‘LOTR: The Rings of Power’ Creators Break Down Orc in the Kitchen Scene From Episode 2

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 2, “Adrift.”]

Orcs are nothing knew to J.R.R. Tolkien fans. Knowing this, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power team devised a way to refresh the fear the beastly creatures produced upon first watch of The Fellowship of the Ring in its premiere episodes. The Rings of Power orcs were seen in brief snippets in the Episode 1 prologue — first in gruesome battle with Galadriel’s brother, Finrod, and the rest of the elf army, and then in a short moment set in the aftermath of the war. In what felt like a shout-out to Gollum’s first Fellowship appearance, one orc pops its head up to show its eery, beady eyes through the trees of a hazy, shrouded forrest.

The first up-close-and-personal encounter with an orc came in Episode 2, “Adrift,” when Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and teen son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) are attacked by an orc in their home. As Bronwyn and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) discovered for themselves, orcs had been digging tunnels underneath the towns of the Southlands and springing up through holes in the floorboards to attack residents in their homes. Bronwyn and Theo found themselves in the same dire straits, but came out the other side victorious (that quick cut of Bronwyn going in for the kill to her slamming the orc’s head on a tavern table for the whole crowd to see? *Chef’s kiss*. No notes. Our compliments to the editors.)

During a press screening of the first two episodes of The Rings of Power on August 23 in New York City, creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay explained the inspiration behind what they call “the orc in the kitchen scene”: Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.

In the killing of Gromek scene, Hermann Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling) proves himself difficult to kill. Newman’s Professor Armstrong and a farmer’s wife (Carolyn Conwell) attempt to kill the man, only they can’t use the available gun lest the taxi driver outside hear the commotion. Each attempted fatal blow fails to kill Gromek, but he eventually meets his end when Armstrong and the woman force his head into a hot oven. The scene runs about eight minutes long. It was drawn out so long because, as Hitchcock said of the sequence in Hitchcock/Truffaut, “It was time to show that it was very difficult, very painful, and it takes a very long time to kill a man.”

McKay and Payne imagined this scene as the blueprint for their first orc fight in The Rings of Power, pitching the moment to J.A. Bayona, who directed Episodes 1 and 2.

“He’s impossible to kill. They’re stabbing him, they’re shoving his head in the oven, and it just goes on and on and on,” McKay described of the Hitchcock sequence. “We were like, what if that was an orc? And instead of Paul Newman, it’s a mom and her kid? And that was it, Bayona was sold forever.”

Related

'LOTR: The Rings of Power': Who Is the Stranger? 3 Theories

“We also wanted to reinvent orcs from Middle-earth to show how difficult it could be [to fight one],” Payne added. Since it’s been eight years since the last Peter Jackson Tolkien movie (2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and 19 years since The Return of the King, the Prime Video show set out to remind viewers how terrifying orcs and the threat they pose can be.

“Sometimes you just see them as video game characters,” Payne said, “but when you’re fighting orcs it means something.”

The creators used some well structured suspense in the scene, waiting until absolutely necessary to show the monstrous orc’s full form. First, there’s a jump scare when Theo sees the orc’s eye through the floorboards. Then there’s its eerily slow hands creeping out from below, its fingers tipped with long, black, pointed talons for nails. The monster was only seen in glimpses as Theo and Bronwyn hid in cupboards in their kitchen. And when we finally saw its full form, its flesh looked skinned and its strength seemed unmatched.

Like the Torn Curtain scene, the orc keeps going even when impaled (several times), beaten, and hung. But Theo and Bronwyn were able to take it down, making for one of the most exciting scenes of the first installment.

Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring created a suspenseful entrance for its first orc fight as well. In the ruined Mines of Moria (Khazad-dûm is shown in its former glory in Episode 2), Pippin Took accidentally sent an armor-clad dwarf skeleton down a long well, alerting the orcs to their location. Just when the fellowship thinks they’re safe, drums start to beat, and they prepare themselves for battle. The orcs massively outnumber the fellowship (and as Boromir cheekily bemoans, “they have a cave troll”), making for a doozy of a fight. As the clash begins, Gimli cries out, “Let them come! There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!”

Clearly, being massive in number and fiercely out for blood won’t be the only way orcs threaten Middle-earth in The Rings of Power. What did you think of the orc in the kitchen scene? Did it have you on the edge of your seat like Fellowship‘s first orc attack? Let us know in the comments, below.