>Honestly for a show that is just 7/10, I don't get why it inspires so much passion on both sides other than the fact it belongs to the Lord of the Rings IP.

The insane production costs.

Before it premiered there was almost non-stop news about how much money was poured into it, and now that it’s all done and over with the most that people can really say is “yeah it’s average”.

I think people expected the dollar amount to show on screen and left disappointed, especially when HotD was airing at the same time with a significantly lower budget and was doing gangbusters critically and commercially. I don’t care either way, but from what I’ve read this seems to be the main subject of discourse.