Rings of Power, episode 1
The show is reportedly based on a license of only one set of Tolkien's writings: the appendices of Lord of the Rings, primarily the events of the "Second Age". As a result, it mixes events from the "First Age" that are mentioned in the appendices into the Second Age, which makes the show inconsistent with The Silmarillion.
Besides timeline changes, the biggest plot change in episode one is that the destruction of the Two Trees is attributed directly to Morgoth (Sauron's master), rather than to the evil, insatiably gluttonous spider Ungoliant (mother of Shelob, the huge, evil spider in Lord of the Rings).
There has been a lot of buzz about casting, particularly Tolkien's character Galadriel, the show's character Arondir, and the Harfoot Hobbits.
Galadriel was described as having "golden" hair. In The Silmarillion, her talented but dangerously obsessive cousin-once-removed Fëanor asked her for a thread of her hair, with the intention of incorporating it into jewelry. She found Fëanor creepy and refused. (Fëanor's father Finwë is Galadriel's grandfather.) Thousands of years later, in Lord of the Rings, the dwarf Gimli, of the Fellowship, makes the same request - shocking elves, who had all heard about Fëanor. But he makes the request so graciously that she grants his request. He puts the hairs into jewelry.
Also on the matter of Galadriel, she plays a minor part in The Silmarillion, and a brief but critical role in Lord of the Rings. She's wise throughout, and although she doesn't do a lot of fighting, she's most definitely very powerful and skillful. She would have no problem with trolls - though by the time of Lord of the Rings she could probably defeat them just by staring them down until they faint.
There was never a character named Arondir in Tolkien's published writing. But as presented in the show, he is a sylvan elf, which is one of several ethnicities of elves collectively known as "dark elves".
Per Tolkien, the distinction between "elves of the light" and "dark elves" is whether they saw the two luminous trees that Galadriel saw - not anything to do with skin color. But if a character is called a "dark elf", why not have the character be dark of skin, as well as dark in the sense of not seeing the Two Trees?
Given the plot points about Galadriel's golden hair, portraying her with any other hair color would contradict Tolkien. But portraying a dark elf with dark skin is perfectly reasonable.
Additionally, the Harfoot Hobbits are described by Tolkien as darker of skin than other Hobbits, so portraying them with dark skin is to be expected.
The result is that the show is, in places, a shaky rendition of Tolkien's universe. But that's a matter of story, not casting, which is solid.
Although the show diverges from Tolkien's universe (and presumably will expand on it in later episodes), it's very good in other respects. And as spectacle, it's fantastic.
Audience: two (streaming at home)
Snacks: ice cream
Ads: none.