Personally, I didn't really like We Were the Mulvaneys. The story line was ok, but the overwhelming amount of detail took away from what was going on. However, I agree with the choice that Patrick made not to kill Zachary. If Patrick's goal was for Zachary to feel what Marianne did, then killing him would not have been the answer. Patrick wanted him to feel humiliated and violated. The only way for this to happen was for Zachary to have to face people after his attack, and explain what was done. Although I really feel that Zachary deserves to die, his constant embarassment could possibly be a worse punishment.