Two days ago Hitfix TV guy Daniel Fienberg actually wrote that “for many viewers, Ben Mendelsohn will probably be the surprise breakout star of Netflix’s Bloodline.” Really. Feinberg meant it. I was appalled. Mendelsohn’s Danny character, the oldest and surliest son of Robert and Sally Rayburn (Sam Shepard, Sissy Spacek), is a really bad package — a malignant, sandal-wearing, cigarette-smoking scumbag. Danny’s death was blessedly promised in a flash-forward excerpt in episode #1, but here I am on episode #4 and the fucker is still hanging around. God, I hate the way Mendelsohn is always sucking on cigarettes! And his toes sticking out all the time. Just finished episode #5 (or was it #6?): Okay, I feel a little sorry for him but let’s not get carried away.
Sweaty, nicotine-stained Ben Mendelsohn in Bloodline
