Yo why is Demetrius Desmond so valid? He doesn't understand people, so he stays away and focuses on himself, he doesn't understand anyone but that means no one understands him either. He's alone. His father only cares about his studies. His brother puts him on a pedestal. His mother does care but he rarely sees him. Tbh the Desmond family all need help, the father, is an asshole as he only cares about his children's test scores and none at all about their well-being, the mother, she cares lots about her kids but only sees her husband in them, the older brother, distant, he clearly has a mental disability that is unaddressed, the younger brother, a child who feels that he has to live up to these unrealistic expectations just to be seen by his own father, this family really needs help low-key. Then there is the dog, the sweetheart of a dog who is just a big boof.
Edit- Donovan also isn't completely an asshole, he suffered through his childhood as a war was happening in the time of his life where children absorb things that make them how they act as adults and Melinda is terrified of her husband, this alone is traumatic for both and they projected it onto their children, continuing the line of suffering under others gazes.
