With the second season of "American Crime" winding down, it has become apparent that a happy ending is not on the horizon. The idea that all of these loose ends will be tied up with a pretty bow misses the point "American Crime" tries to make -- which is essentially that life is messy. I know this to be true, and yet I want some sort of bow for Kevin LaCroix. I desperately want him to actually deal with his own complicity, and I'm not sure he ever will.
This entire season, Kevin has made terrible decisions, and proven his feelings of entitlement. From the way that he pressured Val to "be fun," implying that she sleep with him, to how he spouted off about Taylor Blaine before his basketball buddies tracked him down to beat him up, Kevin manages to excuse away his misogyny and homophobia at every turn. It's no wonder. His parents enable his behavior.
Terri and Michael LaCroix are the two characters I most want to slap in the face on this show. Terri has spent the better part of the season thinking she and her son are better than everyone simply because they have money. Their socioeconomic class shields their perception of their own race in a way that has been shown to be damaging throughout the show. Terri, for example, will leverage her black identity with a police officer friend on the local police force, but turns down her nose at black people she thinks want some kind of hand out or extra support. It's not a good look.
She has evolved ever so slightly. We have seen her recognize her own shortcomings and change course. The tragedy at The Leyland School has affected her deeply. Instead of her first instincts to protect Kevin at all costs, she encourages Kevin to talk to her and "tell the truth," implying that it doesn't matter how terrible the truth is.
It is this moment that shows a glimpse of Kevin accepting some of his own culpability in what happened to Taylor Blaine, as well as Wes's death. Kevin's teammates tell him that his words at the diner spurred them to beat up Taylor, something Eric Tanner revealed to be true in past episodes. That truth absolutely rattles Kevin, and he doesn't fully accept it. When talking to the police officer -- who is a family friend -- Kevin maintains that he may have said some unsavory things, like calling Taylor a b---h, but he never instructed his teammates to beat him up.
And that's Kevin's M.O. He will take responsibility only so far as to tell a convenient truth to excuse himself from any wrongdoing. Kevin tells the truth in that he never explicitly instructed his teammates to confront and beat up Taylor Blaine, but his words at that diner certainly implied that's what he wanted. What did he think would happen after he popped off about someone putting Taylor in his place because "b---hes will be b---hes?" That's the problem, though. Kevin doesn't think about his actions or about anything outside of himself.
The kicker, however, is that as Kevin finally shows a hint of growth and accepting responsibility, his father swoops in. He decides that Kevin's confession need not be a part of the continuing investigation, making that clear to Officer Ken.
The unfortunate part of all of this is that it feels like Kevin has regressed in many ways. The boy who once begged his father to help Eric is now being dwarfed by his father who is forcibly protecting him. Kevin will never learn that way. That is one of the deepest tragedies of this story.
Lines that Haunt Me
"I simply wasn't stupid." -- Leslie Graham
"We need him to start talking to us." -- Terri LaCroix
"I don't know what's true, but I know what I'll say." -- Steph Sullivan
Catch new episodes of "American Crime" on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
Katie Barnes is a digital media associate at ESPN. Follow them on Twitter at Katie_Barnes3.