Things You Should Be Watching: Bloodline

     “We’re not bad people, but we did a bad thing.” This is one of the first things that sticks with the viewer as the pilot episode of Bloodline comes to a close. It speaks to the high drama, moral dilemmas and heavy darkness that permeates the show, and sets the viewer up for the ride they're about to go on. Despite this hook, the show has kind of gone under the radar when compared to other Netflix hits like House of Cards and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but I would argue that it is on the level with (or even better than) most Netflix originals. That’s a pretty bold claim, you might say. Well, hypothetical reader, let me tell you why.

     Created by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, and Daniel Zelman (who also created the hit series Damages with Glenn Close), Bloodline focuses on the Rayburns, a prominent family down in the Keys. Things are going pretty well for them when the show starts, with the patriarch of the family, Robert Rayburn (Sam Shepherd) celebrating the 45th anniversary of his seaside hotel that he runs with his longtime wife Sally (Sissy Spacek). His children, John (Kyle Chandler), a local detective, Meg (Linda Cardellini), a lawyer, and Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz), who runs a local marina, are by their side along with their families. The mood darkens when their oldest son Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) arrives, bringing with him questions and dark secrets that threaten to unravel the entire family, forcing the Rayburns to confront the sins of the past as well as the dangers of the present that threaten to surround and consume them. That’s about as far as I can go without spoiling too much, y'all. But trust me, things get crazy!

     One of the things that immediately sticks out about this show is the setting. The Keys in Florida is one of the most beautiful places in the United States, and the fact that it plays the setting to a noir story (in season one) and a psychological thriller (in season 2) instantly makes this show unique. When you think of crime thrillers you instinctively think of the old black-and-white movies with the detective in a trench coat and a fedora or something set in a big city with a dark, foreboding atmosphere to it.

Pharrell would have a field day with that hat.

     Bloodline immediately cancels those images out, taking time to show you the bright and sunny beaches and the beautiful forests. John Rayburn drives a boat while he does his police work and wears sunglasses rather than the traditional Sam Spade attire, though his role is effectively the same. The beaches of Florida provide an interesting contrast, giving the audience a nice mask to cover the darkness within, similar to what the attractive and beautiful Rayburn clan has done.

No matter how nice the scenery, remember: It IS Florida. Weird stuff happens there.

     Another thing that sets Bloodline apart from other shows is the way that it’s structured. The first episode contains noir-style narration from John and plays with time, but by the end of the episode you know what the entire season is leading up to in no uncertain terms. It’s a fascinating move, and given how many plot threads are thrown out at the beginning the viewer immediately wants to get to the next episode in order to start putting these pieces together. It is that promise that keeps us going, causing us to pay a little more attention and focus more on the characters and what they do. The narration and the “flash forwards” disappear within a few episodes, but the show continually employs flashbacks to a crucial moment in the Rayburn family’s history, giving us little morsels of information at a time until they choose to reveal the whole picture. This provides another layer to the story in one already filled with them, and it’s all very well-crafted.

     The second season suffers a bit in this regard, but also strengthens in other areas. While it doesn’t have that focus of the first season and removes all the noir-ish elements to it (no narration, no flashbacks, etc.), it grows the world of Bloodline in a very interesting way, showing how the actions of this family reverberate like a domino effect throughout the Keys and beyond. This allows the show to build tension by bringing in further outside antagonists, though without the focus of the first season it can sometimes stumble a bit.

     Regardless of the narrative styles, the one thing this show has in its favor is the incredible cast, featuring several powerhouse performers at the top of their game. And this doesn’t just include the Rayburn clan, as actors like John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Beau Bridges, and David Zayas also round things out. Some indie stars like Chloe Sevigny and Owen Teague also get the chance to shine, showing the wide range of talent that this show pulls. As if having Sam Shepherd and Sissy Spacek wasn’t enough, right?

Honestly, the only show that matches the quality of this cast is American Crime. (spoilers for next week's "Things You Should Be Watching article!)

     Amongst all of these incredibly talented actors stands Ben Mendelsohn, who turns in an incredible performance as Danny Rayburn and immediately becomes the center of the show. The way the other characters seem to tiptoe around him or act with caution makes you sense that he’s dangerous, but Mendelsohn completely sells the character. He carries a lot of weight with his words, eliciting a range of emotions from sympathy and joy to fear and outright revulsion (sometimes in the same sentence!), but regardless of what he does the audience still wants to root for him. It doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past (or what he’s doing in the present, for that matter), we want to believe that he is on the right path. Sometimes I still think that he was, and that everything he ended up doing could be justified. Of course, when it comes time for Danny to put his cards on the table and reveal the truth, Mendelsohn leaves you hanging on his every word and forces you to check your perceptions at the door and see his side of the story. Any lame actor could have come in and made Danny some generic "bad boy with a mysterious past" person, but with Mendelsohn in the role he becomes one of the most fascinating characters on television.

     While Danny recedes into the shadows for season two, it’s Kyle Chandler who really steps up to the plate. Look, we all love Chandler from Friday Night Lights and the immortal role of Coach Taylor, some of which is in his performance as John Rayburn. Just like Coach, John is the firm but fair golden boy of the Rayburn clan who looks out for everyone and just wants to help the community. But what Chandler takes from Coach the most is his quiet intensity, molding it into a character who tries to maintain control of an ever-spiraling situation and often fails. John Rayburn fits the mold of a modern noir hero, being a man with everything to lose who finds himself breaking his moral boundaries to do what’s right. John is ultimately a ticking time bomb, showing enough patience and kindness to pass through the day but ultimately filled with conflicting emotions as he tries to handle his brother and protect his family. While he really gets to shine in season two he’s no slouch in season one, where he goes toe-to-toe with Mendelsohn in many tense scenes that had this reviewer digging his nails into the computer desk. And once he goes off, just wow. Those kids from Dillon better be glad Coach never had that moment!

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lo- Oh wait, wrong show.

     Bloodline’s two seasons cover a lot of narrative ground, touching on themes like family, revenge, and loyalty. Danny has clearly had a great wrong done to him by the Rayburn clan, and the audience is forced to grapple with his actions as more information about the past unfolds and the truth starts to come out. Season two does a better job exploring these ideas as the Rayburns as a whole have the spotlight shone on them and are forced to face up to who they really are. Is this picturesque “perfect family” really perfect at all? Or do they deserve everything that they have coming to them? It’s a question that permeates the very fabric of Bloodline, making that single question matter more than any one story element or plot point that the creators throw at us.

     The other big theme in this show is the idea of the “sins of the father,” or in this case, “the parents.” Season one explicitly shows how things went down amongst the Rayburn clan when Robert and Sally’s kids were young, but season two explores this theme in more ways, some subtle and some very overt. The Rayburns had a very “unique” way of raising their kids, and while you can make your own judgment on them the effects on their children are very clear. I can’t spoil how it affects Danny because plot, but John can’t really express himself because he wants to impress his father, Meg can’t handle a real relationship because of her childhood experiences, and Kevin is a substance abuser with anger issues due to what some could argue is childhood neglect. They might never say it (well, Danny would, but that’s another story), but the Rayburns are all scarred in their own ways, and whether or not they can ever recover is anyone’s guess at this point.

Sure it can get sad, but look at that scenery!

     While I really enjoy this show, there are some issues with it that I think people should be aware of. The first is the pacing, which can be almost glacial at points. In season one it was bearable because of what we knew was going to happen, but sometimes in season two it seems like the showrunners are just meandering and don’t have a real goal. If you’re not somebody who can take this kind of storytelling, you might want to drink a Red Bull before you sit down to watch it so that you won’t fall asleep during the quieter parts, which are crucial to the points that do have some momentum.

     Another issue that I have is that outside of the main Rayburn children, the other characters that appear don’t really have much depth. There are some exceptions, like Chloe Sevigny’s Chelsea O’Bannon and Owen Teague’s Nolan, but many more fall into the role of plot devices. Even the wives of John and Kevin barely get any real development (though John’s wife Diana, played by Jacinda Barrett, gets an excellent episode in season two to shine), and let’s not get started on John and Diana’s kids or the cops that John works with. I understand that in some stories, characters are just going to be left underdeveloped. This is not a movie, though, where you have a limited time to tell one story. This is a TV show that has multiple hours to tell one, and the fact that certain characters that are actually pertinent to the plot get no real development is exceptionally poor writing. It's a testament to the strength of the Rayburns as characters that this never becomes an insurmountable issue for the show.

     As I wrote this, I kept thinking of that first phrase I mentioned. “We’re not bad people, but we did a bad thing.” Over the course of these two seasons, the amount of truth behind that statement changes quite a bit, forcing us to not only face the Rayburns for what they really are but also question ourselves and how much we hide behind nice, sunny facades. For all its faults, Bloodline is still a beautiful, well-acted and intense piece of television that stands shoulder to shoulder with the best on Netflix and the best on any network. The pace might be a turn-off for some, but if you stick with it I guarantee that you’ll be rewarded with some of the best performances and craziness that you can find on the silver screen.

Both seasons of Bloodline are available for streaming on Netflix.