@heffalump

mrsconn23

You're done with Bloodline, right?  I just finished this morning.  

What did you think about the ending? 

Heffalump

I did finish it!  Here are my thoughts, and then I want to hear yours:

1. I've read criticism of how the Rayburns screwed over the O'Bannons (esp. Eric) and didn't have to face the music, and honestly, I felt like that was sort of the point.  It wasn't a morality play.

2.  On that note, I felt that the ending was very in keeping with the rest of the series.  There was no neat little bow.  There was no happily ever after.  The Rayburns were steeped in violence and anger and dysfunction from birth, and it completely destroyed them.

3. It bothered me how the series basically dropped Meg.  I buy her moving away and starting a new life.  But the whole process seemed artificially rushed.  I think that may be a product of the cancellation, and the need to finish sooner than they planned.  But I didn't love it, I thought it was a distraction.

4. Ditto for Diana.  And I legit forgot about Ben.  When John said it would wreck him if anything ever happened to Ben, I was like "Ben who?  Oh, right."  They ended up with more characters than they had jobs for, so a bunch of them were just hanging around.

5. I would have preferred to have fewer story lines and give them more attention, vs. "Kevin's inept again!  What's Roy Gilbert up to?  Oh, hey, John's old partner is back in town--where is this going?  Oh, nowhere much.  Belle is on to Kevin.  Oh, apparently she's cool with it...or something....because we have no idea how it went down.  Happy birthday, not-Meg!  Let's do a whole episode of quasi-dream sequences, just because!  Oh, and something-something Janie and Nolan."  I don't know that most of them were bad plot ideas, but it felt like they threw them all in the Vitamix until all we had left was pulpy mush.  I think if your series gets canceled, then you pick a few things to focus on and execute them well, instead of rushing through two more seasons worth of plot in 10 episodes. 

6. I totally think John told Nolan everything.

Your turn.

mrsconn23

Yes!  I agree with all of that.  

There was too much present-day timeline skipping...like, "OH Janie's gone from straight and narrow student to running wild and doing drugs!" That didn't develop organically at all. 

They TOTALLY wasted Ozzy.  I mean, WTF with him running around ominously threatening the Rayburns and then offing himself in the back of the car when Gilbert's goons pick him up? 

The creators definitely want to have more seasons, but they didn't.  They totally fucked the pacing of the show by trying to cram so much in.  But they did Damages, which also fell apart by the end of season 2 and I didn't watch any subsequent seasons. 

It *was* compelling until the end and while the fugue episode didn't make a ton of sense, I found it gripping and I loved that Danny was featured prominently.  However, I got to the end of it and it was clear that they were in real life at that point. 

They underused Belle and Diana, which was frustrating. I liked both the actresses.  

I will say that Norbert (Kevin) did an amazing job with what he had to work with.  He definitely showed his range.  And Sissy's flashback scenes with her mother were really well done. 

And the criticism that they should have 'explored' the class issues between the O'Bannons and Rayburns...IDK, I think they did OK with it.  I mean, we don't need to be hit over the head with it.  John fucking confessed to his boss and his boss basically shrugged, whilst the same damn guy doubted Eric's guilt and didn't say jack to anyone and let him be strung up for something he damn sure he didn't do...or at least do on his own. 

Heffalump

Oh my god yes, Ozzy!  They're like "Whelp, out of time, off he goes."  It made very little sense. 

I didn't hate the fugue episode overall, and I agree that any Danny is an improvement over no Danny.  But it's the TV equivalent of "Sorry we didn't budget for booze and we're doing a cash bar, but don't you love our uplighting and matching personalized bridesmaid totes???"  They're fine, until they're at the expense of something you could have actually used.

And yeah, I thought Kevin was the weak link in previous seasons, but not this time.  He hit it out of the park pretty much every episode.

So, it wasn't my favorite series in the history of series, but I enjoyed it.  50% of it was just the setting, TBH.