Bloodline is a slow-paced show. This is not news to anyone familiar with it. That’s not always a bad thing, though. At its best, Bloodline is an excruciatingly tense slow burn that you watch while peeking through your fingers. At its worst, Bloodline is glacial and confusing. “Part 15” lands somewhere in the middle. It’s a place-setting episode, to be sure, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because Bloodline has a ludicrously strong ensemble at its core. But it can be a frustrating thing.
The biggest misstep of “Part 15” is the pains it takes to muddy the waters. Without Danny Rayburn in the mix – although he’s seen tonight in a brief, menacing flashback – antagonists have to come from all sides, which here results in a cavalcade of new characters with ill-defined motivations. Now the Rayburns have to deal with the threat of a paper trail, showing that Meg bailed out Carlos with a check from Sally, and it all gets very confusing. It works to the show’s detriment. The gist of it is, if Carlos can put the money and drugs at the feet of John, Meg, and Kevin, then they suddenly have decent motivation to kill their brother. That’s clear enough, but goddamn does the episode take its time getting there.
I also wonder what’s happening with Nolan. Owen Teague’s performance is more interesting here than it was in the premiere, even though he has significantly less screen time. He’s not even trying to act nonchalant, almost blatantly menacing the Rayburns. When meeting Sally, he flippantly refers to Sarah as “the dead one,” and tells her to “fuckin’ relax” because he doesn’t want anything – from her. Nolan’s look is a little too goofy for me to take him seriously as a threat – unless he was threatening to steal my girl at a Mindless Self Indulgence concert – but I find myself interested nonetheless. Such is the maddening power of Bloodline, I suppose.
I never thought I’d say this, but my favorite storyline of the episode belonged to Kevin. Kevin has never been the show’s most interesting character, but when backed into a corner he makes some interesting decisions – which, in turn, leads to a far more interesting performance from Norbert Leo Butz.
Butz has never been bad in the role, but in the show’s first season he played Kevin more or less like a walking Van Halen song. (And you just know he prefers the Sammy Hagar years.) But desperation is a good look for Kevin. After blowing an informal interview with a commercial real estate developer, Kevin decides to sell some of the cocaine he fished out of the marina last episode. Something about the way he’s shot – usually alone, often looking into a mirror – suggests that he might be more like Danny than he thought. If Kevin keeps going down this road, he might be the new Danny, which would be some laudable long-form storytelling.
And I have to applaud the staging of the drug buy. The late-night diner was an inspired choice, and it makes for a good juxtaposition. Director Michael Morris, a Halt and Catch Fire veteran who doesn’t really bring much of a personal stamp to “Part 15,” wrings tension and danger out of a seemingly civil conversation, and Butz does some great facial acting as he’s left alone and his confident facade crumbles just slightly. It’s a good thing “Part 15” more or less ends with this scene.
A Few Thoughts
- Loved John’s speech at the end. Great delivery by Kyle Chandler as he ruminates on the futility of asking “why?” It’s as good an explication as any of the running theme of this show.
- I also appreciated seeing John hunt and peck at his keyboard. It’s a nice, humanizing touch.
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