Fullstack Interactive Comments Section - Next.js and Express

My main concern is with the way I load data and handle it. I know that I could improve the UI by rendering a loader or something, but my main concern is with the all of the optional chaining that I had to do to avoid causing errors/bugs. I had originally thought my selective rendering would be enough to avoid needing the optional chaining. Is there a better way to handle loading the data and THEN rendering?