[hanoz]

So how can this craft orbit a point that is not a gravity well but a gravity hill, so to speak?

[Symmetry]

It's a gravity saddle! From Earth's perspective it's a hill in the r direction but a well in the phi/theta directions. To orbit at a location always visible from Earth it needs to move in the phi/theta directions but moving the the r direction doesn't help, so it doesn't.

[Latteland]

And you clearly know this but i had to refresh my own knowledge of spherical coordinates - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_coordinate_system