It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the second year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.
Bloodline: Season 3, Episode 9 “Part 32” (C-)
Here’s a great example of an episode not to watch when you aren’t a regular viewer. I watched a few episodes of season one back when it first started then the Emmy submissions for the end of the season and season two when both Kyle Chandler and Ben Mendelsohn were nominated. After winning the supporting actor trophy for his part in flashbacks in season two, Mendelsohn is back again as a nominee in the guest actor race for, again, appearing in flashbacks. This episode was dizzyingly disorienting, and not in a good way. It’s clear that something happened to Chandler’s John, possibly from a drug overdose, possibly from taking Ambien, and possibly from just having endured some trauma related to the death of his brother or something else. He met no less than three different doctors all with the same last name and hallucinated so many things while traveling through his memory banks full of real and imagined events from his past. I’ll be honest – I don’t really know what happened and, based on the pacing and general plotting, I just don’t care. Mendelsohn is and has always been a strong actor, but I’ll take his performance in “Animal Kingdom,” “Mississippi Grind,” or the forthcoming “Una” any day over this mediocre role that he effortlessly pulls off. This show was ended after its third season, allegedly due to entertainment tax incentives being cut in Florida, but I think that this once-promising drama with a great cast never really lived up to its premise and I’m not sad to see that it’s over.
Showing posts with label Bloodline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloodline. Show all posts
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Emmy Episodes: Bloodline
It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.
Bloodline: Season 2, Episode 10 “Part 23” (C+)
Nominated for Best Actor (Kyle Chandler) and Best Supporting (Ben Mendelsohn) in a Drama Series
I thought I had stuck with this show through its third episode, but a look back at my reviews indicates that I didn’t make it past episode two. I watched the season finale which both nominated actors submitted last year, and now, once again, the two of them are back as the lone representatives of their show. I’ll make the important note that as a non-regular viewer, it’s very hard to get into this episode since Netflix doesn’t include “previously on” segments. I’m not sure if Emmy screeners do, but there’s a lot of the plot that is complicated to decipher. What’s interesting about Mendelsohn’s nomination is that he died in the season one finale, so in this case he appears only as a hallucination tormenting his brother John. This is a good showcase for talented Aussie Mendelsohn, showing him in a sympathetic lens dealing with his father’s viciousness and trying to support his son, with the added plus of his flashback scenes being nostalgic due to his death. We don’t see any of the bad behavior that we hear about from his siblings, and that actually makes John seem like the villain. It’s hard to find any sympathy for John, who comes off as very unlikeable. Chandler managed to win an Emmy back in 2011 for the final season of “Friday Night Lights,” but that was a much more beloved role, so I don’t see him having a good shot at winning this year. I’d argue that this is a stronger showcase for either Norbert Leo Butz, who plays Kevin, or Jamie McShane, an unsung supporting player from “Sons of Anarchy,” as Eric O’Bannon. I suspect I’ll tune in to another episode of this show come Emmy time next year, but it just doesn’t appeal. It’s far too dense and uninviting.
Bloodline: Season 2, Episode 10 “Part 23” (C+)
Nominated for Best Actor (Kyle Chandler) and Best Supporting (Ben Mendelsohn) in a Drama Series
I thought I had stuck with this show through its third episode, but a look back at my reviews indicates that I didn’t make it past episode two. I watched the season finale which both nominated actors submitted last year, and now, once again, the two of them are back as the lone representatives of their show. I’ll make the important note that as a non-regular viewer, it’s very hard to get into this episode since Netflix doesn’t include “previously on” segments. I’m not sure if Emmy screeners do, but there’s a lot of the plot that is complicated to decipher. What’s interesting about Mendelsohn’s nomination is that he died in the season one finale, so in this case he appears only as a hallucination tormenting his brother John. This is a good showcase for talented Aussie Mendelsohn, showing him in a sympathetic lens dealing with his father’s viciousness and trying to support his son, with the added plus of his flashback scenes being nostalgic due to his death. We don’t see any of the bad behavior that we hear about from his siblings, and that actually makes John seem like the villain. It’s hard to find any sympathy for John, who comes off as very unlikeable. Chandler managed to win an Emmy back in 2011 for the final season of “Friday Night Lights,” but that was a much more beloved role, so I don’t see him having a good shot at winning this year. I’d argue that this is a stronger showcase for either Norbert Leo Butz, who plays Kevin, or Jamie McShane, an unsung supporting player from “Sons of Anarchy,” as Eric O’Bannon. I suspect I’ll tune in to another episode of this show come Emmy time next year, but it just doesn’t appeal. It’s far too dense and uninviting.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Round Two: Bloodline
Bloodline: Season 1, Episode 2 “Part 2” (C)
I checked back in to watch the second episode of this show mostly because, in watching the pilot with my wife, she enjoyed this show a lot more than I did and found it intriguing. This second outing doesn’t inspire much confidence. “Damages” was always frustrating because it offered only a glimpse of the future at the beginning and end of each episode, and while this show does show at least a full scene or two that drops a big bombshell, it still seems like a simple storyline that my wife thinks would be better set for a movie is being stretched unnecessarily out into thirteen episodes. What seems very clear is that Danny was pushed to being the bad person he is by the treatment he receives from his siblings. The revelation that events did happen exactly as he describes them and he had nothing to do with causing his father’s death doesn’t make him a great person but it certainly doesn’t make him the man that his siblings think he is. Regarding the other three siblings, I’m disappointed that all we’re seeing of Linda Cardellini’s Meg is a reliable daughter eager to allay the concerns of her mother but incapable of having any real personality of her own. The same is true to a different extent of Kyle Chandler’s John, since Chandler’s quiet demeanor works well in other contexts but is a bit lackluster here. Norbert Leo Butz is being allowed to be as enthusiastic and frenetic as he wants, making him the show’s star hothead. I’m considering a third go of this show, but I don’t think its pacing or plotting will be compelling enough.
I checked back in to watch the second episode of this show mostly because, in watching the pilot with my wife, she enjoyed this show a lot more than I did and found it intriguing. This second outing doesn’t inspire much confidence. “Damages” was always frustrating because it offered only a glimpse of the future at the beginning and end of each episode, and while this show does show at least a full scene or two that drops a big bombshell, it still seems like a simple storyline that my wife thinks would be better set for a movie is being stretched unnecessarily out into thirteen episodes. What seems very clear is that Danny was pushed to being the bad person he is by the treatment he receives from his siblings. The revelation that events did happen exactly as he describes them and he had nothing to do with causing his father’s death doesn’t make him a great person but it certainly doesn’t make him the man that his siblings think he is. Regarding the other three siblings, I’m disappointed that all we’re seeing of Linda Cardellini’s Meg is a reliable daughter eager to allay the concerns of her mother but incapable of having any real personality of her own. The same is true to a different extent of Kyle Chandler’s John, since Chandler’s quiet demeanor works well in other contexts but is a bit lackluster here. Norbert Leo Butz is being allowed to be as enthusiastic and frenetic as he wants, making him the show’s star hothead. I’m considering a third go of this show, but I don’t think its pacing or plotting will be compelling enough.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Pilot Review: Bloodline
Bloodline (Netflix)
Premiered March 20
It seems like Netflix is churning out a new season of some show almost every week now. The latest premiere, which came without too much fanfare, is “Bloodline,” a family drama slash thriller set at a hotel in the Florida Keys. As with “Parenthood,” this family produced a generation of four adult children, all of whom are extremely different. The cast assembled to play these four is pretty diverse and impressive. Kyle Chandler, who won an Emmy for “Friday Night Lights,” is the do-gooder son who became a sheriff. Linda Cardellini, who recently appeared on “Mad Men” and got her start well before that on “Freaks and Geeks,” is the daughter who can’t seem to get her life together. Norbert Leo Butz, a respected Broadway actor, is the lackadaisical brother. And Ben Mendelsohn, who I saw in two Sundance films this year and loved in “Animal Kingdom” and “Starred Up” before that, is the troublesome one who just can’t be relied upon. Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, two venerated veteran actors, are the parents, and a handful of other TV faces, like Jamie McShane, Katie Finneran, Steven Pasquale, and Mia Kirshner also appear in the pilot. The problem is that this show, which comes from the creators of “Damages,” feels a whole lot like that series, which slowly added little bits of information each episode to build a storyline that could have played out over just an episode or two. That style could work better for a show that can be binge-watched immediately, but I still don’t see it being too satisfying. It reminds me of a far less compelling version of “The Affair,” and I don’t see what makes this stand apart. I’d be willing to give it another episode or two, but it has to really pick up the pace.
How will it work as a series? The ending of the pilot presented a real shocker, which makes watching this show a little bit more enticing. How we go from voting one brother off the island to three siblings murdering him is sure to be a stretch, and let’s hope that having an entire season preordained doesn’t lead to stretching out the plot too much.
How long will it last? Netflix is on a bit of a high at the moment, with a number of successful shows and one of its other offerings, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” picked up before it premiered for a second season. This one got decent reviews and seems likely to ride that wave to a renewal, though it’s not the network’s number one show.
Pilot grade: C
Premiered March 20
It seems like Netflix is churning out a new season of some show almost every week now. The latest premiere, which came without too much fanfare, is “Bloodline,” a family drama slash thriller set at a hotel in the Florida Keys. As with “Parenthood,” this family produced a generation of four adult children, all of whom are extremely different. The cast assembled to play these four is pretty diverse and impressive. Kyle Chandler, who won an Emmy for “Friday Night Lights,” is the do-gooder son who became a sheriff. Linda Cardellini, who recently appeared on “Mad Men” and got her start well before that on “Freaks and Geeks,” is the daughter who can’t seem to get her life together. Norbert Leo Butz, a respected Broadway actor, is the lackadaisical brother. And Ben Mendelsohn, who I saw in two Sundance films this year and loved in “Animal Kingdom” and “Starred Up” before that, is the troublesome one who just can’t be relied upon. Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, two venerated veteran actors, are the parents, and a handful of other TV faces, like Jamie McShane, Katie Finneran, Steven Pasquale, and Mia Kirshner also appear in the pilot. The problem is that this show, which comes from the creators of “Damages,” feels a whole lot like that series, which slowly added little bits of information each episode to build a storyline that could have played out over just an episode or two. That style could work better for a show that can be binge-watched immediately, but I still don’t see it being too satisfying. It reminds me of a far less compelling version of “The Affair,” and I don’t see what makes this stand apart. I’d be willing to give it another episode or two, but it has to really pick up the pace.
How will it work as a series? The ending of the pilot presented a real shocker, which makes watching this show a little bit more enticing. How we go from voting one brother off the island to three siblings murdering him is sure to be a stretch, and let’s hope that having an entire season preordained doesn’t lead to stretching out the plot too much.
How long will it last? Netflix is on a bit of a high at the moment, with a number of successful shows and one of its other offerings, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” picked up before it premiered for a second season. This one got decent reviews and seems likely to ride that wave to a renewal, though it’s not the network’s number one show.
Pilot grade: C
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