Get excited, “Bloodline” fans. Season 2 drops Friday (May 27) and if you liked Season 1, the follow-up season is going to knock your socks off. Here are five ways the second season trumps Season 1.
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1. No more voice over narration
Hallejluah! This was the worst and most unnecessary aspect of Season 1. The golden rule of good story telling is to show, don’t tell. Even though we would listen to Coach Taylor’s Kyle Chandler’s voice read a phone book aloud, the repetitiousness of saying exactly what was happening on screen was redundant and unnecessary. And when the pace of the show moves slow enough that it sometime feels like it’s possible to go make a sandwich and return to the couch before one character finally responds to another’s question, it should be easy to trust that viewers don’t need extra directions to figure out what’s happening on screen.
2. Danny’s ghost
Most worrisome for fans looking forward to Season 2 was the fact that Danny Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn) was killed off in Season 1. But don’t worry. He is still dead, but he’s not forgotten. Danny actually seems to be able to do more damage from the grave than he ever did while he was alive, much to his family’s chagrin. His lingering post-mortem presence continues to haunt the lives of John (Kyle Chandler), Meg (Linda Cardellini), Kevin (Norbet Leo Butz), and Mama Sally Rayburn (Sissy Spacek).
Danny’s character is most present in his prodigal son Nolan (Owen Teague), who is a spit and image of a young Danny. Everything from his unsteady swagger, creepy stares and absolute disregard for social niceties, it’s almost as if Danny has been reincarnated.
3. No more unnecessary flashbacks
The main flaw in Season 1 was that it sometimes depended on cheap tricks to drum up the drama. Flashbacks can be a great tool for a series if audiences are discovering certain backstories at the same time as the characters, but this was not the case in “Bloodline.”
If the writer’s are always jumping in with an “Oh yeah, now we’re going to tell the audience something major that happened 20 years ago making everything you thought was true, a lie,” a viewer can’t guess what’s to come. It cheapens the current story because we learn not to trust it. It’s like hanging out for hours with someone who tells super interesting stories and then yells, “PSYCH!” afterwards. Every. time.
The flashbacks in Season 2 aren’t used as crutches to revive a dull storyline that isn’t interesting enough to stand on its own. They’re employed to show a character’s haunting memory, or as a visual explanation while a character learns new information. Plus, the kids hired to play young Danny and young John look so freakishly like a teenage Chandler and Mendelsohn, it’s mesmerizing.
4. The women
Coming into Season 2, Meg has since been living in New York City and wardrobe has not too creatively decided that she now only wears tight black clothing. These outfits are such an upgrade from the floral mini’s and pastel tanks, that it’s hard to care such a cliche and obvious fashion choice was made for Cardellini’s character.
5. Kyle Chandler goes to the dark side
It is uncomfortable to see Coach Taylor John Rayburn losing his cool. It’s so rare. The build to it is so slow. His reactions, always unexpected. So when John finally lets his inner darkness take over, unable to keep his anger and frustration bottled up inside … get the popcorn.
Stream all 10 episodes of “Bloodline” Season 2 on Friday, May 27, on Netflix.
