An engine surging whilst unpleasant, is not massively urgent to deal with or carry out an immediate return. Reduce thrust, get it running idle, or then shut it down if it continues to misbehave. Unless there is more to this situation, plenty time for checklists, coffee, reassuring PA etc. If your not on fire and have fuel in tanks, your better in the hold having a little chat dealing with matters calmly without rushing. I know little of this event, but if overweight, too much fuel and able to dump it, likely this crew had other concerns or misinformation making them immediately return. Ultimately they landed safely, frankly that's all that matters until the investigation afterwards.