I think that the people interviewed probably just were not deeply involved in those characters or emotionally attached to those characters. Probably if you talk to the individual writers, who got deep into those characters, you would’ve gotten a more compassionate response. That’s the problem with hearing from the people who are at the top, but not necessarily involved in the gritty details.
By the same token, if I'm asked about something my employee had created - I'd defend the Employee, too. That's just good manners.
