Spoilers through the season two finale.
Bloodline premiered on Netflix last Friday, and those who began it probably couldn’t help themselves from quickly bingeing their way through the entire series. As I wrote in my review of season two, Bloodline is a “series that demands to be binged, not because the viewer wants to find out what’s next so much as not pushing through means living with these characters’ anxiety that much longer.”
Viewers reading this have hopefully binged through to the end of the series. If so, they probably have a lot of questions, because the season finale resolves nothing. The ending of season two is so frustratingly abrupt, I found myself checking my Netflix account two or three times to make sure there wasn’t another episode.
The finale leaves a lot of open questions in its wake. Here’s what we’re asking in between seasons.
Where Is John Rayburn Going?
The final scene in the second season of Bloodline sees John Rayburn (Kyle Chandler) driving away from Monroe County, Fla. toward an unknown destination. As far as he’s concerned, Marco (Enrique Murciano) has him dead-to-rights on the murder of his brother, Danny, and John couldn’t kill the one man the entire murder investigation hinged upon: Eric O’Bannon (Jamie McShane). John’s wife has kicked him out. His siblings have turned against him. His own daughter doesn’t want anything to do with him. What’s going through John’s head as he’s driving away with the ghost of Danny riding shotgun? Is he clearing his mind? Is he devising a new plan? Or is he running away? Is he pulling a Danny and dumping all of his problems on his family? If he is running away, will the events that transpired over the course of the finale bring him back?
How did it even get to this point? John was a good man, the family’s golden boy, and all he intended to do was to protect that family first from Danny, and then from a murder investigation that would’ve taken John away from his family. Is this the tragic story of a decent man undone by his black-sheep brother? Or is it fitting justice for a man with a violent temper who let his anger get the best of him?
What’s going to happen to Kevin Rayburn?
Kevin had finally cleaned up his act. He’d sobered up. He was seeking help. He’s got out from under his sinking business. He was ready to be a father. He’d also decided to finally come clean to Marco and the police. He was gong to turn on his brother John to protect himself and his sister. However, Marco wouldn’t listen. Marco didn’t want his confession. Marco wanted to tie Kevin to the murder of Danny and put him away just as he was going to put away John and Meg. So, Kevin murdered Marco. Like Danny and John before him, Kevin let his temper get the best of him. How will he manage to cover the murder up? Will Meg and/or John help him to hide the body? Or will Sheriff Aguirre (David Zayas) pin the murder on Kevin and the rest of the Rayburn family?
Is Meg going to confess to her mom, Sally Rayburn?
At the end of the season finale, Meg had finally broken down. She’d turned on John, and Kevin had gone to confess to Marco against her wishes. She could no longer control her brothers. The lying and the secrets had taken their toll. Meg turned to her mother, Sally, and it appeared that she was going to confess to helping John coverup the murder of Danny. What would that confession do to her family? Would Sally turn on her children? Or would she allow herself to be pulled into the mess and become yet another family member holding a secret in order to save her other kids?
Will Eric O’Bannon get his immunity deal?
Eric is the only man with enough potential evidence to put John away for the murder of Danny, but is it enough? He wasn’t an eyewitness to the murder, and the only physical evidence he has is a necklace. How much can Eric really prove with that? After the death of Marco, will Eric even be eligible for the immunity deal? With both the Rayburn family and, potentially, Roy Gilbert still out there, will Eric even survive long enough to turn on John?
Will Ozzy Delvecchio survive?
When last we saw Ozzy (John Leguizamo), he’d been picked up by White Shirt Man (Yul Vazquez), one of Roy Gilbert’s henchman. Gilbert, presumably, was going to either have a long talk with Ozzy or have him killed to prevent him from blackmailing the Rayburn family any longer. Alternatively, if the series wanted to keep Leguizamo around another season, they could fold Ozzy into the drug-running operation.
What’s the deal with Nolan Rayburn?
Nolan (Owen Teague), the troubled son of Danny, had finally found a family in Sally, who had taken Nolan and his mother Eve (Andrea Riseborough) in. However, Nolan had a secret, too, one that he finally confessed to Diana Rayburn (Jacinda Barrett) at the end of the episode. Nolan was responsible for burning down his father’s restaurant, which set in motion the entire chain of events that led to Danny’s return home, his murder, and the coverup. Where does Nolan go from here? Will Diana keep his secret? Will she tell John or Sally, and will it cost Nolan and his mother their new home?
What will Roy Gilbert’s role in the third season be?
In the third season, all signs point to Roy Gilbert (Beau Bridges) as Bloodline’s new villain. If John can get out from under the murder of Danny, if Kevin can get out from under the murder of Marco, and if the Rayburns can get out from under Ozzy’s blackmail, it will be because of one man: Roy Gilbert. He will have killed or otherwise neutralized Ozzy. He will probably kill Eric. He could install John as the sheriff, and he would absolutely own the Rayburn family, just as Sally had warned. He’d be able to continue shipping in drugs through Kevin’s marina, and John wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, because Roy also possesses the tape that Danny recorded that would implicate John in Danny’s murder.
In other words, season three might mean piling even more secrets and crimes on top of the existing secrets and crimes. At what point do the Rayburns stop being a victim of circumstances and start being the bad guys themselves? Or is it possible that Roy Gilbert is so evil that we begin to feel some sympathy for the Rayburn clan again?
Will there even be a season three?
It’s hard to imagine that Netflix would leave us hanging by not renewing the series for another season. However, the streaming service has not yet made the call to renew the show, it is not one of the more talked-about original series on Netflix, and Bloodline will be losing valuable tax breaks that made it more affordable to shoot in the Florida Keys. It would be cruel to end the series on a cliffhanger, but Bloodline obviously wouldn’t be the first series to do so.
