Rings of Power S2 Quality Could Plummet Even More Amid Writers Strike
Without showrunners on set to control the process, the problems of already-criticized TV show could be exacerbated.
The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a fantasy TV series based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, received a mixed reception upon its release.
While critics were positive, giving it a score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, viewers were not as impressed, with an audience score of only 38%.
The main points of criticism were the characters, which were called empty and uninteresting, and the writing, which most viewers found weak and boring.
There was hope that the second season of the series would take this backlash into account and improve on these aspects, but with a recent update, fans' hopes have been almost completely dashed.
With the Writers Guild of America strike currently in effect, the rest of the season's production, which has yet to be completed, will continue without showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
The rules of the strike prevent them, along with the writers, from participating in any writing activities until the end of the strike.
Although the script is obviously already finished, the absence of two key members of the production team will almost certainly have at least some negative effect on its quality.
In addition, any changes to the script, which are sometimes necessary in case of unforeseen problems, can't be made now.
With only 19 days of filming left, most of the process is probably already done, since it started back in October 2022, but different scenes require different levels of writer involvement, and we don't know what scenes are left to film.
Perhaps the writers' absence won't be as damaging if it's the fight scenes, which typically aren't as dialogue-heavy, but even those require the showrunners to keep things in check.
Fans joke that given the underwhelming quality of the first season, maybe this is good news, because in a weird way it could only improve the show. Or that it might not affect the season at all, for the same reason.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is expected to be released in 2024.