User blog comment:Flagator24/Is Ezekiel over or underrated?/@comment-11883116-20180825042845

Um, you mean overrated and underrated in terms of popularity? I assume so due to the point about "punching bag". In that case, Ezekiel can't be overrated since he doesn't have many fans.

By the way, you used the term "punching bag" incorrectly, as shown when you mention the four main contestants. Sure, all of them got a lot of misfortune and each of them have been tortured from time to time, but none of their example is as bad as Ezekiel's. In fact, Owen rarely has something bad happening to him. The love triangle too, with their most unfortunate events coming mostly in a few specific episodes. Even Heather's status as a butt monkey was toned down in seasons such as TDA or TDAS.

I believe the term you were looking for were "creators' pets" or something like this.