Second episode was ok... My fear is that the series will lack substance, but i can say i enjoyed it quite a bit. Did basically the same review as you and came to the same conclusion.
People are sick and tired of the current Star Wars BS and faith in the franchise is at an all time low so this series couldnt come at a better time.
your last sentence is totally true. This may serve as a stepping stone to garner interest for the final SW movie next month (i think it is next month). Even though the last one really pissed me off (and many others) I probably would have gone to go see it anyway and so are all the other pissed off fanbois.