I disagree.
Kevin said he was desperate to get Ruby back and would take advice from anyone to get her back.
That's not being brainwashed, that's a guy that moved out and ignored his children for over a year on the advice of a mad woman because he only cared about himself and what he wanted which was Ruby.
For years Kevin was well aware of Ruby's beliefs and ways of disciplining and had no problem with it.
His children were always a footnote.
My opinion still remains that if Ruby had taken Kevin back and the torture and abuse which led to the arrest of R & J began and to stay with her he very well could have taken part in abusing his children or not abuse them himself but was well aware of R & J's abuse and remained silent and didn't try and stop them aka the "enabler".
Had he done otherwise it would have been bye-bye Kev....again!
IMO there's a detail that lies between my stated opinion and yours here that's sort of a middle ground.
I truly believe Kevin has been brainwashed. Every sign points to me that way, and his experience is entirely compatible with the effects of brainwashing. Plus, we know this is a Jodi-tactic.
However, that doesn't mean that Kevin wasn't a knowing participant in an abusive household before he got into Jodi's clutches. And I agree that he enabled Ruby's behavior. But that doesn't mean he wasn't subsequently brainwashed.
And, yes, he privileged Ruby over his kids (I partly blame his religious convictions for this, aka "commitment to his marriage"), which shouldn't have happened in a context where they were being abused. But this aspect of his character doesn't mean he wasn't also brainwashed. IMO humans are complicated.
As an aside, I'm all of a sudden thinking "commitment to a marriage" is not something I would personally embrace as a life goal. I would much rather be around a person who is committed to the people in his/her life as a real thing rather than oriented around a construct. This would include children and significant others.
If Kevin had felt committed to the people in his life rather than the abstract institution of marriage as the "be all and end all", perhaps he'd look a lot more benign. But if he's all "I gotta be a great husband" (which is how Jodi got him by the short and curlies—she and Ruby kept telling him he wasn't), then he's not "I've got to be the best person I can be" as a life practice with everyone. Privileging an institution over people-hood made him vacant and prey to evil others, as well as personally irresponsible. It let him ignore his kids, and perhaps others in his life: it made him absent from everything. Which to me, is exactly how he comes across. He's a guy who's not THERE.
I guess there's no parallel sacrament to the institution of marriage that calls for obligation to your children. Being a sperm donor is not a sacrament. Too bad.
FWIW, for all the talk of "commitment to marriage", none of this cast of characters had it. Big fail.
and makes one hell of a presumption that Kevin will get his kids back. But sure, lets make this suit about Kevin's suffering due to what happened to his kids. Who he abandoned a year prior. okey dokey. I was trying to hold some space for Kevin in hopes he wasn't the lackluster human I thought him but this seals it for me. No more grace for him. not from me.
