Bloodline is Worth a Watch....So Far

I say that only because I am currently on episode 4 and haven't finished the entire show yet but so far, so good.

Bloodline is a Netflix original show created by Glenn Kessler, Todd Kessler, and Daniel Zelman who created and worked on Damages and there are similar themes between these two shows. There is the darkness, the drama, and the non-linear story structure where the past and present are often intertwined. Bloodline follows the story of the Rayburn family who pretty much run an island in the Florida Keys and the tension occurs when Daniel Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn) returns. The "black sheep" of the family, Daniel brings back all of the bad memories that the family has, so far, been successfully able to forget and move on with their lives. Robert Rayburn (Sam Shepard) and Sally Rayburn (Sissy Spacek) have successfully managed a flourishing hotel business, Meg Rayburn (Linda Cardellini) is a successful resort lawyer, John Rayburn (Kyle Chandler) works for the Sheriff's department for the island, and Kevin Rayburn (Norbert Leo Butz) appears to have a successfully fishing business. The drama begins when Daniel returns, the lies are found out, and the past comes forth. Now I really can't talk anymore about this show and really laud this show without getting into some spoiler specific material. So if you haven't seen the show READ NO FURTHER. SPOILERS AHEAD!

One of the best parts about this show was that the picture the trailer painted and what actually occurring are two separate things. I believed that Daniel was coming back ala Cookie from Empire in order to "get what's his". That's not the case. He's not actually the worst person in the family, rather, its how his family brings him down and this original story is what got me hooked. Now Daniel is no saint, but, he also appears to have been abused by his father and hated for a reason that has not yet revealed itself. He appears to be labeled the "black sheep" but may have only got that title because he left and nobody seemed to look at why he left. The ending of the first episode also revealed quite a lot about the character arc of John Rayburn, supposedly the saintly brother, who places his dead brother's body in a boat and sets it afire.

I like this story a lot because it doesn't appear, at least to me, like it's been done anywhere else. Nobody in this show is good or bad, they are all gray. And that's reality. Nobody is fully good or fully bad rather they are a mix and that's what I find very good about this show.

Also, I think Mendelsohn needs to pull back a little bit on the stoner always inebriated look he's got going on. He's slimy, I get that, but I feel by episode four the audience doesn't need to see him slink into living rooms at a tilt as if he's intoxicated to know this. I get it. The audience gets it. It's a bit much at this point.

But other than that, I enjoy this show. Kyle Chandler's narration, somewhat campy, but still well delivered and I like the originality of it, as well as the darkness.