After an explosive first season, Bloodline left us wondering where the second season would go. But the creative team spent some careful time figuring out how return to the story of the Rayburns and the major death that continues to haunt the family though its second season. Now, Netflix has gone ahead and signed on for a third season of the drama.
Bloodline only just earned a renewal order, so we don't know all that much about what we can expect from Season 3 right now. In an uncharacteristic move, Netflix did reveal that fans will not be getting new episodes until 2017, so we have some context for the premiere date for the new episodes. (Season 2 hit the streaming service on May 27). Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek, Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini, and Norbert Leo Butz will all be back for Season 3, as well, and 10 episodes are expected to be produced for the new season, matching the Season 2 episode count. (Season 1 had 13 episodes.)
Honestly, Ben Mendelsohn was the shining star of the first season, but the flashbacks and the deep looks into Danny's past present in Season 2 never popped as much in the second season as it did in the first. Hopefully, Season 3 will give the Rayburn family the chance to move forward past the storyline that helped launch the series and into another one. We'll have to wait and see. Certainly, there were cliffhangers at the end of Season 2 that should work to set up a third season.
While Netflix notoriously does not release ratings, the subscription streaming service is well known for signing on for new seasons of even niche shows. For instances, Marseilles was renewed by the service despite not getting favorable reviews, especially in its home country of France. This is great news for shows that might have smaller audiences--we're presuming Bloodline is one of these--and it means fans can stick with shows for longer without potentially having to worry about cancellation. Of course, shows won't be able to be renewed indefinitely and some programs, including Lilyhammer, have already been axed. But it's a good sign that Netflix is able to cater to subscribers more than advertisers and keep shows around that audiences like, even if they aren't quite as popular.
While there will certainly be some time before Bloodline returns to the schedule, Netflix has some really great stuff coming up, including Luke Cage and the upcoming Gilmore Girls revival. You can check out the full Netflix premiere schedule here. And if you really, really need a Bloodline fix, here's Kyle Chandler on how he initially envisioned the series ending.
