Bloodline (Netflix, Spoilers)

Bloodline- A dark show about a family tragedy, its ramifications, a black sheep brother who is damaged goods, not all of his own making, comes back home to pitch in the family business. It's got an edge without the compulsory HBO nudity.

What's unusual is that the ending is revealed at the beginning, which leaves you wondering and imagining just how much worse the real ending could be. Eight episodes in and the end is starting to come into focus. My critique is that a little too much time is spent dwelling on the wrongs done to Danny as a kid.

Looks like it's been renewed for a second season, and I'm wondering where it could go. (link)

eattherich said:

My girlfriend and I finished watching this last week and we both really enjoyed it. Your summary of the show pretty much nails it.

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Thanks. We just finished it up last night and the ending was good. Glad it was not over the top. I imagined something much worse from a tragedy standpoint than what happened.

Significant Spoilers Follows









When you look at someone like Danny Rayburn, you realize that he was blamed unfairly as a kid and as an adult, and was abused and never forgiven by his father. He was told not to do what he did, take his sister for a boat ride during a family crisis, that ended in his little sister's death. I understand how the family would blame him, but the second tragedy was the Father was not able to move past it.

For this character, I have to wonder, was this the basis for all the later mistakes Danny made in his life? Maybe and maybe not. He was not outright ejected from the family and was given help to find a career, although there was a cycle of him returning and leaving.

Ironically, in an effort to cleanse his guilt, retired detective Lenny Potts, gives Danny some interview tapes, which Danny proceeds to obsess over and appears to be the trigger, for more bad decisions. I just have to wonder if this event was the thing that pushed him towards the significant mistakes he made in his life. I realize that we all make mistakes and some are more prone to bad choices anyway. I've seen it in my own family, but not to this extent.

Although I enjoyed the series, too much time was spent on the setup. I got it by episode 4. Things don't start popping until episode 9. The tensest part of this story was when in an effort to help his brother, John tipped him off to a sting, this combined with his brother running drugs through their family business. I imagined it all crashing down on the Rayburns.

A plot question- I thought Danny owed a loan shark in Miami money and this was who he was sending his envelopes to, but it was revealed that all the packages ended up in a pile in his Miami apartment. I'm not sure about the significance of this. Money sent to himself, to his son, to be used to pay his debt later? Not sure.

mscriv said:

I thought the show was great and really enjoyed the story. Looking forward to season 2.

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I thought the writers were suprurb with Danny treading the fine line of non-threatening threat.

Season 2 started in May 2016. Just caught the first two episodes and wow, the family is no where close to being out of the woods. Things seem to be on a downward spiral.

Season One Spoilers follow

Four episodes into Season Two and was wondering how will John get out of this?! Close one! I'm very intrigued why the Father, Robert, would be paying $5k a month to the mother of Danny's kid? No don't tell me. Then you have Kevin... using again. So far John and Danny are on thin ice, and Meg (did she bribe a witness?) has lost her job in NYC.

Danny Rayburn, what a character- mistreated (handling of sister's death), tried to be a success, could'nt catch a break, made bad decisions, vindictive, devious, and highly toxic.

@mscriv- In Season 1, I really did not have an ethical problem with moving Danny's drugs away from their parent's Inn, so they would not be hurt. However, besides the decision to kill Danny which can't be justified, I'm trying to remember the other bad decisions the Rayburn's have made trying to protect their family. The drug dealer has Danny's tape designed to screw John, but he (drug dealer) is dead and the tape is missing. Besides the next stupid thing I'm anticipating what Kevin will do, what are the other thin spots in the ice?

mscriv said:

Season 2 reveals some new things about the family that give you a better understanding of why the rabbit hole goes so deep. I don't want to spoil it for you so we can discuss further when you finish.

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Thank you!
$5000 a month is a huge amount for the purposes of child support. There is the reference of how their father fresh out of the Navy buys beach front property. My wife speculates that Nolan might be the Father's (Sam Shepard) and that the parents (Sam and Sissy) were involved in illegal activities, maybe even drug running.

No need to comment!

Season 2 Finished, oh boy (said with a pensive tone).

New season May 26, 2017. Last we left them, a second murder. The Rayburns are headed for interesting times.

The final season. How will the Rayburns fare, happy ending or will they all go to jail?

Season 3, Episodes 1&2- Thumbs up! The story takes an unexpected turn.

Ten episodes finished. It did not end the way I thought it would. Episode 9 was too much to make a point. Overall, I liked this dark story.

House of Cards next!