As Meg and Sally move forward with the wedding plans, John and Marco's investigation points them in Danny's direction.
It truly is remarkable how strongly Bloodline has been able to make the audience sympathize with Danny over the tragedy of the past while still being so confident in making him the villain of the present. His destructive nature is putting the rest of the characters on a trajectory towards his death. The demise of Danny Rayburn is the core narrative arc of this season. And yet, it's so easy to see how the handling of the past has effected everyone in the present. Sure, the show continually has teased the audience that answers are on their way as long as we have a willingness to be patient. It's rewarding to see the threads of the story start to connect together in an engaging way. Every character does have importance and their motivations are deeply rooted in what happened in the past.Obligation to one's family is a big deal to all of the Rayburns. Danny learned how severely they turned their backs on him in the past. That has led to him trying to destroy their perfect paradise in the present. The rest of the family feels immense guilt over what happened the day Sarah died. They feel that they pushed Danny off track because of the cover-up of Robert's abuse. They believe that Danny is the way that he is because of how they treated him. They feel guilty and that's why they are always willing to give him another chance even after a lifetime of disappointment and failure. They hope that this time he can turn things around and be a part of the family just like everyone else.
That's simply not happening though. Danny is now actively attacking the family and is only really interested in himself. His move to villain status is a tad sudden. However, it is a necessary move. Throughout the season, John's narration has teased the horrible things that Danny has done to the family. This episode even opens with John saying that he's nearing the end of the story. Things are definitely building to that grand confrontation in the rain on Meg and Marco's wedding day. The specifics still aren't coming into focus all that well. And yet, Danny has made his commitment to the criminal world known to John.
John wanted to believe that Danny wouldn't be stupid or careless enough to do these things and cause the family even more pain. And yet, it becomes even more apparent to him that Danny is a willing participant in these crimes. He can't hide that fact forever. The DEA are an active part of the investigation now. They have the strongest intention to arrest Wayne Lowry and stop this drug trade from expanding any further. John's talk with Eric doesn't provide that much helpful information but it is enough to get John and Danny to drop the facade of normalcy in their relationship. They needed to show each other their true colors now. John is during his best to warn his family about the danger surrounding Danny. And yet, he's reluctant to go into greater detail both because of his job and his still strong urge to help Danny out of this mess of a situation. That just makes both of John's children and Sally mad at him. He's telling them to stay away from Danny without any kind of reasoning. That could be very dangerous and make them want to be with Danny even more. John wants to protect his family but he's still keeping secrets. He keeps the secrets in order to protect them but they could actually be causing more harm.
John wants Danny to do the right thing and get out of this mess in order to continue being there for the family. He doesn't want Danny to go down as viciously as Wayne or Rafi Quintana. He wants to give Danny one last chance to do the right thing. If anything is going to that, it would be showing him the pictures of two dead girls who were killed by the criminals Danny is now associated with. Their pictures do seem to have an effect on Danny. And yet, one talk with Rafi later is enough to get him recommitted to their cause. He allows for Rafi to get away from the DEA agents while giving the impression to John that he's fully cooperating. For a moment, I too, believed that Danny was choosing to tell the whole truth in order to be with the family again. The bonds of family are so strong with everyone else. The turmoil of hurting them could be weighing hard on Danny's conscience and give him a change of heart. That is not the case though. He tells John some of the truth but not enough to link him to the crimes or even any kind of assistance in furthering the investigation. It's a brutal moment for John as he comes to realize just how much of a monster his brother has actually become. He's right to be weary of what Danny might do now that he's made the proclamation of taking the whole family down with him.
Some more thoughts:
- "Part 10" was written by Carter Harris and directed by Michael Morris.
- Sally's willingness to embrace Danny time and time again isn't just because she's a vague mother figure. When she left Robert on the day that Sarah died, Sarah overheard them fighting and Sally told Danny to take her out on the boat.
- At times, Meg seems like a more successful detective than John is. However, she has also had more time to be suspicious of Danny. She's the one looking into Carlos' connection to all of it and she finds the shed where all the drugs are. Why she doesn't talk to John at all is a little baffling though.
- Meg also informs Marco about her job offer in New York City and her brief affair. He doesn't react to it that well. And yet, he has a right to be mad. That puts an end to the wedding planning for the episode - after all the men just got fitted for their tuxes too.
- Kevin is now vaguely angry at John because he doesn't have any viable suspects for his robbery and assault. No surprise there.
- Chelsea and Danny are becoming more of a thing. He wants to help her and her mother out when they're barely making by. And yet, Chelsea doesn't want to get sucked into the criminal world again. She's had too much of that lifestyle with her mother, Eric and ex-husband. She's still attracted to that dynamic but she also doesn't want to feel that pain again.
- Shouldn't Rafi have been more worried that Wayne would kill him after he almost got caught considering Wayne so calmly ordered him to torch the boat with all the illegal immigrants inside?
