime, it has all the hallmarks of a made-for-streaming flick—perfect for a night on the sofa.

Debatable star power

Amanda Seyfried has instant appeal for Millennial and Gen X audiences, her feline green eyes and killer cheekbones recalling Michelle Pfeiffer in What Lies Beneath. She gives the film’s clear standout performance.

Gen Z’s Sweeney may attract an older (yes, older) male fanbase, but she’s not been a box office draw. You could go out on a limb and say her loudest admirers aren’t terribly interested in her acting at all. Neither are exactly huge stars in their peak blockbuster phase.

It filled a gap

Directed by Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig, it was released stateside on December 19, 2025, benefiting from holiday crowds looking for non-family options amid the season’s big blockbusters. Heavy marketing and viral social media buzz—including reaction clips and Sweeney reposting fan content—helped amplify awareness, while solid reviews gave it an extra boost.

Popular source material

The Housemaid was a BookTok hit before it became a New York Times bestseller, with readers sharing viral posts that drove early sales.

It might be reductive to say BookTok is for girls who love books, coffee, and cute outfits, but it’s where fast, formulaic fiction and familiar tropes reign. It thrives on community-driven content: emotional reviews, hot takes, and character impersonations.

This built-in fanbase made the book an obvious choice for the screen. Lionsgate leaned into its viral status and sexy thriller vibe, producing a faithful adaptation that likely pleased existing fans.

No feminist masterpiece

Some fans have hailed The Housemaid as a feminist masterpiece. One writer counters that, while it aims for Gone Girl and Promising Young Woman territory, it lacks nuance and depth, with caricatured female characters, shallow relationships, and reliance on male saviour fantasies and “mad woman” tropes.

Revenge Movie Comparisons

Gone Girl remains a cold, immaculate masterclass in modern thriller construction, earning Rosamund Pike a Best Actress Oscar nod for her chilling, subversive turn as Amy Dunne.

Promising Young Woman, though messier, blends satire, thriller, and social commentary, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and earning nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.

From prestige to popcorn

That strain of glossy, female-led thriller is territory Paul Feig has already explored. His 2018 film A Simple Favour, adapted from Darcey Bell’s debut, is a colourful, campy dark comedy dripping in couture and martinis.

The Housemaid—now Feig’s biggest box-office success—is by contrast a straightforward popcorn flick: a mid-budget thriller supercharged by BookTok buzz, twisty ’90s-style thrills, smart Lionsgate timing, cast chemistry, and Amanda Seyfried gleefully stealing every scene.

End of a ‘golden era’ of fantasy TV

Like every other streamer, Amazon’s Prime Video wanted its own Game of Thrones–style fantasy based on a popular IP, investing heavily in both Rings and Robert Jordan’s sprawling The Wheel of Time. However, both shows drew fire for straying from the source material.

Over on Netflix, Shadow and Bone was one of the first big-budget fantasy adaptations to fall—cancelled in 2023 after two seasons—while The Witcher has had a rocky run. Viewership dropped after news of Henry Cavill’s exit, and the planned seven seasons have been cut to five, featuring new lead Liam Hemsworth.

Even HBO’s Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon has failed to capture mainstream audiences in quite the same way.

So when Prime Video announced it was axing The Wheel of Time, it spawned several articles about the end of a ‘golden age’ of fantasy TV.

The rise of romantasy

The very next month, Prime announced plans to adapt the Powerless trilogy, the viral romantasy hit by Lauren Roberts. Prior to this they acquired the rights to Rebecca Yarros' Empyrean series, beginning with the hit 2023 novel Fourth Wing.

Both sit firmly in the romantasy subgenre—epic fantasy blended with slow-burn, high-stakes romance. Sarah J. Maas is credited with kicking off the boom; her A Court of Thorns and Roses (abbreviated to ACOTAR) pushed the genre mainstream with its steamy tension and magical world-building.

While originally published in 2015, ACOTAR saw a massive resurgence in sales and cultural relevance around 2020–2021, as TikTok users began posting dramatic edits, thirst traps, and reading reactions.

This viral second life catapulted the series to the top of bestseller lists years after release—and opened the floodgates for other young adult (YA) and adult romantasy titles like Fourth Wing and Powerless to ride the trend.

Prime Video leads the romantasy surge

Romantic high fantasy is rare on TV. While Shadow and Bone blended romance with fantasy, few shows fully embrace the genre, and even ACOTAR remains in limbo after Hulu backed out of production.

Now Prime Video is positioning itself as an early leader in the romantasy space.

It’s already flirted with romantasy through Rings, and the long-running Outlander — which airs on the platform in the UK — could also fit the bill. But by securing the rights to Fourth Wing and Powerless, Prime has firmly established itself as the biggest investor in romantasy among streamers.

Paramount Pictures is adapting Divine Rivals, the first novel in Rebecca Ross’s bestselling Letters of Enchantment series, into a film. Netflix is re-entering the romantasy scene with Callie Hart’s Quicksilver, while Sarah J. Maas is reported by Variety to begin shopping the rights to ACOTAR this summer.

Fans are hoping Prime might take up the reigns—and rule the romantasy realm.

Avoiding the cancellation trap

Could new adaptations follow the same fate as Shadow and Bone or The Wheel of Time, with streamers arguably too quick to pull the plug?

Perhaps a more interesting question is whether showrunners will risk upsetting fans with changes to key plot elements, characters or timelines.

The final Powerless book only came out this year, while Yarros’ Empyrean saga just published the third novel in a five-book series. Quicksilver is the least established, with a second novel, Brimstone, expected this autumn.

Robert Jordan, Tolkien, and Andrzej Sapkowski—all male authors—have been around a lot longer. Tolkien wrote in the mid-twentieth century, while Jordan and Sapkowski emerged in the 1980s and 90s. Changes to their lore have sparked backlash, fuelling accusations of ‘toxic’ fandoms.

Maybe newer properties—with social media-savvy authors and BookTok readers already passionate about diverse stories—will be a more natural fit for streamers.

After all, it seems there’s still money to made in fantasy romantasy.

There isn’t really an equivalent to the “theatre kid” stereotype in the UK. In the US, "theatre kids" come with this whole cultural image: big personalities, show tunes at lunch, etc.

Over here, the performing arts aren’t as central or glorified in the same way. It’s an extracurricular that blends into the background.

During the Wicked press tour, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play Glinda and Elphaba in the movie, were made fun of for being emotional and "holding space" during their joint interviews.

“Why are Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo being so weird?” asked The Cut. The answer, echoed by thousands of X users, was: “Because they’re theatre kids!”

The “theatre kids” phrase got repetitive. They’re not kids. Erivo is British. And the real question is, why are we so weird about Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande?

People say “women supporting women” is fake in Hollywood, but then they have an issue with this chaotic duo getting on like a house on fire. At least they clearly loved their movie and weren’t just contractually obligated to promote it.

Then, their other relationships were scrutinized too. Mainly Ariana “I licked it so it’s mine” Grande, who started dating fellow cast member Ethan Slater, who’d been with his wife for a decade.

Fans don’t know all the details, but that didn’t stop a wave of social media hatred and calls to boycott the film, with one comment saying they couldn’t wait “to gloat” over an eventual breakup.

Even if Ariana is a bit weird, isn’t it even weirder to be so invested in celeb relationships? If she wants to date a married Munchkin that’s on her.

Lots goes on behind the scenes in the industry that the public never hears about. Yet now, a self-righteous online mob are practically demanding morality clauses. Here’s a tip: if you only want to watch actors with pristine private lives, boycott everything.

Why Wicked Works (Even for a Musical Cynic)

I struggled to pinpoint why I loved Wicked when I’ve disliked every movie musical I’ve ever seen. Musicals belong on stage. Hollywood stars bursting into song breaks any immersion, especially since their voices often aren’t as good as top-shelf musical theatre talent.

Fortunately, Cynthia Erivo has one of the best voices to hit Broadway in years.

Meanwhile, as Glinda, Grande has been called a “revelation”. Despite being famous for years, she’s just been named Rising Star at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

It’s a sign that she’s stepping into the adult acting world—marking a new chapter as she matures beyond the scandals of her twenties.

I’ve followed her career for ten years, ever since I saw her perform at a Seahawks game. She got her start on Broadway and she’s much more than just a pop star.

Her vocal ability is immense, and she’s also showcased impressive comedic skills through celebrity impressions and skits.

Yet, one Wicked fan commented, “I thought her casting was another instance of just putting a celeb in to make the movie more popular.”

I’ve seen many similar comments, and it’s evident that her true depth as a performer has been eclipsed by fan drama.

Oz, Uncanny and Dark

She does look sickly and washed out with her character’s blonde hair and pastel wardrobe, but the look fits with the movie’s desaturated colour grading.

Oz has a surreal, uncanny atmosphere—a place where everything appears whimsical but carries an unsettling undertone.

Apparently, the book Wicked by Gregory Maguire, which the stage version and now the movie are based on, is even darker, and definitely not for children.

The film takes off because of the blend of movement, music and joyful exaggeration. Director John M. chu has found the perfect tone, look and feel and cast to make it work for screen.

But I will lamentify if they separate Erivo and Grande for the press tour round two.

“We’re cooking. Let us cook!” said Patrick McKay, co-showrunner of The Rings of Power, when asked about the show's third season.

Is it a case of too many cooks? Having enraged Tolkien’s vocal fanbase with its lore changes, Rings also failed to dazzle on its own merits, or to create the sort of cultural and critical impact Amazon must’ve hoped for.

I wonder if the creatives and bosses can agree on anything, especially whether to try to win over the purists, whose online fury has heightened the negative buzz, or to explore it’s most controversial - and most exciting – aspect: the bond between its Dark Lord and Lady of Light.

Once season 3 is underway (and it will be, I have no doubt!), I think they’ll stick to the major beats of Tolkien’s second age tale.

That still leaves them with a lot of scope for original characters and plotlines. Here’s where I hope they take them…

Sauron

Amazon probably should’ve foreseen “Haladriel” becoming its social media breakout star, after the screen chemistry test for Morfydd Clark and Charlie Vickers (Burton and Taylor level simmer). But it was all a ruse before setting the characters on their paths as the main villain and heroine.

The writers were obsessed with their mystery box and too impressed with their Halbrand-is-Sauron fake out that they didn’t anticipate an online fandom invested in the emotional fall-out.

But what’s popular right now? Sarah J. Maas, romantasy and the enemies-to-lovers trope that’s a hallmark of the genre, with its tension, character development, and deep emotional connections. The Haladriel dynamic captured the imagination of mainly female fans, who share their artwork and fan edits on social media.

During season 2’s press tour with Celebrimbor actor Charlie Edwards, Vickers was a bit of a sourpuss about so-called “shipping”. (Maybe it was being called a “wimpy looking guy in a cheap wig crying like a little girl and simping over Galadriel” by Critical Drinker.)

Then last week, on a December press day with Morfydd, he’d changed his tune from ambivalent to full-on cheerleader.

Amazon’s customer research has noticed that the social media buzz is for Haladriel. I thought they’d knocked it on the head (“the door is shut!”) but it seems that the “ship” – or raft – is back, and Vickers has been ordered to start rowing.

Elrond

There’s a lot of valid criticism that can be levelled at this show. A LOT. But when people throw the acting on the scrapheap, I suspect they’re just going along with the crowd.

Because it’s a strong cast, and Robert Aramayo as young Elrond must be top 3. Exceptional actor.

The controversial “kiss” might go back to dialogues behind the scenes. I think there might have been an exec pushing for a romantic Galadriel and Elrond endgame. I think they’ve lost, and now we’re seeing everyone scramble to explain: “They’re European Elves!”

Galadriel is more fun more when she’s eerie and otherworldly. There’s something uncanny about her in the PJ movies. Elrond is the hero we need.

Galadriel

Speaking of… my favourite scene in season 2 is between Galadriel and Celebrimbor—her vision. Celebrimbor mentions an 'unexpected visitor,' and Morfydd manages to look and sound scared, yet somehow... excited at the same time.

I’m a huge fan of her acting, but she’s not like Rob or Charlie Vickers, who can act the shit out of the…script they’ve been given. it’s obvious when something doesn’t sit with her. She’s got this incredible inner world and her instincts are so spot-on.

Which means, please, giving up the sword and armour. Morfydd looks so uncomfortable as a warrior. Charlie looks like he wants to pick her up with one hand and go “Aww, how cute!” We needed more dialogue in their reunion, and to see her more tempted by him (even if it isn’t in the lore, snore) before ultimately being repulsed by his cruelty.

I’d love a plotline where she decides to “surrender” herself to him, just as a spy or something. Touch the darkness once more, etc.

Kemen

The lovechild of Draco Malfoy and Joffrey Baratheon, Leon Wadham’s Kemen has got so huge potential to be the most loathed character on TV. People are going to love to hate him, and he could unite the fandom.

Charlie Vickers nearly let it slip in an interview: it seems we’re about to see Sauron in Middle-earth, interacting with the ‘men’ of Pelargir. Arondir has departed to join his fellow Elves, leaving Kemen and Theo alone—two waifs and strays with serious daddy issues.

Or should that be wraiths?

Durin & Disa

Durin is a good guy, which means being king isn’t going to come easily. Especially with what sounds like a snake of a brother after his crown. Which is why it’s a good thing he’s got Disa in his corner.

I’m not sure how they’ve come to some sort of mountain-share agreement with the Balrog, but the Dwarves are one of the best storylines of the show.

Celeborn & Celebrian

Celeborn and Celebrian don’t exist in the world of the show, at least not yet, which has given Galadriel far more agency than she would with a wet blanket husband and a baby by her side.

It’ll be awkward to depict a baby who canonically grows up to marry Elrond. Todays’ audiences would find it off-putting.

If you’ve done much skulking around Twitter/X, you’ll know who half-Maia Celebrian is.

Hopefully Celeborn (and a hint of Celebrian) won’t be seen until the epilogue. Future spin-off right there.

Forever teetering between glory and ruin - mostly ruin - The Rings of Power is a messy show I love.

Its relation to Tolkien has always been questionable, but there were sparks of magic, and the amazing cast meant I was always going to return to this Middle-earth.

Post-season two, I’m drained by bad dialogue and character choices, along with more internal inconsistencies, slapdash production values (plastic knives in the prop department), and plot contrivances present on its first run.

Arguably the worst crime is the crowning moment of season two - the big showdown between Halbrand (AKA Sauron) and Galadriel, who’ve been apart for seven long episodes.

Why do I do this to myself?

Ring, Ring

Early on, Gal’s man is in Mordor to reclaim the Orc army from mutinous lieutenant Adar. Recast with the extraordinary Sam Hazeldine, Adar is an Amazon original creation even lore bros liked; he’s a battle-hardened warrior, poetry lover, and an unorthodox military strategist.

(Perhaps too unorthodox, but you can’t blame him if the writers’ room didn’t crack open a book on medieval warfare.)

Anyway, poor Adar. Nobody ever told him the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog.

With that enemy’s fate set in motion, Sauron slithers back to Eregion, styling himself as the celestial Annatar, convincing elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to fire up his forge and get crafting rings for men and dwarves.

On hand to annoy Annatar is my favourite character, Durin (Owain Arthur), who along with his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete), doesn’t get enough screentime to swing an axe.

Annatar looks at Durin like a bug he wants to squash. The dwarf prince’s instincts are right - the rings are like a mark, that once accepted, will allow Sauron to control the wearer.

Too late, tragic Celebrimbor sees through his disguise, but he doesn’t blame Sauron’s partner-in-crime Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), for keeping the dark lord’s identity secret, even when the artist formerly known as Annatar shoots him full of arrows and impales him on a pole.

Fifty Shades of Sauron

Celebrimbor and Annatar’s partnership came from Tolkien’s legendarium. The Halbrand/Galadriel entanglement emerged because the creators wanted to surprise viewers with their ‘clever’ Sauron twist. They didn’t count on a significant section of the audience wanting a Fifty Shades of Sauron spin-off.

I get it.

With ‘Haladriel’, I’d hoped the writers would come up with a satisfying explanation for their encounter and emotional bond. Perhaps it could be, as Galadriel put it in season one, “the work of something greater.”

Instead there’s a sword fight interspersed with dialogue so dire even George Lucas would blush. At first, Darth Sauron dominates, toying with Galadriel. Finally beaten, she throws herself off a cliff rather than join the dark side, à la Luke Skywalker in Empire.

In between, we have minutes of interminable swordplay. Remember when Galadriel was captured by Adar, and two Orcs picked her up and hauled her back into chains like the 5’3 woman she is? Now she’s a real physical challenge to this hulking god, who dotes on her like a surly pet.

While in Lindon, Galadriel was a study in heartbreak. Once she’s back on the warpath, all nuance is lost. Sauron is tender, he’s sadistic; she remains one note.

Empty dialogue jolts us from intimacy to the impersonal as Galadriel squeaks: "The free peoples of Middle-earth will always resist you!” Showing humility, confessing her own regret, or apologising for dragging a reluctant Sauron out of retirement? Nah!

After she fanned his flame as much as he lit up her shadows.

In the end, Galadriel tells her DILF (Demigod I'd Like To F$%^) to "Heal yourself!". Now all I can hear is Jordan Peterson telling Sauron to “Clean your room!"

Unfinished business

It’s going to be weird, seeing them merely as opposite forces of good and evil, especially when Galadriel is scarier than anything else running around the woods outside Eregion. She’s survived an ocean swim, a pyroclastic flow, and a fall the height of the Eiffel Tower.

You wouldn’t want to meet her down a dark alley in Mordor.

How can her husband Celeborn show his face in Middle-earth? He’s been missing while his wife has pursued Sauron and snogged Robert Aramayo’s Elrond, who’s all poised with the hero hairdo.

(Adar might have called him a pen-pusher, but this Elrond doesn't play; Isildur would get pitched off Mt. Doom, ring and all.)

I’d already wondered if they’d pair Elrond and Galadriel and go straight to Arwen, skipping Celeborn and Celebrían. The episode 7 kiss hinted they might have flirted with the idea, which would be even less popular with Tolkien fundamentalists than a flashback to a drunken night on Númenor.

Season 3

If only they’d focus on a few storylines with richer writing, closer to the lore. Due to time compression, the Númenor arc has been in a race to get to the bottom of the ocean, crying out for its own dedicated season.

Sauron will probably craft the One Ring before he goes back, and the king’s vile son Kemen (Leon Wadham) is already in Middle-earth.

Social media is (blood)thirsty for the Lord of the Rings to get his hands on Kemen. The show is likely to be officially greenlit for a third season, scheduled for 2026. It’s a long way off, and Sauron is on the rise.

Galadriel now will be nothing but his greatest adversary.

When Amazon Prime hired J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay for that massive production, now premiering its second season, they were relatively unknown. They had never led a major production or had any of their projects produced.

The first season was impacted by externalities such as lockdown and copyright limitations, although I suspect the showrunners’ inexperience, and whatever goes on in Amazon committees, might not be conducive to great creative output.

I can enjoy some middling Middle-earth action, and I'm happy for anyone able to love it while suspending their critical minds, watching Galadriel swim an ocean, master craftsman Celebrimbor lack basic material knowledge, Halbrand being "mortally wounded" then riding non-stop for six days for urgent elven medicine.

More Doctor Who than Dune 2   

My guess is that a lot of the audience stopped watching simply because the world-building and visuals failed to impress, invoking a particularly cringe-worthy episode of Doctor Who rather than a sweeping Dune 2. It’s not what they were expecting from a production that, repeat, cost over a BILLION dollars. 

This season at least looks darker and richer. Sadly, scenes still feel rushed. Dialogue is overwrought and characters spout platitudes. They don’t take the time to light the elves like celestial beings. The plot relies on contrivances. There are too many storylines, which was the case for season one and still is, judging by the first three episodes of season two so far.

We have The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), clearly meant to be a pivotal character later on. In fact let’s say it - he’s Gandalf, as the show isn’t that subtle. Gandalf still has amnesia and is searching for his origins. As much as I enjoy the odd couple pairing with Markella Kavenagh’s Nori, Gandalf wasn’t in Middle-earth during the time this story is set, where there’s already so much else going on. 

There’s several of these little mysteries, quests, and proto-origin stories, which always lead to silly articles speculating about the identity of this character or that crazy cult. It only cheapens the show. It’s a tacky trend in TV that needs to die.

The Númenor storyline slowly trickles on, as we sail like ships in the night past the political maneuvering of Ar-Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle). I guess the sea is always right. Isildur (Maxim Baldry) is pretty, but he didn’t need a sister, a girlfriend, or to act out Neverending Story with his horse. Then there’s Theo and Arondir, another two who could have sat out this season.

My prediction for Theo is that his daddy issues will eventually bring him under the sway of Sauron. I think he will become one of Sauron’s “marks” in a later season. He’ll discover his long-lost father was from a line of kings, then he’ll be getting some blingy new jewellery. 

At least the dwarves King Durin (Peter Mullan), his son Durin (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) quickly encounter Sauron (Charlie Vickers) in his new Annatar guise. Durin Jr. doesn’t get enough praise. He’s is a good father and husband, and although Disa is the "smart” one, he sees right through Annatar straight away.

Again, I admire the sheer audacity of the showrunners  

In the prologue, Sauron's twisted henchman Adar (Sam Hazeldine - I loved his “he gave me wine” speech ) spikes his boss’s head. Sauron puts up a fight, slapping a few orcs into the middle of the next Age and - it’s so dark it’s hard to see - yanks a sword out of his own back to keep swinging, before being shanked into a pile of goo.

We see him/it reform into Halbrand, who charmed Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel. Here I have to again admire the audacity of the showrunners. They took the serene being of light, Galadriel, and have her FALL IN LOVE with Sauron. It horrified the purists, but there was something about the Lady of Light being ridden to glory (Elrond’s description, not mine) by Sauron that cracks me up.

We know she later becomes the grave Galadriel of the Jackson trilogy, whose dark ominous undertones hinted at an internal battle between shadow and light.

The biggest mistake was Rings portrayal of Galadriel as an angry teenager whose day job is commander in her king’s army. Why cast intense, diminutive Clark as a strident warrior? Don’t cast her as Brienne of Tarth. Female characters can be strong and interesting without having to pick up a sword.

This season they play more to Clark’s strengths. Doomed love and creepy horror are things she does well. The spooky Sauron connection is one of the more compelling things in the show. And why is Gil-galad suddenly being nice to this royal pain in his neck? Does he know something we don’t?

My guess is they'll take the boring route of having Gal fight Sauron, before her magic ring suddenly unleashes some new power to kick his backside. Another guess is they put Elrond and Galadriel together, and make them the parents of baby Arwen, skipping Galadriel's husband Celeborn and daughter Celebrian altogether.

Sauron has PTSD

As for Season one Sauron, the show has nailed their colours to the mast on this one - sort of. They keep it "ambiguous" AKA all over the place. He was good, warning the old man to grab hold of something on the ship, then bad, leaving him to die 20 seconds later, then...whatever, he’s firmly committed to the dark side now.

He clearly has PTSD, with nightmares and flashbacks to the Orc murder of his Jack Lowden body. Like the showrunners, he hasn't got it all planned out. He's letting the tide take him. If he genuinely wanted some peace and quiet on Númenor to recover, he was playing a role with Galadriel.

For now he’s manipulating Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) into forging more rings. Vickers is blessed as an actor with a face that shifts from angelic to demonic, much like Hayden Christensen. All his scenes with Celebrimbor, the dwarves and Adar are first rate, and it’s frustrating that actors like Owain Arthur don’t get so much more to do.

So that’s it - I'm sticking with the show to enjoy the cast. I’ll be back next month to see how my predictions are faring. Meanwhile I can’t help but wonder where they spent all that cash.

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