Bloodline

Spotify link: https://goo.gl/1NMaFB

YouTube link: https://goo.gl/zIbahO

Do you have family secrets? Stuff everybody knows but no one talks about, that you're fearful would doom you if it saw the light of day? Blood is thicker than water and it's amazing how far you can fall by protecting your relations.

TV now requires an investment, it is no longer hit and run, watch what's on, now you ferret out series and devour them, and you don't want to waste ten plus hours on that which is not worthy. But you love reveling in that which titillates, knowing satiation is only a click away.

After finishing "Narcos" last summer and looking for the next project to consume my sister Jill recommended "Bloodline." She's a therapist, she thrives on interpersonal relations. But I thought it was a bit hokey, we gave up for a while, ditching it to the dumper like "Orange Is The New Black." But it got better as it progressed, and we finished it just before the new season began at the end of May.

And seasons on Netflix are radically different from regular TV. They throw the whole thing on your plate like meat in front of a mad dog and you get to decide how you want to consume it, fast or slow. It's a personal adventure, there's no water cooler talk, no media hosannas, but if the series clicks it becomes part of the national fabric, which is so strange in today's here today gone tomorrow society. A Netflix series is akin to a book, it percolates, it gains momentum over time.

And people are just starting to talk about season two of "Bloodline"... Whew!

"And you'll drown before the water lets you in
Yeah, you drown before the water lets you in"

Danny is dead. Will the culpable players be held accountable?

But it's more complicated than that. Turns out the deceased had a son, and an untrustworthy baby mama, in cahoots with John Leguizamo who is so creepy you get hives.

It's all set in the Keys. I only went once, to hook up with Jimmy Buffett. But it's definitely different. Kind of like Vegas with a twist. Hot and far from the metropolis and there are different rules, the ones enforced by the power players, the landed gentry with money, as opposed to the police.

But John is a policeman.

Married to Jacinda Barrett, of "Real World" fame. Who's now in her forties, where did the time go? I remember when she was an ingenue and we hung backstage at a Live show at the Greek when she was dating Chris Hardwick. Chris became king of the nerds, Jacinda became an actress, and Live faded into the darkness. All over MTV and then into the dustbin, their music is a distant memory, it's astounding what is remembered and what is not.

And Sissy Spacek is the matriarch, in a performance worthy of an Emmy. Sans facelift she looks her age and acts it, has wisdom and heart and refuses to be pushed around, like any grandmother, she roots the family.

Which was run by the tyrant Sam Shepard. So many dads are bad-asses. And I don't mean bad as in good. I mean as in upstanding pubic citizens who are hell to live with, you're constantly under their thumb, they give you some rope and then you hang yourself.

And Linda Cardellini, Meg Rayburn, got out of town but it didn't last, because her family pulled her back into its trap. I've experienced this with girlfriends, their fathers won't let them loose, only in this case it's the whole damn family.

And there's another brother, Kevin, a hothead with bad judgment... Life is all about good judgment, not playing by the rules but to your advantage. Talk to a lawyer before you talk to law enforcement. If you think coming clean and telling the truth works you're an amateur the pros laugh at.

And there are a zillion plot twists. Some expected, some not. But every character rings true. They're all striving to get ahead. Not everybody can be a rapper or a YouTube star, most are just trying to make it work in their own hometown, where everybody knows their name and they've been pigeonholed.

And certain episodes of season two are almost too anxiety-provoking to watch. That's what sun and rain and blackness will do for you.

And music.

That's right, there's a theme song, which plays only briefly, at the advent of each episode. I never fast-forward through it, it sets the tone.

"The young man goes out looking for the diamond in the sea
The old man rows his boat to shore and falls with twisted knees"

You're either going up or down. And oftentimes you don't even know in which direction you're heading.

Once upon a time theme songs became number ones. Not only "Friends," but Mike Post instrumentals. But today, without cultural coherence and with radio risk a thing of the past, only anointed cuts in pop formats have a chance. But in an alternative universe "The Water Lets You In" would run up the chart, because it's haunting, it's a rhythmic loop that entrances you immediately, and isn't that the definition of a hit?

Sure, it's reminiscent of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive," but different enough that a lawsuit is out of the question. And "Wanted Dead Or Alive" has persisted, decades later it still gets airplay, it's the anthem of the "Deadliest Catch."

But "The Water Lets You In" is brand new.

"Bloodline" is a twenty plus hour commitment. Most won't take the plunge, most won't follow through. But those who do...

When you see me mention it and my eyes will brighten, they're fictional characters but I'll want to go deep with you. The show is about life...

And it's life only.

P.S. The subtle, minimalist, good guy who's really bad performance of Beau Bridges is the best on screen, if he doesn't get an Emmy there's no justice. And Chloe Sevigny finally rings true, you believe she is Chelsea O'Bannon, and if you ran into Jamie McShane in real life you'd be stunned if he wasn't the scumbag he portrays.

P.P.S. "I think the thing I wanted most was just never meant to be." Ain't that the truth, growing up is making peace with the fact you're never going to grab the brass ring. It's only the weak who check out early, not only do the strong survive, they see that ultimately no one wins, victories are hollow, and it's all about the highs along the way.


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