If you completely skipped playing TP, what have you missed from the Zelda series?... nothing. If you can think of anything TP does that a previous Zelda doesn't do better, let me know.
I wouldn't even be this harsh. TP is unique in the zelda series in that it actually has a good main character and solves the problem of having a deep character with progression while also having a silent protagonist avatar. I do think TP was disappointing on the whole but midna is still one of the major accomplishments of the series. the problem is that pretty much all the good characterization went into midna and we got a world full of people we couldn't care less about, malo and telma being the only other real standouts.