Reminds me of a few years ago when I was trying to get to London. Options were MIA-CLT-LHR or CLT-MIA-LHR. No way to take the nonstop without the initial connection. Just plain wasteful. They can sell the seat on the connection. I know their intent, but isn’t that cutting off their nose to spite their face?

In your example, those unnecessary flights are losing revenue for them, so why inconvenience you? They’re still putting you on the last flight you want. They must believe that such inconvenience is going to cause you to buy a ticket. Problem is that you may buy on another airline.