Bloodline‘s seventh installment opens with Danny, a.k.a the Rayburn black sheep, obsessing over the accounts his siblings gave in regards to his “injury” right after their sister Sarah passed. He is now paying particular attention to what Kevin claimed happened, which pretty much can be described as heart-wrenching. As a young boy, the other train wreck of the family remembers Danny being in pain; however, as the audience already knows, he fails to point fingers at the culprit. As anger towards his own blood haunts him, Danny discards the pain meds he had.
In parallel, Kevin and Chelsea have an awkward morning after having hooked up and only exchange a few words. Together they decide to keep what happened under the sheets under wraps, which basically means avoid Danny from ever finding out. The problem with that plan is that Eric sees that Danny’s brother gives his sister a ride home. As expected, Eric spills the beans to Danny while they continue to work together providing gasoline to burn people. In a surprising turn, Danny doesn’t seem to be upset about Chelsea and Kevin; however, he stresses that he needs money, an action that is also supported by the fact that at the beginning of the episode he gets a raise from his mother.
Meanwhile, John and Marco follow their only lead on the Juanita Doe case and pay a visit to a man who was paroled after being convicted for human trafficking. The man doesn’t provide many answers and is discarded as a suspect, yet the most relevant aspect of the scene is that John loses his temper with him, which seems to concern Marco.
Marco’s girlfriend, and John’s sister, Meg, in the meantime, is trying to help Carlos and seems to catch a break as she uncovers the fact that the star witness on the case against the man is actually linked to the alleged victim. Ironically, in a show about siblings, phone records give away that the man who at first seemed to be just a bystander but was actually involved with the sister of the person who pressed the charges. Additionally, Meg gets her mother to be a character witness for Carlos. Danny casually sees his mother giving an envelope to the man his sister is defending and gets curious towards its contents. When he asks Meg, she casually mentions that Mama Ray gave the former employee of the inn some cash, which rubs Danny the wrong way.
Back to John and Marco, the duo go to a farm the man John threatened had mentioned and ask to speak with the men working there, all of whom deny recognizing Juanita Doe. However, one of the men gives John and his partner a hint by instructing them to go to a place called “el buen vecino” (the good neighbor), which turns out to be a church. They drive there, and, once again, no one seems to have seen the dead girl. The case seems to be as cold as ever, until John stumbles onto a missing person sign at the church’s message board.
Later on, for incomprehensible reasons, Kevin comes clean with Danny about his tryst with Chelsea, and the eldest Rayburn, just like he reacted when Eric told him, seems indifferent. He is, however, worried about getting money.
That night, Eric meets with one of the men he has been doing business with, who is also one of the people involved in the burning people alive case. Danny follows his friend and then proceeds to tail the human trafficker. Even though he’s putting his life in serious danger, Danny makes acquaintances with Wayne, the person who is calling the shots in the gasoline/trafficking business. They make a deal. And the world does a collective face-palm.
After deciding to put himself in even more danger, Danny goes to speak with Chelsea, to whom he assures he is not judging since everyone makes mistakes. He does seem genuine in his apology/peace offering, and just when he seems to have some humanity inside of him, the show cuts to Kevin being assaulted by someone armed with a baseball bat. In addition, his place is burglarized and vandalized. While Kevin blacks out, the assailant leaves, and when his face is revealed, we know he is none other than Eric.
“Part 7”’ hinges on the fact that Danny has clearly taken the determination to get back at his siblings for every wrong he blames them for, both in the past and in the present, which, as it is known, ultimately costs him his future. Though that layer thickens the premise, and displays how messed up he is, it is slightly ridiculous for a grown man to hold his own brothers and sister accountable for covering for their father. They were too young to know better. Additionally, Meg was, again, very much on the sidelines during this episode of Bloodline, while Diana remains a marginal character.
Highlights:
– John telling his wife that he could have been with Sarah when she had her accident made for a touching scene; however, the episode didn’t delve into the issue any further.
– Eric professing his clear disdain towards Kevin is an interesting element. Even though it is not clear why he abhors Danny’s bother that deeply, the fact that there is some sort of rivalry between the families could be key for Bloodline‘s second season. Maybe it is just me, but could Eric try to avenge Danny’s death?
[Photo via Netflix]
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