"We're not bad people, but we did a bad thing"

As I dive deeper in the streaming TV options, my Broadway love pulled me toward the Netflix series Bloodline.  Now this intense family drama has no musical numbers or peppy dance breaks, but it does have Norbert Leo Butz so this show has been on to watch list for a while.

For those uninitiated, Norbert Leo Butz is a man of Broadway fame, winner of two Tony Awards (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Catch Me If You Can) and originated the role of Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway.

Dreamy, confused Fiyero

He's one of the brothers in this large mysterious family, so while his role isn't particularly large, I'm excited when any Broadway actor breaks into TV or film.  And his wife is played by the lovely Katie Finneran, also a two time Tony winner (Noises Off and Promises, Promises)

Bloodline features a family of four siblings that are brought together for a weekend to celebrate their parents' success running a prestigious hotel in Key West.

We've got Kyle Chandler, from Friday Night Lights, as the sheriff and all around "good" son.  He serves as our narrator who ominously tells us that when his oldest brother comes to visit, it's always trouble.  But that this time would be the worst of them all.  DUN DUN DUN!
He also says the line I made the title of this entry: "We're not bad people, but we did a bad thing" which is clearly the tagline of this show.

My boy Norbert plays the youngest sibling, who seems to be the more emotional and fun of the four kids.  In one scene, he plays as the MC of their giant tug of war game and I can see how Norbert could have read this scene and landed the part instantly.

We have Linda Cardellini as the sole sister, Meg, whose opening shot is having backseat car sex with her fiance.  Honestly her character doesn't develop much after that first shot, which is fine, considering this actress was a staple of my childhood from Scooby Doo to Boy Meets World (I mean she almost broke up Cory and Topanga!), I will love her in anything and everything she does.

"Jeepers!"

And the black sheep, oldest son who will probably mess everything up is played by Ben Mendelsohn, an Australian actor (fooled me!) who I absolutely buy as the drugged up misfit prodigal son.
Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard are the parents.  Sissy is a sweet anxious mess at the top of the pilot, stating that she will relax when her whole family is there.  And then the rest of the pilot, everyone else is constantly concerned about her - like a light breeze will upset her and she will wither away into a pile of dust.
After Sam Shepard appeared in August: Osage County, I'm wondering if Mr. Shepard will only act the part of an older patriarch in a boat as he opens this show in a kayak.  Because of August, I did worry that something would happen in that boat, but he made it back okay.

You know this show is deep because everyone is looking wistfully in different directions

So this pilot, clocking in at 59 minutes, does not move super fast.  It establishes some of the family dynamics I've already mentioned and I thought the dialogue felt realistic.
Some scenes read like this:

Brother 1: Hey, I'm bringing a date tonight, can you add her to the family table?
Sister:  A date?  We've never met her before
Brother 1: I know, I know.  Just do me a solid and squeeze her in.
Brother 2: Hey what's going on here?
Sister: He's bringing a date
Brother 2:  A date?  We've never met her before.
Brother 3: Hey what's going on here?

You get the idea - I almost laughed out loud at the repetitive nature of scenes like this, mostly because it felt so real.  A new person walks into a conversation and you explain what's going on and the newcomer repeat exactly what has already been said before they arrived.  And somehow these scenes didn't come off as redundant or annoying.  I genuinely felt uncomfortable and thought "Yeah, this is absolutely how families work."  Everyone puts in their two cents until it gets awkward and loud.
And then we eat turkey.

The pilot ends with a bang that literally made me yell "What?!"  So Netflix has figured out that a long slow 58 minutes of TV is always saved by one last minute of excitement and I will instantly start streaming the next episode.
The performances are very strong and powerful in this show and I was never bored watching it.  I would say if you enjoy character-driven shows where they really explore backstory and motivation, you'll like Bloodline.  If, however, you watched an episode of Lost and thought it was a waste if the Smoke Monster didn't appear, you may want to pass.
I definitely fall in the former group so I will continue watching and I give this pilot 7 out of 10 awkward family dinners.