I definitely used to feel this way, and I haven’t seen Rings of Power, so I can’t speak to it, but I’ve been steadily growing more open to the idea of people adapting the setting and building stories within Tolkien’s universe.

I read an article that said that the Ghost Game show was intentionally built up as a villain of the week show, with a minimal overarching plot, because the creators were aware of how successful tiktok and short form media was.