bloodlines
Entertainment

“Bloodline” is Netflix’s Captivating New Drama

On Friday, March 20, Netflix released the new television series, Bloodline, for streaming. With the first episode alone involving mystery, suspense, and the premise that “we’re not bad people, but we did a bad thing,” it is almost sure to be a success.

According to imdb.com, Bloodline is about “a family of adult siblings who find that their secrets and scars are revealed when their black sheep of a brother returns home.” The first episode begins with the Rayburn family hosting a gathering at their resort, and the “black sheep brother,” Danny Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn), contemplating whether he wants to go or not. Eventually he does, and we learn that he has had a troubling past and a questionable future with the family.

The pilot episode shows that Danny has faced struggles in the past because the family does not want to let him back into the family business (for a reason that we are unsure of) and his father is clearly disappointed in him, hesitating even to say something positive about his son during a toast. We are left wondering what it is that Danny has done, which is the interesting hook of the show.

Throughout the episode there are flashes of Danny and his brother, John (Kyle Chandler), swimming through water and rain while carrying Danny’s unconscious body. This made me wonder what happened for the brothers to get into this crazy circumstance. Later in the episode, John is telling his brother that he has done a lot for Danny that nobody knows about, which also left me wondering. 

John seems to be more on Danny’s side than his other siblings and family members, which may be because of the mysterious things that Danny has done for him. At this point in the episode, I was hooked. But just when it seemed that the episode was over, there is a flash forward to John putting Danny on a boat, pouring gasoline over his body, and lighting everything on fire. I have no idea why this happened, but I cannot wait to find out. There were no hints alluding to this event, which is why it was so surprising.

There was another notable aspect of the pilot, which happened about halfway through the episode. In this scene, Danny is talking to John’s wife, Diana (Jacinda Barrett), about the latest woman in his life. He describes a scene in which they were about to get intimate for the first time, and the woman asked Danny to hit her several times. When Danny refused, the woman hit him in the face, gave him a bloody nose, and kicked him off the bed. I thought that this was interesting because we hear about abuse happening from men in the media more often than women. 

Aside from the intriguing plotline, I found the mechanics of the show to be appealing as well. The graphics were clear, sharp, and aesthetically pleasing. The colors in the scenes were brighter during happy moments and blander when the scenes were serious, which added to the tone of the show. It allowed the viewer to further invest in the emotions of the characters and scenery.

The writing of the show was well done and transitioned well. It involved the perfect blend of mystery and lightness, and introduced the plot well. The storyline for the entire season was not exactly placed right in front of the viewer, which helped me pay attention to the episode. There was more of a desire for me to stay tuned in because it involved some thought, which was enjoyable. The actors themselves also fit well with their characters, and it definitely seemed as though they could be a family in real life. The characters were relatable and I could understand how they felt, such as when the siblings were fighting with Danny, and when they had fun together playing games.

Altogether, I really enjoyed the pilot episode of this show. The family seemed relatable because it dealt with sibling rivalry and family tensions, as many families experience in life. It shed light on the realities of society, such as fights, abuse, and death. If anyone is looking for a new show to binge-watch, I highly recommend Bloodline

IMAGE TAKEN from tygoodness.com