A Ridiculous Number of Viewers Couldn't Even Finish Rings of Power

Revealing the series had broken Prime records, with 25 million viewers tuning in on the first day alone. However, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests the show's first season success may not have been as straightforward as it seems.

According to the report, only 37% of all viewers in the United States completed all eight episodes of the show. The completion rate was slightly better overseas at 45%, but still less than half of all viewers finished the series.

While comparing these completion rates with other shows is difficult, it's worth noting that a 50% completion rate is hardly a result to celebrate. Especially considering that for Amazon, it was a rather expensive original series.

Despite this rather worrying revelation, studio head Jennifer Salke attempted to defend the show. Calling it a "success in the story… [and that a] desire to paint the show as anything less than a success is not reflective of any conversation I'm having internally."

She also expects the show's second season to attract more buzz around the series, which she regarded as "a huge opportunity".

Naturally, many fans are not at all willing to agree with Salke's rosy vision of the show. Users on Reddit were quick to criticise its obvious faults, which likely led to the viewing decline. Much of the fan's disapproval focused on the series' lack of logic, suspense, and internal coherence in the show's plot.

As well as poor execution and writing, which relied heavily on CGI and lazy shortcuts.

One Redditor admitted the series' faults are not in its actors but its writing. "Lack of good writing and good characters. Galadriel's motivations don't make sense internally. The tempest inside of her was not convincing".

Not to mention the fans' anger over RoP's lack of care for the original Tolkien source material. In particular regarding the forging of the rings and the portrayal of the Numenoreans.

Another Redditor expressed their dismay that season one had polluted the books for them. "RoP has actually kind of ruined Tolkien for me… whenever I saw it alluded to it carried great awe and power. Now I think of those morons on the beach saying 'The sea is always right'".

Amazon may be presenting a happy facade over season one's supposed success. However, there is no doubt the fans feel very differently about the show's current state so far.

However, neither opinion of the series may matter in the long run. Considering the hefty price tag for season one ($465 million), it remains to be seen how much longer RoP will be permitted to continue at all, given its clearly underwhelming performance so far.