I would argue that the fact that these interpretations can be rendered from the movie alone

It's not, though. That's my point. Barring Finn being force sensitive, nothing you mention is obvious or supported by anything except your own expectations.

If VIII had built on any of it, at all, we likely wouldn’t be having this discussion. We would be talking about how VIII took the threads of familiar from the previous movie and actually made it good.

Or if Abrams had the courage to follow through, we would have something that wraps up VII and VIII in something that wasn't such a cluster fuck. Or maybe it would have all been even worse either way. We won't ever know. Speculating "If it was better, I would have liked it" isn't proof of anything.

Any collaborative story teller worth their salt can draw the through lines for some of these characters and tropes. It’s not on Abrams for choosing to leave the story about space wizards open ended on what is the opening note of a familiar trilogy.

We can't blame Rian for "ignoring" plot hooks that weren't there. What vague questions were asked, he expanded on. For everything else, people were left to create their own expectations like yours that didn't line up with what he chose to do. There is no outcome that would have left any number of people satisfied that wasn't even more of a retread.

This trilogy is a narrative mess and it got that way because of Johnson having no skill as a collaborative story teller and likely little love for Star Wars.

What an incredibly self-centered statement. To question and even deny someone's care for something just because it's not the way you want them to is just callous and cruel. Nobody is obligated to care the same way you do, and Rian obviously cares for the franchise and has said as much, even saying he'd come back for more despite the extreme reaction he's gotten so far. Nobody puts up with shit like that for something they don't care about deeply and that should be welcomed and encouraged. Accusations like yours won't keep a fandom or franchise healthy - it just pushes everyone reasonable away and leaves the bitter, angry leftovers that nobody wants to touch.