HONESTLY Vivian’s confession, everything she did to protect her sister and father, all those mistakes and Marlowe’s sniffing them out are a perfect example of how you do it right. Looking at you, Neo-Perry Mason. Like, yes, everything that happened was sordid and awful and the world is bleak and poisonous but if that was all it was, if that’s the one truth that’s important, why on Earth would a woman like Vivian put herself through all that? She may not have any reason to love her father and sister but she DOES and she goes to great lengths and makes a lot of mistakes and goes through plenty of pain to keep them as safe and happy as they can be. Is she a good person for this? No. But it’s perfect proof that although the relationships of all these characters are fraught and more than often doomed, they are not worthless and in each person’s own inept way they do try to honor them, even if they do it wrong and manage to show so little love that you’re not even sure if it’s there at all
