As the first season of “The Rings of Power” winds down, I find that Stefano Rebeggiani’s assessment of the series in the Sept. 23 issue has proven correct: None of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “aesthetic and philosophical impact” is anywhere to be found in the show.

Whereas there was still some hope for future character development and a deepening of “Tolkienian themes” in the first two episodes, that is now gone. The series’ shallow characters seem to stumble from episode to episode while major plot holes go unexplained. Perhaps our society is no longer able to ponder the existential questions that formed the heart of Tolkien’s mythology.

— Laura Carey, Playa del Rey