There is no justification for something this awful to exist. The aesthetics are the only thing that isn't a complete letdown. Every line of dialogue is absolutely meaningless, and the poor writing just serves to make the average (at best) acting even more absurd. The characters are absurd and it is obvious that much effort was made to steer them away from what Tolkien wrote in the first episode, which adds nothing to what you already knew from the teaser. Totally unacceptable. Go watch the LOTR movies, then call it a day.