Paranoia and tension-filled 'Bloodline' Season 2 returns on May 27

Category: Television and Streaming


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I am one of those people who follow good material, whether they are show creators or actors. Last March I did just that! How can I pass up an opportunity to watch the first drama developed by creators Daniel Zelman, Todd A. and Glen Kessler after their critical darling Damages? On top of that, Bloodline was Kyle Chandler’s big return to television fans of Friday Night Lights had been waiting for!

Glen Kessler flew to Austin with just an idea of a family drama (they call it an ‘experiment’) and convinced Chandler to play a very different role from his Emmy-winning upstanding father and Coach Taylor. He jumped at the opportunity to show a contrasting side to Coach Taylor. After all, Detective John Rayburn is “outside my wheelhouse of things I’ve done,” Chandler points out.

Throughout Damages, the creative trio enjoyed playing with viewers’ preconceived notions about actors and decided to take advantage of Chandler’s upright image. ”Coach Taylor was an honest man,” says Chandler. “I have this foundation of honesty. Then, when my character does bad things, people will still think, ‘Cut him a break. He must have a reason.’’’

Netflix’s Bloodline centers around the Rayburn clan deeply rooted in the Florida Keys. The first season was a slow-burning drama about this seemingly normal and hardworking Rayburn family and the frenzy and unrest Danny (Ben Mendelsohn), their black sheep eldest son, generated when he returned home for his parents’ 45th anniversary. After the first hour of the show, it was apparent that John, the golden boy, is the one who is going to do something about the black sheep.

Although some critics doubt how Bloodline 2 can top the brilliant first season with a jaw-dropping ending, I totally disagree. They needed the setup to see how the deaths of Danny and the Rayburn patriarch Robert (Sam Shepard) affect the family. The second season is exactly what the creator trio wanted to tell; family secrets, birth order, expectations, and siblings dynamics.

Now that the rotten apple has been eliminated, the remaining siblings have to pay the consequences. John and the younger siblings, Kevin (Nobert Leo Butz) and Meg (Linda Cardellini), are at each other’s throats all the time. Slowly but surely the unifying force crumbles because they now have to face their own fear, guilt, shame, resentment, and pain. John is haunted by Danny and has to deal with the Rayburn matriarch Sally (Sissy Spacek), Danny’s son (?) Nolan (Owen Teague), the local drug distributor, his detective partner Marco (Enrique Murciano), and many more. It’s John against the whole world since he doesn’t have any body to confide in. It’s exhausting to watch John enduring calamities from within and without, but it’s one of the best human drama series available.

This so-called ‘experiment’ truly works! You can’t go wrong if you follow good material from the Kesslers & Zelman, and Chandler. It’s well worth your time joining John Rayburn’s tumultuous journey – if your heart can take it.

About the Author

Meg Mimura is a TV critic who actually watches shows zealously in search of human drama worth watching. She is a member of Television Critics Association as well as Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.