Emo Sauron

There’s a point in episode two of the new season of The Rings of Power where Sauron (yes, as Halbrand, but still now very known to us as Sauron) is standing outside of Celebrimbor's home in the rain looking as if he might cry. I’m half surprised he didn’t bust out a boombox and start playing “In Your Eyes”.

Look, I get that Sauron is a somewhat nuanced character. Certainly more so than Morgoth. He takes many forms in order to trick people. I just didn’t really expect one of them to be Emo Sauron.¹ It’s a weird look, quite literally.

In The Lord of the Rings films, Peter Jackson wisely utilizes the famous lesson from Jaws: show the shark less. Now some of that may have simply been practical with budget constraints and the lack of CGI in the 1970s. But still, it works. And it works with Sauron in the film trilogy. We see the dark lord as a complete and utter menace in the opening montage. And we see him as an all-seeing eye. We even see his “mouth” at one point. But such brief and indirect glimpses allow us to build his terror up in our minds.

In Rings of Power, we see a bit too much of Sauron. He’s a little too… relatable?

Again, he’s supposed to be more nuanced than just some form of Satan, I get it. But I also think we perhaps could benefit from say, him morphing from an awfully emotional man into perhaps a 12-foot demon to fuck some shit up at times? Or a vampire? As was written! How about even just a wolf?

Another related oddity in the show: in the pre-amble to the new season, we get a glimpse of Sauron's first demise. After Morgoth falls, Adar stabs him in the back, quite literally. (Fine, sort of the shoulder/back, with the crown of spikes, harsh!) But it’s not Charlie Vickers playing Sauron as he does in the first season of the show. It’s Jack Lowden in the role of some other human form of Sauron.² They attempt to explain this with exposition but it's weak. I have to believe they really did this as a way to try to ease the transition of Adar from one actor to another. But it would have made a lot more sense if the actor playing Sauron was set to change this season — as had been rumored. But as we head back to our current plot, there’s good old Charlie Vickers.

To be clear, I did very much enjoy Vickers in the first season and thought they did a good job with the ultimate Sauron reveal. Yes, those following along closely enough were likely aware what was going to happen, but still, it’s executed well. Again, this season is starting out more problematic. And I think part of it is that we’re now seeing way too much of Vickers, knowing he’s Sauron. I think they probably should have cast someone else to take over the role – and given the transition of Halbrand to Annatar – the "Lord of Gifts" – they had an obvious chance to do that. Instead we get Vickers prettied up in a blond wig.

I'm a little worried. There are a mere six episodes to go and we remain fixated on don't-call-him-Gandalf-but-keep-alluding-to-him-as-Gandalf stuck in the desert, quite literally. He's looking for his staff – sorry, "gand", GET IT? – and "Dark Wizard" is looking for him. We need Tom Bombadil in here ASAP.³

One more thing: After River Cartwright Sauron is murdered and his essence oozes into the cracks, the whole thing is a bit too Gollum meets Venom. We all get what they're trying to do, but it's just a weird sequence. Maybe a Cate Blanchett voice over could have saved it – that would have been a fun call-back to the films? – or even a Morfydd Clark one alluding to that film opening?

Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!

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¹ What do we think of the "Sorry Ron" nickname? Too Trump-like?

² It doesn’t help that Slow Horses is currently quite popular -- and rightfully so -- at the moment.

³ More of an strategic aside, I find it strange that Amazon released the first three episodes here at once. Two makes sense to stoke demand, but three seems like overkill -- especially when you only have 8 episodes total. It's almost half the season! It's just too much. Which is why I've only watched the first two thus far.