YMMV / Dark Places

• Alternative Character Interpretation: A lot of the characters are very ambiguous.
  • Did Diondra plan on killing Michelle as soon as she heard about the blackmail, or was it spur of the moment? Did she only do it for fear of her unborn child or was she just a selfish bitch? Was she being an abusive parent by keeping Crystal all shut up, or was she genuinely trying to protect her?
  • Trey. Was he just an asshole Karma Houdini who got away with bullying Ben, or was he suffering from being The Scapegoat because of his Indian heritage? Did he know that Diondra would try to kill Libby when he gave Libby Diondra's porn name, or was he genuinely trying to help?
  • Did Runner cross the Despair Event Horizon after the death of his ex-wife, conviction of his son and death of two daughters, or was he always going to end up a drunken waste?
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Krissi Cates. What she said about Ben was messed up, but did she really deserve the response she got from her parents, especially her own mother walking out on her?
  • Libby admits she's this, but given her horrendous childhood, it's understandable.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • It's hard to say when/if Diondra crosses this. Her murder of Michelle is a least partially explained by her Freudian Excuse and desperation to flee Kinnakee to protect her unborn daughter (if that was her motivation—she admits her father would have her have the baby first), but when she tells Ben Libby has to die too, even though there's no guarantee Libby even saw anything, she becomes less redeemable.
  • Calvin Diehl admits he crossed this when he killed Debby, a little girl, with an axe. Interestingly, though, Diehl expresses far more angst over killing Debby than either Diondra or Ben do over Michelle's death, though Ben and Libby both admit that Ben hated Michelle.