It’s like the flavor of Dr pepper.

It’s neither root beer, nor cola. Nobody knows what it is, those who say they do, don’t. Because it’s both, and more.

This isn’t a black and white issue, it’s difficult to approach this in a way that doesn’t immediately throw you into one side or the other. Pandering is literally indulging someone, often to get what you want. They were able to execute that in excellent fashion. If you took anything away from the episode as being one-sided, you need to rewatch the episode.