I Am A Swede

Thank you. Those are great. I do wish they had taken Chris Chittell's suggestion and brought Sandie back. Robert's return would have been a great moment to also re-introduce Sandie to the canvas, with a family of her own. It would have bolstered the Sugden presence on the show. (Yes, I know that Sandie's technically not a Sugden, but she's part of the family anyway, just like Matt, Dolly and Sam)

Well, well, well..... Apparently Amazon isn't happy with the reception this show has gotten. They deleted thousands of already approved reviews on the Prime Video website, practically all of them one-star reviews. But people noticed this and called Amazon out on social media over it, and lo and behold, shortly thereafter the reviews that had mysteriously vanished were back.... Seriously, the behind the scenes of this whole project is far more interesting than the actual show. It's been such a train-wreck.... Starting with Amazon's decision to make a tv-show about the Second Age, when the only thing they had the rights to that in any way involved the Second Age were the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings. And to make a 5-season long tv-show based on the information the Appendices contain is almost like adapting a book when you can only use what you can read on the back cover. And for that Amazon payed 250 million dollars!! Then appointing as showrunners two virtual unknowns, whose previous experiences were as uncredited writers on Star Trek Beyond! Surely they could have found someone with a little more experience? Having renowned Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey onboard and then firing him. Using Simon Tolkien as a series consultant. He once stated that he thought the Peter Jackson films were too faithful to the source material.... Moving the entire show from New Zealand to the UK, to enormous expense. The so-called "Tolkien superfans" video. The most cringeworthy video I think I have ever seen. Ever! (Ironically, these so-called "superfans" have not posted anything Rings of Power-related on their social media accounts) Amazon offering sponsorships to a YouTube channel, but not calling back when said YouTube channel emphasized that he would still give his honest opinion about the show, and not allow Amazon to dictate what he would say. (It makes you wonder about the potential bias of other channels who have praised the show....) Amazon-owned IMDb hiding (or even deleting) any reviews lower than 6/10. (At least they did for a while, I'm not sure this practice is still in effect.) Withholding the opportunity to review the show on Amazon's own site for 72 hours. To stop negative review-bombing they said. It went on for 7 days! Continuing the narrative of racist review bombing, even though almost none of the reviews I've seen after the show's premiere have made any mention of that. Most of the criticism have been about poor pacing, bad writing, stilted dialogue and unlikeable characters. The very odd press release they did, boasting that 25 million had sampled the show during the first 24 hours, without ever specifying exactly what they meant by sampled. And after that...nothing. No more audience numbers have been presented. It makes you wonder why, doesn't it?

Wow, I just heard that The Phantom of the Opera is closing on Broadway after almost 35 years.....

There are way too many characters on the show, regardless of age. Especially when they keep focusing on a select few anyway.

I much prefer this cast from 1978 ...or the original cast from 1972

We're exactly a month away from the 50th anniversary, and it feels like nothing is gearing up towards it. Naturally Queen Elizabeth's death has disrupted a lot, but if you didn't know a special anniversary was coming you'd never realize it....

There is no one on this show that is worthwhile anymore. Brad Bell and his writers have managed to make all of them unpleasant people. And the sad thing is that it wouldn't be that hard to make most, if not all of them, sympathetic. Just tweek their lines slightly and have them show some self-awareness. I remember when I watched the movie "Philadelphia" there was a female lawyer cross-examining Tom Hanks' character. She came off as a real bitch with the way she was treating him and her line of questioning. But when she sat down she whispered to her co-worker something about how she hated what she just had to do. That simple line gave her character another dimension, and in an instant your perception of her changed. A few lines here and there of that sort in this show could do wonders.

That was sweet. I've looked, but I can't seem to find anything similar from Coronation Street or Emmerdale. On another note, I just can't get used to seeing Kellie Bright all grown up like that. I still see her as the young teen she was on The Upper Hand.

About time he came to his senses. He's had a brilliant career, but like Serena he should probably have ended it earlier. Clinging on desperately like they have both done is not a flattering way to go out.

A rare sight! A Queen greeting a Queen....

Yes, I have seen all of that. And yes, Brooke has done stuff like this before, which is exactly why putting her through it again, and in a way that would be even worse than before, would be the final straw for her as a character. Maybe you think I'm being overly dramatic, but think about it. If this would happen, where do you see Brooke after that? What would be left for her? She would have nothing and no one left. What could you possibly do with her character then? It would be writing her into a corner from which there is no escape.

Not even Brad Bell could be that stupid!! Or could he? Brooke has already been severely damaged as a character by these kind of stories, but to do it again would ruin her beyond repair. Not even KKL could save her after that, and I don't see how she could possibly remain on the canvas after that. The only way that would work is if it's really Sheila in a Brooke-mask, but that would ruin the show in another way and place it in DOOL-territory.