Because Friday morning marked the debut of Netflix Original series Bloodline , I assume that you're already as deep into your marathon as I am (if not, get on that stat). So far, the series is making good on its promises to bring some seriously dysfunctional family drama and to change our feelings on Coach Taylor maybe forever. (That flash forward!) The action begins when the extended Rayburn family gathers at their Florida Keys resort to celebrate their prominent parents, after whom the town is naming a pier. But the layers of their picture perfect lives quickly unravel and secrets are flying around like Corona bottle caps at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.Black sheep big brother Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) barely makes it to the party, which riles up his responsible brother John (Kyle Chandler). John wants Danny there because it will make his mother (Sissy Spacek) happy, not because Danny has ever left anything but destruction in his wake. Sister Meg (Linda Cardellini) wants to keep the peace — all the better to distract from her affair; youngest brother Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) is just fine with never seeing Danny again. Danny's long-standing issues with his dad Robert (Sam Shepard) quickly bubble back up to the surface; every exchange they share has an undercurrent of violence. Danny has no prospects. He's the kind of guy who drifts from odd job to not-strictly-legal job and back again. So he asks to stay and help run the family business. Robert leaves the decision to his other children, who decide to send Danny packing. John breaks the news to Danny, but doesn't tell him that his siblings and not his father were responsible for the final call. Later that same day, Danny brings an unconscious Robert to the hospital with a vague story about his dad collapsing out of his kayak and hitting his head. He's careless and reckless, yes, but is Danny really capable of physically attacking his own father? That question is complicated by the reveal that Robert used to beat Danny regularly when he was a child.
Despite the fact that he kind of had it coming, Robert isn't in critical condition because of his son. We see in a flashback that Danny's story is true, though that doesn't heal his dad any quicker. The family trades places keeping vigil in the hospital while Robert shows signs of memory loss. The doctors aren't sure he'll ever be the same. So what would really be useful at this time is the will that Meg was supposed to execute for him. She dallied because Robert intended to cut Danny out and she hoped he would change his mind. (I bet Meg will lose a lot of her optimism by the time this season is over.) She tries to talk to her incapacitated dad about it, but he isn't exactly of "sound mind." And he calls her "Sarah." Who?
Meanwhile, John's son Ben is cutting together a reel of home movies to help jog his grandfather's memory. John instructs him to only use videos post-1984, but Ben watches an earlier clip anyway. In it, the young Rayburns play on the beach in front of the hotel. All five of them. And it looks like Sarah was her dad's favorite.But is Sarah Rayburn still alive? If she is, why is she estranged from her family? And whether she's alive or dead, is Danny responsible for her not being around? Three episodes in and there are already dozens of questions for Bloodline to answer. And something tells me that the whereabouts of this missing Rayburn sibling will lead us right to the truth.
Images: Saeed Adyani/Netflix; Giphy (2)
