As much fun as it has been to revisit the realm of Westeros, this is the show that I have been dying to see, looking forward to the imminent return to Middle-earth and its creatures. A lot of fuzz has been made about the show and the liberties taken by Amazon, and I honestly couldn't care less as it seems like the same people who want to hate on anything, and would probably have hated on the films had social media been around back then. This first episode was an epic return to this world with new introductions to fascinating characters and a looming threat.
With the great love I have for Tolkien's novels, I was ready for this to be a different tale than what he ever wrote. And while the show is definitely not a one-to-one adaptation of his stories, it feels like a piece of Tolkien writing. J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay definitely brought out the big guns and wrote to the strengths of the characters, coming up with a first episode that sets up this giant world with multiple characters that I am excited to follow over the next few weeks. The beginning was great and kinda jumped over what I thought the show was, but the fact that I'm not sure what we're going to see is actually what makes me even more excited to tune in every week. For all the pacing issues that this episode had been accused of, I saddled in for a long ride, but actually found it to be rather smoothe. Sure, there are certain scenes that could have been a little shorter, but they never bothered me as I was fascinated by all the conversations the characters had and the level of detail the writers put into the language. The Elves take up a big part of this episode, but the Harfoots get some screen time and they are adorable. I'm glad that Morfydd Clark is getting a big role that people will see, because she is a massive talent and someone to look out for. She did great as Galadriel and is a promising lead for this.
"A Shadow of the Past" is a promising start to this show and sets the stage for whatever's to come and I'm here for it. All the characters feel like Tolkien creations and the world seems as ripe for stories as it did when Peter Jackson's films came out, so I'm very happy right now.