I didn't find the photos necessarily bad or easy to replicate at all. Taking pictures of people is intimate and challenging thing to do, especially if you don't know them well.
I'm also not one to critique photos from a technical perspective, and tend to go by feel in my own and others photos.
I'm similar. Critiquing a photo from a technical perspective is the low-effort way to do it. Getting a technically good photo is probably the easiest thing to do.
When I was more serious into photography back in the day, getting a photo that can express what I wanted it to feel or the story I wanted to convey was much harder.
I'm also not one to critique photos from a technical perspective, and tend to go by feel in my own and others photos.