Isn't this a case of nervous passengers and 2+2 = 5 or more? I say that as a nervous passenger myself! It seems, though, that a connection was made between the bumpy inward flight and the jammed door. I can't say I see the link. Presumably the plane was balanced on its way in? If there had been the same weight problem on the previous flight, wouldn't that too have been flown with all the passengers down the back?
Where TC went wrong was in not getting everyone on to the plane and then telling them to sit anywhere. It's far easier to refuse to board rather than demand to get off again. Once on the plane, the captain could then explain why everyone needed to sit at the back and, more importantly, why safety regs allow him/her to fly the plane with a jammed (and locked anyway) cargo door. He/she should then have broken the link to the incoming bumpy flight by telling everyone how bad the turbulence had been on the way over and to apologise in advance for the expected bumpy flight home.
I think pilots sometimes forget that the bulk of their passengers find flying unnerving to a greater or lesser degree. 2 minutes spent explaining that the flight might not be very comfortable but certainly wouldn't be dangerous could have saved TC lots of time and bad publicity. In light of the AF accident recently, airlines and crew ought to be mindful that passengers are currently more worried than they were three weeks ago about flying in turbulent conditions. Irrational? Of course. It doesn't seem that way, though, six miles up when the plane appears incapable of flying in a straight line!