History Series / Bloodline2015

* BlackSheep: Danny [[spoiler:— although compared to what his relatives did, he's more of a WhiteSheep]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Alec, Meg's paramour, is last seen with her (briefly) in New York in season 2. He's never mentioned again after Meg returns to the Keys.]]

* PoisonousFriend: From the first episode, it looks like Eric O'Bannon is going to be this for Danny. [[spoiler:It's actually the other way around.]]

** As a stern police officer and dedicated family man, John feels that he is the one in the family always counted on to be good and responsible, and resents Danny for constantly disturbing the peace in the family and for the unlawful activities he participates in. [[spoiler:He turns out to be NotSoDifferent if not even worse when he murders Danny in a moment of blind rage and conspires with his siblings to dispose of the body.]]

** Of all people, [[spoiler:Eric O'Bannon]]. Though clearly scared, he accepts he's going to die when [[spoiler:John captures him]] and keeps calling out [[spoiler:John]] for his hypocrisies and evil deeds, [[spoiler:even when he has a gun to his head. Subverted in that John can't do it and lets Eric live]].

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Not a rivalry per se, but it seems as though Meg could never match up to the eldest daughter, Sarah, in her parents' eyes. Even years after Sarah died.

** As of the season two finale, [[spoiler:Nolan Rayburn feels responsible for his father's self-destruction and death in the first season. Nolan had learned that Robert told Danny he would only agree to fund his restaurant or continue supporting his son and not both, and Danny chose Nolan. This hits Nolan hard, since he is revealed to be the one who burned Danny's restaurant down when he thought his father would rather turn to crime than ask his family for help.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:John suffers this big time after killing Danny. It nearly causes him to have a heart attack.]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:John, at the end of the season two.]]

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:After his sister drowned under his supervision, Danny was viciously beaten by his father, Robert. We don't find out until the season finale that it was Sally who convinced John, Kevin and Meg to lie and tell the detective that Danny got hit by a car.]]

** Subverted with [[spoiler:John. When Danny tells him the only way he'll leave is if John gets on his knees and begs him to leave like Danny begged to return. When John doesn't, Danny starts walking away... Then John beats him down, drags him into the shallow water and drowns him]].

** [[spoiler:The flash-forwards heavily imply the Rayburns planned Danny's murder by gunshot. Instead, it was a heat of the moment drowning. In essence it was implied to be first-degree conspiracy, when instead it was manslaughter.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: The whole cast spends the series hurtling toward this. By the end of the series, every major character who lives is dragged into its pull.

** Chelsea [[spoiler:has lost her job and been prevented from getting a new one as a nurse. This happened because she was caught stealing Percocet to deal with the stress of his brother's trial and her mother's death, the first crime she ever committed, and then was railroaded by hospital administrators who think her brother is a murderer]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: the Rayburns.
--> John: [[BlatantLies We're not bad people]], but we did a bad thing.

** Despite his fun-loving, human Teddy Bear veneer, Kevin is quick to criticize people for what they are doing wrong or for causing trouble and upsetting others. And he holds Danny in deep contempt, being the quickest to blame him for all his family's flaws. [[spoiler:Kevin's quick temper and ManChild tendencies has forced his wife to leave him, causes unnecessary friction within his family (especially where Danny is concerned), and is the sibling who is the least unsettled about covering up John's murder of Danny.]] Also, despite Kevin's fiery temper and tough-guy attitude, he's really a bit meek and cowardly.

* IdenticalGrandson: Everyone remarks that Nolan is the spit image of his father Danny at that age. Which he would, he's played the same actor who plays young Danny in flashbacks.

* OhCrap: John has several of these moments, but the most notable one comes at the very end of the season [[spoiler: when Danny's son enters the picture.]]
* OnceMoreWithClarity: After [[spoiler:Danny's death]], we're finally given context for several of the flash foreward scenes.

* PsychopathicManchild: Kevin seems to exhibit some of this in season two, [[spoiler:with his reckless drug use, his various poorly thought-out dealings with criminals, and his eventual murder of Marco in an emotionally fragile state]].

** In season two, [[spoiler:Ozzy, a petty criminal,]] deeply resents the upper class Rayburns, who put on the veneer of a good and wholesome family when he knows they have a host of skeletons in their closet.

* TakeOurWordForIt: Danny is a bit easier to sympathize with than he probably should be since we get hardly any flashbacks to his supposed countless screw-ups, but ''do'' get to see plenty of his father breaking his arm and the others lying about it.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler: After his sister drowned under his supervision, Danny was viciously beaten by his father, Robert. We don't find out until the season finale that it was Sally who convinced John, Kevin and Meg to lie and tell the detective that Danny got hit by a car.]]

** Subverted with [[spoiler: John. When Danny tells him the only way he'll leave is if John gets on his knees and begs him to leave like Danny begged to return. When John doesn't, Danny starts walking away... Then John beats him down, drags him into the shallow water and drowns him.]]

** [[spoiler: The flashforwards heavily imply the Rayburn's planned Danny's murder by gunshot. Instead, it was a heat of the moment drowning. In essence it was implied to be first-degree conspiracy, when instead it was manslaughter.]]

* BerserkButton: For Robert, it's Danny. [[spoiler: Robert has never forgiven Danny for letting Sarah drown, and he apparently doesn't want him around because he doesn't want to be constantly reminded of her death and the beating he inflicted on Danny because of it.]] Kevin seems to have modeled his button after his father's, but is way more vocal about it.
* BestServedCold: [[spoiler: After he discovers that his siblings helped cover up the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, Danny makes it his mission to punish them in carefully in-direct ways.]]

* BigLittleBrother: John and Kevin are notably bigger and physically stronger than Danny. [[AloofOlderBrother But because he's their older brother,]] [[LeanAndMean it really doesn't make him any less of a threat to them.]] [[spoiler: That is, until John finally snaps.]]
* BigScrewedUpFamily: [[spoiler: a pitch black version of this]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: As much as they project their charisma and respectability, [[spoiler: this is what John, Kevin and Meg are under the surface.]] Danny also counts, but less so, since most people already suspect he's up to no good.
* BlackSheep: Danny [[spoiler: although compared to what his relatives did, he's more of a WhiteSheep]].
* BrokenPedestal: John, Kevin and Meg slowly come to the realization that the Rayburn family isn't as great as they think it is.
* ByTheBookCop: John Rayburn. [[spoiler: In the beginning.]]

* ConsummateLiar: From the very first few episodes we see that the Rayburns very casually lie to their friends and loved ones, to each other, and to themselves all the time. The lies don't seem like that big a deal at first (even to them), but they mount up very quickly and have lasting repercussions.

-->'''Sally''': You gonna light that joint or should I?
* CoolUncle: John's kids consider Danny to be one, and he pretty much is. [[spoiler: He's just not above using them to toy with John.]]

** In season two, [[spoiler: Roy Gilbert.]]

* CynicismCatalyst: Sarah Rayburn, who tragically drowned when the Rayburns were still children. Her presence and death had major consequences for the entire family, especially Danny [[spoiler: who was forever blamed for her death.]]
* DeadPersonConversation: We discover that [[spoiler: Danny frequently imagines an older version of his deceased sister, Sarah (Mia Kirshner), who acts as a sort of inner voice that questions his actions and motives. Fitting, as her presence has haunted his life in more ways than one.]]
* DefiantToTheEnd: When he's finally provoked John into attacking him, [[spoiler: Danny is smiling and laughing sinisterly. Until John starts drowning him.]]
** Of all people, [[spoiler: Eric O'Bannon.]] Though clearly scared, he accepts he's going to die when [[spoiler: John captures him]] and keeps calling out [[spoiler: John]] for his hypocrisies and evil deeds, [[spoiler: even when he has a gun to his head. Subverted in that John can't do it and lets Eric live.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: The whole cast spends the series hurtling toward this. By the end of the series every major character who lives is dragged into its pull.
** John has [[spoiler: pretty much lost his mind out of guilt over killing Danny and framing Eric for Marco's murder.]] He also [[spoiler: has lost his wife and kids.]] The one good thing he has left, the respect of the community, is turned against him when [[spoiler:he can't relieve himself of the guilt because no one believes his confession]].
** Sally [[spoiler: can't escape the curse she feels is a part of Rayburn House because it's going to be reclaimed by the sea and no one will buy it, leaving her trapped there and unable to leave any inheritance to her grandchildren.]]
** Kevin [[spoiler: is caught up in a DEA sting of Roy Gilbert's smuggling operation. The DEA thinks he is Roy's partner, rather than just a someone he manipulated, because he lied while trying to impress an undercover agent. Even worse, with Roy dead the only person left for the DEA is Kevin himself.]]
** Meg [[spoiler: has abandoned her family and is living under an assumed name trying to drink herself to death over her guilt for being involved in Marco's murder.]]
** Eric [[spoiler: is in prison for the rest of his life having been framed for Marco's murder.]]
** Chelsea [[spoiler: has lost her job and been prevented from getting a new one as a nurse. This happened because she was caught stealing Percocet to deal with the stress of his brother's trial and her mother's death, the first crime she ever committed, and then was railroaded by hospital administrators who think her brother is a murderer.]]
* TheDragon: Rafi Quintana is this to Wayne Lowry. Wayne Lowry is this to Louis, the White Shirt Man. [[spoiler: And as it turns out, Louis is this to Roy Gilbert.]]
* EmoTeen: Nolan, [[spoiler: Danny's son.]] gives off this vibe. Subverted, in that his brooding, antagonistic nature is borne out of genuine angst and anger.

** For that matter, [[spoiler: Danny]] is even more unsettled by the crimes Quintana committed. [[spoiler: So much so that he deliberately orchestrates the man's murder.]]
** Ozzy Delvecchio is clearly a villainous man, but even he sees through the Rayburn family's bullshit and is disgusted by it. [[spoiler: It's a big part of his motivation for blackmailing them.]]
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: [[spoiler: Marco really should not have turned his back on an insanely desperate Kevin Rayburn.]]

* GainaxEnding: By the end of the series [[spoiler: John]] has become completely unhinged and we see more than a little ThroughTheEyesOfMadness.

* GreyAndGrayMorality:[[spoiler: Danny may be trying his hardest to ruin his family's reputation, but can you really blame him?]]

** He shoots himself in the foot over this several times in the second season. [[spoiler: It turns out especially bad when he tries to come clean to Marco, only to suddenly bludgeon Marco to death with a small dolphin statue when he tells Kevin that he and all of his siblings are going to jail.]]

** Robert is a beloved family man and a well-respected, upstanding figure in the community. [[spoiler: He's also got a hidden temper that can sometimes become violent, putting strain on his marriage to Sally, and culminating in his brutal beating and ostracizing of his oldest son, Danny. It's implied that he is secretly disappointed in Kevin, and that he still prefers his long-dead daughter, Sarah, to his still living daughter, Meg. People who claim to have known him for years aren't shy about mentioning the dark side as opposed to the good reputation he's cultivated.]]
** Sally is almost defined by her motherly image and deep love for every member of her family. [[spoiler: In the past, she walked out on her family after her and Robert's relationship began to break down, neglecting her children and resulting in Sarah's accidental death and Danny's tragic fall-out with the family. Sally is also the one who coerces the rest of her children to lie to Detective Potts about Danny's beating on their father's behalf.]]
** Danny is obsessed with gaining his family's acceptance and being in their lives, feeling that they are unfairly turning their backs on him. [[spoiler: Even as he taunts, bullies, threatens, manipulates, and involves them in extreme crimes, all while shifting from familial to passive-aggressive to malicious as it suits him.]]
** As a stern police officer and dedicated family man, John feels that he is the one in the family always counted on to be good and responsible, and resents Danny for constantly disturbing the peace in the family and for the unlawful activities he participates in. [[spoiler: He turns out to be NotSoDifferent if not even worse when he murders Danny in a moment of blind rage and conspires with his siblings to dispose of the body.]]
** Despite his fun-loving, human Teddy Bear veneer, Kevin is quick to criticize people for what they are doing wrong or for causing trouble and upsetting others. And he holds Danny in deep contempt, being the quickest to blame him for all his family's flaws. [[spoiler: Kevin's quick temper and ManChild tendencies has forced his wife to leave him, causes unnecessary friction within his family (especially where Danny is concerned), and is the sibling who is the least unsettled about covering up John's murder of Danny.]] Also, despite Kevin's fiery temper and tough-guy attitude, he's really a bit meek and cowardly.
** It's said that Meg is most concerned with making sure that everyone is happy and doing well. [[spoiler: We learn from the very beginning that she's cheating on her boyfriend, Marco, the revelation of which ruins any chance of them getting married. She delays putting Danny's name in Robert's will (even when she and pretty much everyone else claims to be okay with it), fearing his influence on the rest of their lives. Her need to please is apparently derived from being OutOfFocus in her own family, as Sarah was the first and favorite daughter. According to Chelsea O'Bannon, Meg was somewhat smug and [[ReallyGetsAround knowingly drew in many different boys in high school, giving her a bit of a slut status;]] in truth, she's likely more of a covert AttentionWhore.]]

* ImprobableWeaponUser: [[spoiler: Danny kills a hitman by bludgeoning him to death with a large seashell.]]
** In the season two finale, [[spoiler: Kevin bludgeons Marco Diaz to death with Marco's small dolphin statue.]]

** [[spoiler: "When's it gonna end..."]]

** As of the season two finale, [[spoiler: Nolan Rayburn feels responsible for his father's self-destruction and death in the first season. Nolan had learned that Robert told Danny he would only agree to fund his restaurant or continue supporting his son and not both, and Danny chose Nolan. This hits Nolan hard, since he is revealed to be the one who burned Danny's restaurant down when he thought his father would rather turn to crime than ask his family for help.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: The series finale piles it on in a big way. [[spoiler: The Rayburn Inn, the symbol of the family legacy that all their misdeeds were supposedly in the name of protecting, is going to sink into the ocean within a decade. This discovery causes Sally to get roaring drunk and treat John and Kevin to a devastating TheReasonYouSuckSpeech that marks the beginning of the end for the family bond. Meg has deserted the family entirely, happily living a new life in California under an assumed name. Kevin's last-ditch attempt to flee from the consequences of his dealings with Roy and the Cubans fails and he's thrown in prison. And John is left completely alone, his wife and kids wanting nothing to do with him, not even able to find absolution through a full confession when the stress he's been through causes it to not be taken seriously, and left wandering through the doomed inn with the ghosts of the family echoing all around as his guilt slowly devours him.]]

* MadnessMantra: "When's it gonna end, [[spoiler: Danny?"]]

* ManipulativeBastard: Danny is very much this. And though it isn't very apparent at first, [[spoiler: so are his siblings.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: John suffers this big time after killing Danny. It nearly causes him to have a heart attack.]]
* MysteriousPast: The family doesn't know where Danny has been or what he's been doing in his absence. John eventually discovers that he put his culinary education to good use and briefly owned his own restaurant in Miami, [[spoiler: before it got burned down by gangsters he was entangled with.]] This comes into play big time in the very end, [[spoiler: when John has killed Danny only to later be confronted by Danny's long-lost son.]]
* NeverMyFault: Slightly subverted in that the Rayburns do realistically own up to and apologize for their poor decisions and failings when ''they have to.'' However, all of them are still very realistically prone to avoiding blame or redirecting it when it comes their way. The one who does it the least is the mother, Sally.

* NotSoAboveItAll: John is known for being the cool-headed, responsible man who everyone in the family can rely on. [[spoiler: Until he finally loses control and kills his brother for refusing to go away.]]
** Despite his constant judging of Danny, Kevin ends up doing the exact same things he did. He sleeps with Chelsea, he abuses drugs, he embarrasses his family, [[spoiler: he deals drugs, works with criminals, and eventually murders someone with a blunt object.]]

* OnceMoreWithClarity: After [[spoiler: Danny's death]] we're finally given context for several of the flash foreward scenes.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The woman that Danny sometimes sees and speaks easily with [[spoiler: is the ghost of his sister, Sarah, who died under his watch when she was a little girl. Or rather, he envisions the woman she might have grown up to be.]]
** Again in the second season, [[spoiler: with John occasionally seeing the ghost of Danny.]]
* PoisonousFriend: From the first episode, it looks like Eric O'Bannon is going to be this for Danny. [[spoiler: It's actually the other way around.]]
* PoorCommunicationKills: This series makes an excellent case against lying, keeping secrets and manipulating the truth to protect one's own image, especially when dealing with family.

* PrecisionFStrike: Notably, Sally exchanges these during her first encounter with [[spoiler: her grandson, Nolan.]] In a way, it's the moment they start to bond.
* PsychoticSmirk: [[spoiler: Danny]] has one when [[spoiler: John]] finally snaps and starts attacking him.
* PsychopathicManchild: Kevin seems to exhibit some of this in season two, [[spoiler: with his reckless drug use, his various poorly thought out dealings with criminals and his eventual murder of Marco in an emotionally fragile state.]]

** In season two, [[spoiler: Ozzy, a petty criminal,]] deeply resents the upper class Rayburns, who put on the veneer of a good and wholesome family when he knows they have a host of skeletons in their closet.

-->'''Danny''': I want you to know what it feels like.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler: John, at the end of the season two.]]
* SiblingTeam: A very dark example when John, Kevin and Meg start going outside the law to protect the future of their family.

* SmarterThanYouLook: On the outside, Danny looks like a sleazy, mischievous, punk and a loser. He ''is'' all those things to some degree, but people underestimate how unpredictable and destructive he can be on his own.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: As of the first season finale, Lenny Potts, Danny's son, and possibly even Sally Rayburn appear to be this to the remaining Rayburn siblings, since all three of them apparently suspect the latter three to be involved in Danny's death.]]

* TooDumbToLive: In season two, Kevin just cannot stop making huge mistakes. [[spoiler: The most egregious example is in the finale when he tries to end his predicament by spilling his guts to Marco, only to end up impulsively killing Marco when he rebuffs him.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Marco in the season two finale. Not that we can really blame him. [[spoiler: He's reached a BrokenPedestal stance regarding the Rayburn family, especially John and Meg. And after John tried to sabotage him with an Internal Affairs investigation, Marco becomes fiercely determined to bring them all down.]]
* {{Troll}}: Danny acts like this toward his siblings. ''A lot''.

* UnstoppableRage: We're led to believe that Kevin is the one most prone to this. [[spoiler: That is, until John finally reaches his breaking point in dealing with Danny.]]
** [[spoiler: Marco is on the receiving end of Kevin's in the season two finale, culminating in his bloody death.]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Though we do get a whole season to know his origin and what kind of person he is, [[spoiler: Danny becomes this due to his MysteriousPast and the sheer extent of his criminal acumen.]]
** Surprisingly, [[spoiler: Ozzy turns out like this as well, killing himself after two seasons without doing much more than spook the various Rayburns.]]
* WellDoneSonGuy: John, Kevin and Meg are this to Robert, feeling very strongly about making him happy and earning his approval. [[spoiler: None of them are really sure how much they succeeded or failed at this after he's dead.]]

** The second episode is centered around a cryptic meeting between Robert and Danny while the former was out kayaking. We only see the beginning, in which Danny appears to make an ImpliedDeathThreat, then it cuts to afterward when Robert is hospitalized. He's suffered a seizure, and Danny claims he saved him from drowning. Kevin suspects Danny did something to their father, and casts doubt in the minds of his siblings as well. [[spoiler: In the end, it's revealed that it happened as Danny said. After Robert leaves their conversation on a sour, unsatisfactory note (and giving Danny yet another reason to hate him and his family), Danny sees him have a seizure and fall into the water. After a moment's hesitation, Danny goes in to rescue him. In hindsight, he clearly knew that he would somehow be blamed for what happened to his father and that, despite doing the right thing, his family still won't accept him.]]
** John, Kevin and Meg agreeing together that [[spoiler: Danny is not worth losing their good lives over, and working together to cover up John's cold-blooded murder of him.]]
** John faces this again at the end of season two, [[spoiler: when he ultimately can't bring himself to shoot Eric O'Bannon in cold blood to protect the Rayburn name. He even lets Eric go and tells him to tell the truth. Which suggests that John's murder of Danny was a crime of passion.]]
* WhiteSheep: John and Sarah. [[spoiler: Later subverted with John.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Alec, Meg's paramour, is last seen with her (briefly) in New York in season 2. He's never mentioned again after Meg returns to the Keys.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Alec, Meg's paramour, is last seen with her (briefly) in New York in season 2. He's never mentioned again after Meg returns to the Keys.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: We are introduced to Meg Rayburn as she's in the middle of having sex. And it's not with her longtime boyfriend, Marco.
** It's revealed in season 3 that [[spoiler: Diana and John's former partner kissed a couple years ago.]] The latter participant is *very* confused when John brushes his present-day confession of this off to immediately interrogate him about the O'Bannon case.

* FirstEpisodeTwist: [[spoiler: John kills Danny and tries to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident]].

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler: John kills Danny and tries to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident]].

''Bloodline'' is a 2015 television series that debuted on Creator/{{Netflix}} on March 20, and stars [[Series/EarlyEdition Kyle]] [[Series/FridayNightLights Chandler]], Creator/BenMendelsohn, Creator/LindaCardellini, [[Theater/{{Wicked}} Norbert Leo Butz]], Music/SamShepard and Creator/SissySpacek. It aired for three seasons and concluded in 2017.