The hate that this show is getting I belive is purely due to the fact that people decided not to like it before it came out. The visuals are the best we have ever seen on TV im my opinion and the casting feels almost perfect. Whilst of course the show does not fit perfectly with Tolkien lore it does the best it possibly can with what they have rights to. The plot is engaging and it brought me right back to Middle Earth, the first two epsiodes were beautiful and they left me wanting more.
Amazon took a large risk with this and expecially its budget but so far I think it has payed off.