Bloodline: Has Netflix Found Its True Detective?

facebooktwitterreddit

"‘We’re not bad people, but we did a bad thing.’"

The body of a young woman is found in a mangrove swamp. A detective narrates, telling us about his family, four siblings all suspicious of one another; they might be more involved in the girl’s death than we first realise. Flashbacks to their childhood, events that have changed them. As well as the past, we’re shown future events, the result of a close family without trust.

No, these aren’t new details from season 2, but with its lush cinematography, dark and interlocking mysteries, powerhouse actors including Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard, Sissy Spacek, Chloë Sevigny and Kyle Chandler (most of whom have seen more success in film over television), it seems that Bloodline might be the True Detective of Netflix.

More from HBO

True Detective infamously crashed HBO’s streaming service, HBO GO. Early reviews suggest Bloodline might not be this popular, and that it might be more similar to Damages (the two shows were created by the Kessler brothers and Daniel Zelman), but the story of the impossible Rayburn family is still an engaging watch to tide us over until season 2 of True Detective finally arrives.

All thirteen episodes of the first season of Bloodline have been released and are available to binge-watch.