When it comes to Chandler’s character, you’d think he’d simply fall into the all-American good guy, and the character is set up to go that direction. Instead, he plunges further into losing his grip on everything, including his psyche, every single episode. Two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, who is finally given a large platform to showcase his talents and is one of my favorite actors, probably has the thinnest character out of the four siblings as the “hothead” brother, but manages to infuse him with a real sadness for how things have not gone his way. The constant flash forwards of him shirtless with a gun in his boatyard office feel more angry and desperate every time we see them.
I do have a bit of an issue with how the women are portrayed in the show. Linda Cardellini and Sissy Spacek are terrific with the material their given, but both are indecisive protectors. So much of how they are defined is by how they just want to do what the men in their lives want of them. Bboth are shown trying to escape their relationships, with Cardellini’s Meg cheating on her boyfriend and Spacek’s Sally shown leaving her husband in flashback. I guess they feel guilty about their actions and become a bit subservient to what the men want. Meg shows some action towards the end of the season by going to New York to work at a new firm, but that doesn’t happen until the final episode.
The quartet of siblings, along with their parents, are all so good you even forgive there’s no possible way these six people could ever belong to the same family. None of them look related in the slightest. Also, the supporting cast includes people like Jacinda Barrett, Jamie McShane, Chloë Sevingy, Steven Pasquale, and Katie Finneran, and there is not a weak link in the bunch. On a musical theater nerd side note, I was fully hoping with the inclusion of Norbert Leo Butz, Katie Finneran, and Steven Pasquale, all great stage actors with tremendous singing voices, the show would turn into a musical. Alas, it didn’t happen… But, season two, people! I can dream!
Which brings me to the end of the season. The final four episodes of this show, which is some of the best work Netflix has produced thus far, wrap up in a really great way. The story has a fairly definitive ending, and part of me was hoping this would be it. Danny, the most interesting character of the show, is dead, and the remaining three siblings are now living their lives with a massive secret. I don’t need to see where this goes next. But it is American television so nothing can exist purely self contained, so they tack on this terrible cliffhanger with the reveal of Danny’s son.
You assume Danny had some kind of relationship, be it girlfriend, wife, child, etc. as we see him mailing letters filled with cash somewhere constantly, but I like that it was not explained. We get to use our own imagination to come up with whatever home life he actually has. It adds to the character’s mystery. I understand they are now being confronted with the shadow of the man they killed (or, more accurately, Kyle Chandler killed) and could make a for a good season two, but I wish it was left a mystery.
All that being said, I will still watch season two. Season one has issues, but I was still very wrapped up in these people’s lives, mainly to the cast. I hope the Kesslers and Zelman can fix up the problems from season one. If they cut down the voiceover and flash forwards and acclimate a bit more to how people watch Netflix shows, season two could be even better. By acclimating, I mean doing less recap of previous episodes in the show. No one watch a Netflix show just watches and episode and moves on. I am quite curious how the show moves on beyond Mendelsohn’s dominating performance to see where the driving conflict comes from. Season two will be very different, and I look forward to the changes.
