The Prodigal Son Returns , Let's Have A Drink! : All Episodes Talk

[Morbs]

I watched it all over like two days, and I wasn't really that obsessed with it, just really bored in life.  The cast is extremely strong, but sometimes I thought the mysteries really dragged.  I wonder if the flash forwards were always planned, or if they realized the show needed them just so something appeared to be happening.  I always think flashfowards are a cheat in that way, and personally hate when a movie starts at the end.  I had a feeling Danny would have son popping up,  but the revelation that the mom told her kids to lie about the hit and run was a big "So what?" to me.

 

Danny was a pretty compelling character, going from sympathetic to irritating to sociopath over the course of the series.  I wonder what their longterm plan for the series is since he was such a major part of moving the plot forward.  He was more of a lead than Kyle Chandler.

 

This has got to be one of the booziest shows on TV.  Every single scene they drink from green bottles of beer, wine, or scotch.  A laugh out loud moment for me was when all the women were having a dinner and Jacinda said, "I forgot the wine..." and Linda Cardellini said "I brought it!" because of course she did.

 

And to be superficial: I've always thought Enrique Murciano was so handsome, and I love his voice.  And Linda Cardellini looked great in the short skirts her character kept wearing.  And I love Chloe Sevigny, so I hope she returns for Season 2.

Edited March 25, 2015 by radishcake

[Wouldofshouldof]

I agree about it dragging.  I gave up after ep 3, even though I was curious to learn about the whys and wherefores of Danny's death.  I just couldn't see investing 13 hours into finding them out, especially when I can just read about it here.

[rippleintime17]

I am through seven episodes. I'm interested enough to keep watching to find out how they're going to have all of this play out. But it's pretty fascinating how All About Danny this family is considering it appears the brunt of Danny's troubles come from his childhood. If I drank every time they said "Danny" I'd be dead! I'm also not sure if we are supposed to like or sympathize with him at all. I don't but part of it's Ben Mendelsohn's manner of speaking. He actually looks and speaks like the mess he is. I think I'd be a little weirded out if I were staying at the inn and I had to spend an extended period of time with him. 

[LakeGal]

I have watched 9 episodes.  So I have 4 to go.  I truly despise Danny.  I can't wait for the flashforward parts to play out.  I do think they did well in casting the characters when they were younger.  When the mother suggested the boys wear searsucker suits for the wedding it was a big ding ding ding moment for me. 

 

The show does drag at times.  I find it similar to The Affair.  With that series I would watch an episode and just wait for those clues we would get near the end to keep me watching.  They even have the fish/drugs storyline in both.

 

I will be interested when most of us have watched the entire series so we can discuss.   

[BigBlueMastiff]

This show would have been much tighter with about 8 episodes. I liked the show, great cast, but the mysteries were dragged out for wayyyyyyyyy tooooo loooonnnnggg. Danny is an evil SOB. I was just waiting for him to die. Yeah he had a crappy childhood, but dude own your choices and role in the drama. The long con with his family, was so slimy. Also, loved Enrique's reaction when he found out about the affair, and the look on his face when she actually tried to talk alike they might get back together.

 

Also, how did Kyle Chandler still have a job, and why would he ever tell Danny anything, that was mind-boggling. His big mouth led to everything getting effed up, and DEA guy was like, oh wells, huh?

[joelene]

I can but agree with you all. I was pretty pumped about this show because I loved Damages but it dragged pretty hard sometimes. Pretty much everything besides what Danny's motives were and how his demise would play out was a big "So what?" for me. The angry brother (I had hoped his wife Katie Finneran would get something to do but it was not to be), Meg's affair, zzz... Chloe Sevigny was a highlight, she made her character pop even though the role wasn't really very exciting.

I mean Danny's long con with his family and, as you above me said, how he went from sympathetic to creepy psycho was really subtle and well done. But everything around it was just a snooze. Didn't give two fucks about the family business.

Ten episodes would have sufficed.

[HyacinthBucket]

I started watching for one reason only - Kyle Chandler, but I'm not sure how long I will last.  The first episode seemed to drag on forever, and I have to admit that I cringed every time Coach Taylor spewed the f-bomb, which was quite often.  I'm only two episodes in, but I'm not feeling the same kind of suspenseful atmosphere that kept me binge-watching shows like Broadchurch, or The Killing.  

[Bcharmer]

What's the spoiler policy on this kind of show? I've seen the first five episodes only, but just read something here that I didn't know was coming. Should we avoid coming here until we see the whole 13 episodes, just to be safe?

[jester]

I watched it all over like two days, and I wasn't really that obsessed with it, just really bored in life.  The cast is extremely strong, but sometimes I thought the mysteries really dragged.  I wonder if the flash forwards were always planned, or if they realized the show needed them just so something appeared to be happening.  I always think flashfowards are a cheat in that way, and personally hate when a movie starts at the end. 

 

 

I'm sure the flash forwards were planned from the get go. Damages worked the same way and it's the same creators so I guess it's kinda there jam.

 

It is for sure a very slow burn on this show. Drips and drops of information coming over so many episodes it makes it drag at times relying on the amazing performances to carry it and keep you compelled. The last four episodes are great but are a bit of a shock with how the pace changes so much.

 

I enjoyed it but was in for the most part of Kyle Chandler. I'm not a big fan of voice over narration but I could listen to that man read the back of a Wheaties box and be enthralled.

[Kate87]

I just finished watching all the episodes; with a notable amount of fast forwarding though parts of the mid-season episodes. I was bored and curious how my beloved Netflix would do with such good actors. The best way I can describe how I feel about this show is underwhelmed. I found nearly all the characters at least partly interesting and they were believable as siblings which is refreshing. The actors were very good but the plot, as many of you have pointed out, just dragged on too long.   

 

 

 

This show would have been much tighter with about 8 episodes. I liked the show, great cast, but the mysteries were dragged out for wayyyyyyyyy tooooo loooonnnnggg.

Agreed. The longer format gave them more character development time but they didn't use it effectively. I think it would have been cleaner to keep it to just the drugs in a way to keep the focus more on Danny and his motivations. I'd have liked to see more of an exploration of how the siblings treated Danny after Sarah's death/the beating/post-police interview. Giving more insight into Danny initially I think would have helped draw viewers into his POV. Several episodes in, I wanted them to kill him simply for being so creepy. Using the inn and his niece and threatening everyone just made me hate him as a character and I was not at all upset when he died. The actor was great but I just felt like their wasn't much of a payoff from his death to the viewers. I honestly would have been more upset had he lived (though you knew that wouldn't happen).

 

I really felt like Danny's revenge was out of proportion for what they did as small children. John was older so I can kind of understand the resentment/desire for revenge there but Meg and Kevin were much younger. Unless Danny was routinely beaten after Sarah's dead (please correct me if I missed that), the degree to which he wanted to destroy their lives didn't make sense unless they too shut him out immediately following Sarah's death. I got the impression the estrangement from his brothers and sister happened later but I may have misunderstood that. 

 

 

 

Also, how did Kyle Chandler still have a job, and why would he ever tell Danny anything, that was mind-boggling. His big mouth led to everything getting effed up, and DEA guy was like, oh wells, huh?

That! I really, really didn't understand how he kept his current job and is essentially getting promoted, given that he leaked details to his brother! I also wasn't sure why he was not pulled off the case as soon as he didn't identify Danny's voice on the tape. I don't understand what the point of brining in the DEA was (from a plot POV), since they were so incompetent.   

 

On another note, Meg's clothing... or lack their of. I want her red halter dress. But, what lawyer goes into work wearing a bikini top? Really?! 

 

I really liked the older Sarah. That was a nice insight into Danny's mental state (which should have been explored more).

 

 

 

I have to admit that I cringed every time Coach Taylor spewed the f-bomb, which was quite often.

That's my main problem with both Netflix and Amazon. Yes, people use that words and others, but I feel like they are overused in these "shows" because they can be, not because they fit the character/show's environment. Perhaps it is because we don't hear them much on regular shows, but the swearing for the sake of it often takes me out of the scenes. 

Edited March 25, 2015 by Kate87

[JessePinkman]

I can't really read many of the comments here but I've just started episode 3 and I am finding this show an absolute slog to get through. Not every idea needs to be a series. This would have made probably made a very good, not great, movie.

[Morbs]

I thought spoilers were allowed in All Episode Talk, for the people who binge.  I thought about starting threads for each episode, but the show doesn't seem to have that kind of heat.

[Bcharmer]

Maybe it would be fair to put a warning up at the top, or something. Fear of being spoiled will keep me away, until I can find the time to get through the next 8 episodes.

[radishcake]

We've added a spoiler warning and put up episode threads for those who want to chat without spoiling! <3

[missy jo]

I'll be the odd one out and say I loved this show! Binge-watched it over a few days and wished there were more. As a Florida native, they truly captured the atmosphere of the Keys and most of the characters looked appropriately "weathered." And booze-soaked, LOL. "The family that drinks together, kills together.

 

Danny was a pretty compelling character, going from sympathetic to irritating to sociopath over the course of the series. 

 

 

The actor did SUCH a great job with that transition.

[HyacinthBucket]

I'll be the odd one out and say I loved this show! Binge-watched it over a few days and wished there were more. As a Florida native, they truly captured the atmosphere of the Keys and most of the characters looked appropriately "weathered." And booze-soaked, LOL. "The family that drinks together, kills together.

 

 

"Weathered" is a nicer word than what I was thinking.  I was going with "seedy," for most of the men, with the exception of Steven Pasquale, who looks as good here as he does on The Good Wife.  

[Samx]

Missy Jo - you're not alone, I loved it too. The first few eps were definitely a slow burn but damned if it didn't get me hooked. I had to know the what/why/how of Danny. Im from South Florida and they definitely did a good job capturing the Keys/Florida, right down to the women often wearing their bikini tops as every day undergarments (I'm guilty of this a lot during summer down here).

One big gripe: I wish they had ended it 10 minutes before they did. I don't particularly see a need for a season 2 and don't see how they can really get that much more mileage out of the story. But if Netflix wants to give me more Kyle Chandler, who am I to argue.

[rippleintime17]

Just finished the series. Definitely ends open-ended enough that they can have a second season, though who knows where that would go (and how slowly!). 

 

The last episode drove me a little crazy because I was convinced Danny would revive somehow. I remember a scene somewhere in there where they're all sitting around in their seersucker suits and Danny is there too. Was that a flashback to the first time they wore them? For some reason I thought it was some kind of flashforward and thus couldn't believe Danny was actually dead because of John drowning him. 

[Morbs]

Maybe I liked it more than I thought, because I keep wishing I had another episode to watch while I scroll through Netflix everynight.

 

I kept wondering how they would make a season two also, but then I realized that's probably by Kyle Chandler is a cop and Meg is a lawyer, two professions that can keep bring new characters and crimes into the show.  Plus a hotel, who knows who will show up.

 

I guess I was suspicious of the flash fowards because they seemed kinda inconsistent, also like Rachel's ghost.  I had to keep reminding myself, "Oh yeah we know Danny dies" or "Oh you and he hallucinates."  Maybe it was just me though, when I binge watch a show it can be like a whirlwind for me and I forget or miss stuff.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Morbs

[Maximona]

'Nother hand up for love this series!

 

Even given the truth of the Tolstoy axion -- Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way -- there are certain... taxonomies of unhappiness within unhappy families, and the one I've had plenty of opportunity to study up close and personal is the model where the firstborn is crafted by insane parents into a total fuckup, so it's the second-born child who ends up developing all those care-taking, hard-working, responsible sensibilities.  Cain and Abel, in other words.  That story is extremely well-told, here.  

 

Yes, it does begin s-l-o-w-l-y.  Probably too slowly.  For the first three episodes, I found myself thinking, So!  I wonder what those wacky Shahs of Sunset are up to this week anyway?

 

Then something happened in Episode 4, and after that, I was completely hooked.  The thing is Bloodline is not suspenseful entertainment, it's immersive entertainment, a series of brush strokes, each small, each expertly applied.  I suspect the binge-watching factor was actually engineered into its narrative DNA because there's no way this show could make it as a weekly series.  Watching it really was like watching the car crash taking place two seats away from you in some seedy bar.

[iggysaurus]

I'll be the odd one out and say I loved this show! Binge-watched it over a few days and wished there were more. As a Florida native, they truly captured the atmosphere of the Keys and most of the characters looked appropriately "weathered." And booze-soaked, LOL. "The family that drinks together, kills together.

 

Add me to the list of people that loved it! I was checking this site for a few days while I watched it, hoping there would be episode threads to talk about it as I went along, but there was just one thread and I didn't want to be spoiled.  Now, I see there are episode threads but by now I've finished watching the whole thing. Oh well!

 

Anyway, I can certainly understand people thinking it drags a little at the beginning, but I find that's the case with a lot of shows that end up being really good.  If you give it a chance and let yourself become invested in the characters, it's worth it when the action starts to pick up around episode 4.  I really don't understand people who are so fixated on what the "payoff" will be and just want to get to the end. The pleasure in watching a show is in the journey - watching the little moments between characters, the tense feeling that builds up when you know something is going to happen ... 

 

Speaking of which, I found myself practically holding my breath and cringing in horror as Danny's true nature slowly revealed itself throughout the latter episodes. He just got more and more evil. At first you think he's just a black sheep who is a screw-up but basically a good guy, and that maybe they'll all work things out ... but he's truly a toxic individual. The way he manipulated each of his siblings and his mom, it was the very definition of psychological cruelty.  He absolutely would've destroyed all their lives if he had not been killed. 

 

Ben Mendelsohn embodied the character of Danny perfectly -- charismatic and charming enough to successfully manipulate people even when they definitely should know better, but pure menace underneath it all.  I'm usually sympathetic toward damaged types, but he seemed rotten to the core.

 

What do you think Season 2 (if there is one) will hold? Investigations into how Danny really died? Fallout between the siblings?

[Maximona]

Suspect that in Season 2 -- if there is a Season 2 -- we'll watch Kyle Chandler turn into Danny.

 

And, of course, the will be LUV between Janie and son-of-Danny!  Just like Wuthering Heights!

[missy jo]

there are certain... taxonomies of unhappiness within unhappy families, and the one I've had plenty of opportunity to study up close and personal is the model where the firstborn is crafted by insane parents into a total fuckup, so it's the second-born child who ends up developing all those care-taking, hard-working, responsible sensibilities

 

 

So true! You got me thinking about families I have known, and how the middle child also tends to be the "people pleaser" and the peace-maker.

 

I found myself practically holding my breath and cringing in horror as Danny's true nature slowly revealed itself throughout the latter episodes. He just got more and more evil. At first you think he's just a black sheep who is a screw-up but basically a good guy, and that maybe they'll all work things out ... but he's truly a toxic individual.

 

 

I actually had so much sympathy for him in the beginning - the scapegoat who got blamed for a *death* of "Daddy's girl," no less. I was kind of surprised how bad he got by the end. I guess I was holding out some hope for him until the later episodes!

[ladders]

Hey!  I see nobody has mentioned how funny this show has been.  That's one of the sensibilities of Damages that I'm glad carried over into this series - they are happy to point out the humor of a stuck situation even while maintaining suspense.  Usually it is only one line or an expression or just a quick cut to a character getting a drink.  So, I personally didn't experience this as a slowly paced show, because I was too busy enjoying the fun they were having at Florida's expense.  

 

Specifically I thought the Kevin character was written in a similar tone to Elmore Leonard's characters in his Florida novels.  Maybe this performance is underappreciated - Norbert Leo Butz? - because to me he always looked straight off the docks.  And he had great timing.  Lots of well deserved praise for Ben Mendelsohn, but Danny was consistently written as a heel, rather than being put through all the paces like Kevin.  Their acting seems even better when you find out that the oldest actor is playing the youngest brother and vice versa.  Great work.

Edited March 27, 2015 by ladders

[Morbs]

I didn't know Kevin was actually the youngest in real life.  To be honest, and I hope he's not reading this, in the first episode I thought Ben Mendelsohn was the father when Kyle Chandler was picking him up!  I'm terrible with ages.

 

A funny moment I liked when was Danny walked through Meg's door and she just responded with, "Get out of my house."  Because really at that point what else is there to say.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Morbs

[weyrbunny]

Maybe I liked it more than I thought, because I keep wishing I had another episode to watch...

Same here. Not once did I have the compulsion to binge-watch Bloodline late into the night, like I do with many series these days. I watched it very gradually by my standards, which tells you I didn’t find all of it compelling. But now, I can’t stop thinking about the characters and the ending…and I want more!

 

I did enjoy the narrative puzzle that was the family history. Some of the visual storytelling was excellent, too. It was the soap-opera subplots that others have mentioned (the sister’s love life, etc.) where my attention waned.

 

I really felt like Danny's revenge was out of proportion for what they did as small children...the degree to which he wanted to destroy their lives didn't make sense unless they too shut him out immediately following Sarah's death.

It wasn’t just about lingering childhood resentment. Danny learning now that all 3 of his siblings had lied to the police to cover up his beating made fresh his anger and sense of betrayal. But also, one sibling after another “wronged” Danny again in the present:

 

• John lied to him, saying it was the Dad who wanted him to leave, when John (and Meg and Kevin) in fact made the decision,
• Meg drew up the Dad’s will, which cut out Danny,
• Kevin attacked Danny after the Dad was hospitalized.

 

Each of these events mirrored the events after Sara’s death, by the way. It was ep. 6, I think, when I realized that the 3 siblings had subtly but systematically recreated the sins of the past, and that Danny knew this and would be out for blood. None of this excuses Danny’s psychopathy, of course.

 

Ben Mendelsohn truly was riveting here. I’ve been a fan of his since Animal Kingdom, but after Bloodline, he’s an actor I’ll watch in anything. Like Kyle Chandler.

 

I don't understand what the point of bringing in the DEA was (from a plot POV), since they were so incompetent.

Yeah, it annoyed me that the DEA surveillance apparently didn't include photos or you know, simply following the criminals on a regular basis. Danny kept meeting with the others criminals—they could've just taken his photo.

[ladders]

 

None of this excuses Danny’s psychopathy, of course.

 

I thought they did bring in a few other points - remember we got to meet Danny's father, and see how he acts himself.  It was telling that the brothers were nonplussed by their father's accomplishments, even that John boots his speech at the funeral.  And later Sally explains what happened with Danny's grandparents - seems like Grandpa was a really bad guy, also.  Eventually John says something like 'Oh come on, you were a screw-up before she died, too'.  I think all of this points to genetic issues in combination with past events, but mostly the death and cover-up are the big excuses Danny is making to justify his own behavior.

 

And we also get to see some present circumstances that also contributed to Danny's state of mind - drugs, debts, a wayward son.  I like how they bring all the past and present factors together and explain the whole story of this guy's miserable existence.  Maybe if his restaurant had been successful, he'd still be there cooking and none of this - a toxic cycle of self-evaluation, misplaced blame and criminal agitation - would have happened.

Edited March 27, 2015 by ladders

[LakeGal]

I have watched the entire season.  I really wish they had just ended it and did not give the cliffhanger of a season 2.  Maybe if they just used the name Bloodline and featured a new family and location with a mystery for season two.  I am not sure where they will go with a season 2.  Danny was such a large part of this season.   

 

They introduce us to Danny's son so he will probably be snooping around in the next season.  Plus we never found out who the mysterious person in the blue Rayburn House shirt was watching John & Kevin clear out Danny's apartment.

 

It was very emotional when John killed Danny.  Danny was still smiling even as they were fighting.  Then all the foreshadowing of John's high blood pressure and we got John collapsing.  The siblings have to deal with the body.  It was well done.

 

Danny was just so creepy.  I was always expecting him to pop up behind them in the house at night. 

[rippleintime17]

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I thought the person in the Rayburn House shirt was Kevin and that it's going to come back on them because he was wearing that shirt and can be easily identified. The other option, though, is that it was the old cop who might be following them around since he seems to know and then tells Sally that her children are lying to her.

Edited March 27, 2015 by rippleintime17

[Kate87]

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I thought the person in the Rayburn House shirt was Kevin and that it's going to come back on them because he was wearing that shirt and can be easily identified.

As I recall, the person was watching John and Kevin leave Danny's apartment so there's at least one person who knows they ransacked it for some reason (at that time, clearly we know why they did it).

 

 

It wasn’t just about lingering childhood resentment. Danny learning now that all 3 of his siblings had lied to the police to cover up his beating made fresh his anger and sense of betrayal. But also, one sibling after another “wronged” Danny again in the present:

John lied to him, saying it was the Dad who wanted him to leave, when John (and Meg and Kevin) in fact made the decision,
Meg drew up the Dad’s will, which cut out Danny,
Kevin attacked Danny after the Dad was hospitalized.

Each of these events mirrored the events after Sara’s death, by the way. It was ep. 6, I think, when I realized that the 3 siblings had subtly but systematically recreated the sins of the past, and that Danny knew this and would be out for blood. None of this excuses Danny’s psychopathy, of course.

I agree that Danny felt wronged by their actions in the present. I can somewhat understand his anger towards John by not telling him they didn't want him back but Meg's actions were directed by their father and Kevin's reaction was a fairly understandable response given what Danny is like. I guess I'm still trying to comprehend the level of his hatred. He just got incredibly creepy towards the end. 

 

Add me to the list of those wanting more episodes. I had to force myself to binge watch it during the first three episodes. I'm curious how many people are watching it all the way through.

 

Regarding a second season, I'm really curious how John, Meg, and Kevin are going to handle what they did to Danny. I'm not crazy about the son coming in; too predictable an ending. I can't really see this going past three seasons (S1 Danny's death; S2 they begin to break, ends with mom finding out what they did; S3 trial and how they support or go against their siblings/how the community and family respond). 

[weyrbunny]

They introduce us to Danny's son so he will probably be snooping around in the next season.  Plus we never found out who the mysterious person in the blue Rayburn House shirt was watching John & Kevin clear out Danny's apartment.

Danny's son was the one wearing the blue Rayburn House shirt while watching from the bushes. (He's wearing the same neck chain when he shows up in the Keys West at the end.) It made sense to me that Danny would give his son a shirt from the family business. 

 

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I thought the person in the Rayburn House shirt was Kevin and that it's going to come back on them because he was wearing that shirt and can be easily identified. The other option, though, is that it was the old cop who might be following them around since he seems to know and then tells Sally that her children are lying to her.

John and Kevin left together, as Kate87 said, so it couldn't have been Kevin wearing the shirt. The cop already following the Rayburn siblings is an interesting thought, though. 

 

I figured using the Rayburn House van with the giant logo for drug transfer or whatever would come back to bite them. But again, the DEA seemed to forget about the the idea of photo surveillance.

 

ETA: Updated, alexvillage.

Edited March 29, 2015 by weyrbunny

[Ellaria]

Add me to the list of people that loved it!...

Anyway, I can certainly understand people thinking it drags a little at the beginning, but I find that's the case with a lot of shows that end up being really good. If you give it a chance and let yourself become invested in the characters, it's worth it when the action starts to pick up around episode 4. I really don't understand people who are so fixated on what the "payoff" will be and just want to get to the end. The pleasure in watching a show is in the journey - watching the little moments between characters, the tense feeling that builds up when you know something is going to happen ...

What do you think Season 2 (if there is one) will hold? Investigations into how Danny really died? Fallout between the siblings?

 

I loved this show, too. The deliberate pace was appropriate for a family drama in the Florida Keys. Any other choices would have been a misstep. I never thought it was too slow. It was beautiful to look at - the colorful seaside hotel and upscale restaurants and the darker, seedier bars and hang-outs. 

 

As far as the need for a "payoff"...I agree. The journey is often as important as the end. I think the tendency to binge-watch can obscure the details and smaller moments. Those moments were necessary to understand this family tragedy and everyone's role in its aftermath. And now, these same people have more secrets to hide and guilt that will eat away at them.

 

Ben Mendelsohn was extraordinary. Kyle Chandler's presence grew as John became something other than the sibling with the "perfect" life. NLB was terrific in a tough role. 

 

I never viewed this as a one-and-done-show. It clearly needs a second season to explore "what happens now" and how these characters move on (or if they move on). Good fortune seems to be smiling on them but it can't last. A baby will not change Kevin's marriage. John's guilt will be overwhelming. Meg and Alec aren't right together. Their secrets about Danny's death - just like their secrets about Sarah's death - will haunt them.

 

Having said that, I'm not sure that Danny's son needed to be throw into the mix but if there is a second season, I will certainly give it a chance.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Ellaria Sand

[alexvillage]

I liked the show. Started watching because I didn't have anything else to do, found it intriguing enough to keep watching.

I don't think Danny was a psychopath at all, at least not in the clinical definition of the term. He felt guilty, he was conflicted, he empathized with the burned dead girls. And that was the attraction of the character to me. The actor played it so well, I can imagine the show runners now scratching their heads and thinking they should not have killed him so soon. I don't see a second season, not with the same impact this first one had.

About Meg's clothes: totally inappropriate for a lawyer but remember, Florida. really. I live here (not the Keys) and while the show exaggerated more than a little bit in some stereotypes, inappropriate attire can happen.

And Danny's son did not show up in Key West. That's not where John lives. The Keys are loooooong. I am guessing they are closer tho Key Largo.

[thuganomics85]

Finished the last episode tonight.  Overall, I really liked the series.  I guess there was some slow moments, but I actually got into this pretty quickly.  I found almost all of the characters compelling; especially both John and Danny.  Kyle Chandler was spot-on as always, and Ben Mendelsohn was so gripping as Danny.  I'm bummed that this show probably won't be big enough to get them Emmy consideration.

 

In the end, while I do feel like he was wronged in a lot of ways, I did think Danny crossed the line (especially with the scare he gave John over his daughter), and clearly turned into an unpleasant person, that probably would have been a danger to the family.  Of course, that doesn't excuse John for losing his temper and killing him; nor Kevin and Meg for helping cover it up; but in the end, while I had sympathy for him, I really can't say that Danny was an innocent victim.  But, really: that whole family is all kinds of fucked up.

 

I do wonder if a potential second season will be as compelling.  I have to think Megan won't stay in NYC for too long, I doubt Kevin being a dad will change him too much, and now Danny's son has suddenly showed up.  And, I'm sure John will continue to feel guilt for what he did. Plus, it sounds like the P.I. friend is going to possibly point Sally to the idea that her kids did something bad.  But, I do feel that there might be a void left without Danny/Ben Mendelsohn, in potential future seasons.

[madam magpie]

I thought this was pretty good, if not a bit melodramatic for my taste. I always have trouble buying the premise that a "normal" messed-up family of "good" people ends up doing things like killing each other. Not to say it never happens in real life but it's always so unbelievable even when it does, so a fictionalized version always seems false. I'm super-interested in messed-up families, less so in this popular idea that any good person has a killer inside if pushed (and I don't mean self-defense). I could have done without the murder, especially since there was already the almost-murder of the dad's father. That would have also allowed for a better season two because Danny and his relationships with his family were very, very interesting.

That said, I did find this compelling and really well done, and I didn't think it was slow. Danny was always more than just a troubled ne'er-do-well, and he creeped me out from the start. When he was talking to Diana about the woman who wanted him to hit her during sex, I spent the entire conversation expecting him to rape his sister-in-law. Then there was the blackmail of Meg and the conversation with the dad. He was always plotting/creepy and just got worse, so I can't say I was too distressed to see him get his. But I also felt for him because clearly his craziness was the result of some pretty awful early experiences.

The cast was really great. Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, and Linda Cardellini stood out to me, but everyone was good. I also liked the humor, very realistic.

As for the clothes, I've never been to Key West, but I grew up in Hawaii, so bikini tops, flip-flops, and t-shirts as standard attire seemed pretty on point for an island setting to me. And they also did a great job capturing that look so many people who live on islands have where they've all gotten too much sun and probably drink too many cocktails and everyone's always sweaty.

Edited March 29, 2015 by madam magpie

[HyacinthBucket]

One big gripe: I wish they had ended it 10 minutes before they did. I don't particularly see a need for a season 2 and don't see how they can really get that much more mileage out of the story. But if Netflix wants to give me more Kyle Chandler, who am I to argue.

 

I definitely agree with ending it 10 minutes earlier, because up until then, I thought the episode was outstanding.  It had me on the edge of my seat, wondering how John was going to get away with it.  (I'll eventually take further thoughts on Episode 13 to the appropriate thread.)  The acting throughout the entire series was superb.  There were some episodes where everything seemed to drag, but I'm glad I stayed with it.

 

 

 

The last episode drove me a little crazy because I was convinced Danny would revive somehow. I remember a scene somewhere in there where they're all sitting around in their seersucker suits and Danny is there too. Was that a flashback to the first time they wore them? For some reason I thought it was some kind of flashforward and thus couldn't believe Danny was actually dead because of John drowning him. 

 

I was confused by that, too.  I had this awful feeling they were going to try and pull off some kind of "Weekend at Bernie's" stunt with Danny in his suit on the pier!

[lion10]

Just finished Season 1 and I have to say first and foremost that Bloodline was a really excellent portrait of a twisted family.  I think Danny initially came back trying to genuinely reconcile with his family but since he was initially held at arm's length, renewed his bitterness toward the rest of the Rayburns and he was forced into illegal activities to get money he desperately needed.  I think the final straw for Danny was either when even after he saved his father, his dad still wanted him gone or when he found out he had been cut out of the will and Meg didn't change it.  That clearly deeply hurt Danny and I think that, combined with the lies John told him pushed him over the edge.  The real tragedy is even though Danny had opportunities after that to go legit, his decades of bitterness and guilt consistently got the better of him.  What Danny did to the family was messed up, but I can see why he did it.  They refused to forgive him for Sarah's death for decades and he couldn't forgive them (or himself really) for their decades of rejection and lack of support.

 

I also like how old they made the siblings and parents.  I think Bloodline would have been a different series if everyone was in their mid-20s where there's still a chance for a lot of the mental damage of the past to be undone but when everyone's in their mid-30s/40s... as Danny said, "I'm too old to start brand-new".  I'm not feeling the introduction of Danny's son, but I trust the writers.

 

Also, I need to vacation in the Florida Keys now.  Those islands look gorgeous.

Edited March 29, 2015 by lion10

[Chaos Theory]

We need to talk about Danny.

I rather enjoyed this. I understand the complaint that this was slow because it kind of was especially toward the middle, but it was also a very well told story about what happens when a tragic moment defines and divides a family.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Ellaria]

We need to talk about Danny.

I rather enjoyed this. I understand the complaint that this was slow because it kind of was especially toward the middle but it was also an very well told story about what happens when a tragic moment defines and devides a family.

 

That's exactly right...a tragic moment + lies + guilt...it is a destructive combination.

 

Danny Rayburn was an intriguing character. As a viewer, I hated him, pitied him and regularly hoped that he would finally make the right choice. Since I never knew what to expect from him, I could never trust him. It remains to be seen if TPTB have killed him off too quickly. They could not have dragged out his "evil" much longer without it getting tiresome. And knowing from the start that Danny would soon be dead provided a viewing framework for the rest of the series.

 

S2 could be challenging. The better choice will be the Rayburns coping with additional guilt and secrets as they achieve want they want (sheriff, the marina/baby, job in NYC). I'm a little concerned about the introduction of Danny's son and the sense that he may be as much trouble as his father. 

[Arynm]

I was really rooting for Danny at the beginning. I felt like the entire family treated him so badly and he was just so messed up he had no chance to get back in their good graces. I think it was around halfway that I realized that he was a really bad man and he had no intention on becoming a better person. I think the worst person in all of this was the father. I just can not understand how a parent can do what he did to his own child. It was an accident. Poor Danny, I think he was actually glad when he died.

[JBC344]

In the beginning I felt like John and Meg were willing to give Danny the benefit of the doubt, especially Meg.  What screwed that up was when Danny got drunk and passed out naked on the beach for all the guests of the inn to see. That to me is when they relented that Danny was still the same screw up.

 

Hell, even after that I still felt that Meg was willing to go to bat for Danny with the Will issue, that was until he started blackmailing her and essentially pissed off his only neutral sibling.

 

What I found deranged about Danny is he had two different "cons" going.  He was successful at "charming" his mother to his side, and was even making strides with all his siblings to get on friendly terms but then sort of stopped and was more than willing to show his hand.  Perfect example was with Diane, whom Danny knew was on to him.  When he went to apologize he was actually starting to change her opinion of him, and then within a second showed his true colors and threatened her.

 

Who knows if it is more of a chicken and egg syndrome:  Does Danny screw up because his family shuns him?  Or does the family shun him because he is such a screw up?

 

The reveal that Sally was the one who instructed the kids to lie, was completely lackluster.  There was never any real payoff with that.  Yes, Danny yelled at Sally in the kitchen but he presumably doesn't know that it was her and not Robert who made the kids lie.  Also I'm not sure what difference that would have made with the revelation of Sally "going along" with the lie as opposed to her "crafting it". Outside of Danny finding out the distinction, which he didn't, there was no need for it.

 

One thing that kind of rang false to me was the teens devotion to Danny.  Yeah I get that they were going with the "rebellious teenager" troupe, but I felt like they had the kids turn on their parents way to easy.  Also it didn't seem like the kids were particularly close to Danny before.  He was probably the grIfter uncle who was known as the family black sheep. So there was no previous allegiance to him. I could understand if he was cool, fun, favorite Uncle Danny who always took us out and let us break all the rules but that didn't seem like the case with their history.

 

I think they should of had the kids play those scenes with a little more worry or nuance as to why their parents were so terrified about them being around Danny.  It was too much "bratty teenager" for me. 

Edited March 30, 2015 by JBC344

[Maximona]

Danny wasn't a psychopath; he was a sociopath -- the distinction there being that his destructive behavior seemed to be caused by environmental factors (his role in the twisted family dynamic).  As an adolescent, he showed a lot of empathy for his sister Sara when she was so distraught over Sally's plan to run away.  In fact, his empathy -- that decision to try and distract her from her despair -- directly leads to his downfall.

 

That doesn't make him a more pleasant character, of course.

 

I agree that a Season 2 seems absolutely unnecessary.  If they hadn't introduced his son in the last minute and a half, all the strings would have tied up the package nicely.

[rippleintime17]

Speaking of Sally's running away. We see her on a bus looking at a photo of all of her kids. Are we to believe she actually did leave that day that Sarah died? And if so, how far did she get and when did she find out? 

[JBC344]

Speaking of Sally's running away. We see her on a bus looking at a photo of all of her kids. Are we to believe she actually did leave that day that Sarah died? And if so, how far did she get and when did she find out? 

Yeah I'm assuming that once Danny took Sarah out the house, Sally finished packing and hoped on the nearest bus.  She had to be back by the night or next day because when Detective Potts questioned Robert and Danny at the hospital that was when he found out that Sally was "out of town visiting relatives".  I'm assuming she came right back once she heard about Sarah, and in enough time to coerce the kids to lie to Potts about the car accident.

[enchantingmonkey]

I've just finished episode 6.  Are there any stand out/awesome episodes through the middle?  I can feel the show slowing down a bit.  

[alexvillage]

 

he was forced into illegal activities to get money he desperately needed.

Nobody forced him to do anything and wasn't the money to pay his drug dealers? His actions, his mistakes.

 

 

Danny wasn't a psychopath; he was a sociopath -- the distinction there being that his destructive behavior seemed to be caused by environmental factors (his role in the twisted family dynamic)

Not sure about that. Signs of sociopathy are also noted in childhood and the teen years are particularly disturbing. As far as the writers have shown us, Danny was  close to his siblings, he tried to distract Sarah, he and John were the older brothers picking on the younger one. 

 

I think Danny was messed up for different reasons and troubled by what happened to Sarah and how his father reacted to it. He felt guilty, and everybody else apparently went with this, not making it easier for him. 

The show was very good at the family messed up dynamics. Everyone has their secrets and the "perfect" one is the one who commits the worst "sin", for no real reason. I mean, a fight and then he decides to drown his brother to make things easier for himself the the ones he believes deserve more?

 

I really liked Danny. He was the most human of all the characters, if more than a little messy. He found a way to manipulate (or tried to) every sibling and hid his contempt for his mother to get what he wanted. But seriously, he is not far from some addicts who will do anything to get what they need, or believe they need. The difference is that Danny was chasing something close to impossible, since the whole family decided that he was the troubled one, the only one.

 

And now I think that the next seasons, if we have more, will unmask the whole family. 

[Chaos Theory]

Not sure if Danny is a psychopath or a sociopath. I think he is more a hurt child lashing out at the world. When you get abused that much you lash out at the people who hurt you the most. The irony is that I think he blamed his siblings more then his father. He was willing to forgive his father but his brother.....the good brother....the "good" brother that was the one he really wanted to hurt. From what I understand a sociopath feels little or nothing just like a psychopath but Danny felt a great deal. He felt hurt, he felt anger, he felt betrayal and he wanted his family to feel his pain.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[AmosTupper]

This show really grew on me and ended brilliantly. If you are growing impatient, once Episode 9 hits your patience will be rewarded. I binged Episodes 9-13 tonight after work.

Like Damages, this shows is great with the details - just when I thought one would be dropped, the writers followed up on it.

I really hate voice overs and narration in movies and TV shows, but this one paid off. I loved how the voice overs of John throughout the season really all came from the speech he gave when trying to woo supporters in his bid for sheriff.

Looking forward to season 2!

[pfk505]

I loved this series.  A definite slow burn, with a few irritating characters, but overall quite an achievement.  Ben Mendelsohn especially was fantastic.

 

Just wanted to say that, for me, the true villain of the piece was Robert Rayburn.  His actions set virtually everything in motion.  Had he been a good father to his son, to support him in such a traumatic moment (of what was obviously an accident) instead of beating him and ostracizing him, who knows what Danny might have made of himself, or what path he might have taken in life.  The over-the-top deification of such a clearly flawed man bugged me from the outset and only continued as the story went on.  The late revelation that Sissy Spacek's character was in on the whole deception wasn't really that surprising, being just one more family member bent on protecting the lie.

 

I guess they've left the door open for season 2 but I think the shelf life for this story is a short one.  It was so good though that I'll definitely give it the benefit of the doubt should it continue.

[ladders]

Who knows if it is more of a chicken and egg syndrome:  Does Danny screw up because his family shuns him?  Or does the family shun him because he is such a screw up?

 

Well, the family did give Danny a job, and we learned that John had paid for professional cooking classes.  He never completed the classes and wasted the money.  At the Inn, Danny complained about his paychecks and never cashed them, and eventually endangered the whole family and their business by running drugs through their property.  

 

Interesting how Sally and the kids were on his side through much of the story but we saw how the family "protected" them from the worst aspects of his character - scamming a doctor for painkillers, stealing, lying, using hard drugs, and ultimately committing murder.  They don't want to let Sally down, and they don't want to expose the kids to criminal activity.  But did this help?  Maybe communicating the issues directly would have been better, and everyone would have seen who Danny really was.