Other than the 3x09 debacle, one thing that bothered me about the show is the focus of the first two seasons on the fact that the Rayburns covered up Robert's beating of Danny and refused to report him to the police, and that that event was the reason that Danny's life went off the rails and it haunted Jon 30 years later.

Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't strike me as all that unusual for the family to cover up Robert's beating. He was in pain from his daughter's death and took it out on his son - I get all that. But why would anyone really expect his family to hang him out to dry? Robert was not otherwise abusive, and did not pose a danger to anyone. He likely wouldn't have even gone to jail for beating Danny. It also strikes me as odd that in the Keys of the 70s, a detective would be assigned to the case, and that despite being told over and over from the Rayburns that a car struck Danny, the detective never asked any of the kids what kind of car it was, whether they caught the license plate, etc.

It just seems like a wet noodle of a reason for someone's life to go down the drain as it did for Danny, and for him to blame the family for it. Just because they didn't report Robert to the police doesn't mean they accepted the beating as a proper thing to do. Why didn't Jon ever say to Danny, "Hey, we all felt horrible about it and thought Dad was clearly wrong, but we didn't want him in jail."

EDIT: Not to mention, the kids basically did what Sally told them to do - say that a car hit Danny. Why would Danny expect the kids to put their father in jail and act contrary to their mother's wishes? And despite the kids lying based on Sally's instruction to them, Danny had the best relationship with Sally, even though she was the one who was most instrumental in keeping Robert out of jail.