Gary McCurry reviews the twelfth episode of Bloodline…
It’s at that point now that we’re watching the Rayburn’s crumble. Bit by bit each member is falling and they’re also taking their families down with them. John orders his wife, Diana to take the kids and leave town in the aftermath of Danny’s stunt with their daughter. Danny has had a showdown with pretty much everyone he’s ever met in his hometown and now comes the time to watch the spiral begin towards the end that was shown to us in the pilot.
The penultimate episode of Bloodline is here so expect a whole bunch of nasty spoilers.
The previous installment was a masterclass in many areas. Although it has been said by many, including me, the two leads, Ben Mendelsohn and Kyle Chandler are stunning. When either, and particularly both are on-screen you are drawn into that world, that moment. Each thread has been painstakingly put together to create sequences rarely seen on Netflix or anywhere else for that matter. Sometimes, yes it takes a while to get to the meat of the episode, that is evident in this episode too, however we are given a lot to digest as the show draws to its conclusion.
Following on directly from where the last ended we have John and Diana questioning their daughter in regards to her trip with Uncle Danny. The kids, like others are out of the loop and find themselves merely following orders.
Even a glimpse of Danny, ramps up the suspense. He appears at the door of Meg’s home and instantly you feel uneasy. Writers of “Part 12” Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman put just enough fuel on the fire to allow the audience to sit back and watch the sparks that follow.
On a few occasions I’ve wrote about the last twenty minutes or the final scene in a specific episode being the episode saver. Something to keep you watching even when you’re thinking otherwise. We’re past that point now. So long is the lost in thought, flashback scenes. It’s all ahead of us now.
Sissy Spacek’s character, Sally gets drawn in the main conflict as Danny lets loose about details that have led him to this point. Smuggling drugs through the inn, people wanting to kill him. You know, all the things every mother wants to hear about her son. A little observation hit me. Nothing major, just thought for all the time spent talking about the speech Danny had written, why not show us at least a portion of it. He felt so compelled to tell everyone that he mentioned it was all he wanted to do when he returned. Not a word.
Having a whole sequence of John knowing that someone was out to kill Danny but choosing to drive away tells of the turmoil he had been facing up until that point. The feeling that followed of John hearing from Marco (Enrique Murciano) that shots had been fired, and someone killed at the motel he had just left was perfect. I mean, perfect. A blank expression that attempts to hide an abundance of emotion behind it.
We all know it wasn’t Danny and they do drag out the reveal to confirm. This gives Danny just enough time to place himself at the Rayburn kitchen table just in order to flash a smile towards his brother as he comes walking down the stair. I’ll say it one more time, perfect.
Shown to us from the start, we assumed that Danny’s death would come in some way from his siblings, that was the whole set up. The final confrontation doesn’t go like you’d expect as we are an episode from the finale. For Danny to die, literally at the hands of John was a shock to me. The silence that followed echoed around my living room, giving me a moment to breathe and, like John, take in the last two minutes.
Here we are. So many questions, one more episode. The bar has been set high, can they reach it for one last time this season.
Gary McCurry – Follow me on Twitter
https://youtu.be/yIuEu1m0p2M?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published June 11, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
