Then we have the new characters introduced in 2 and 3. Did most audiences really care about Holdo, Rose, the literally unnamed DJ, Jannah, or Zorri? Snoke had potential but that was cut off before anything could grow.
The difference is in TLJ the secondary characters move the character arcs along, whereas in TRoS they’re just kinda there.
In the end, there was no real arc for Finn, so that renders most of TLJ’s characters kinda there. Canto Bight, DJ, Rose…if Finn HAD died in TLJ, it would’ve been at least some form of resolution. The fakeout is basically the end of his character path in the sequels and it’s pretty weak.