Bloodline recap: 'Part 28'

So there’s a plea deal on the table for Eric. It would entail 30 years in prison. That doesn’t sound so great, but then again, neither does getting the death penalty for a crime you didn’t commit. Still, the Diaz family is unsure. Marco’s mother asks John to weigh in, and this gives him a great opportunity to make a classic John Rayburn speech about family and wiping the earth clean and about how he still misses Danny every day. Hmm.

Eric’s public defender, a lady who certainly looks to mean business, corners Chelsea and asks why she isn’t helping her brother. The lawyer says that Eric is giving up, and that he wants to plea bargain out and she, the lawyer, believes his innocence. “He’s your brother: Don’t you owe him that much?” And honestly, I guess that’s what this whole series is about — owing your family things and sometimes killing them, too.

Chelsea is tired. She’s so over everything and has been working so many double shifts she’s bleary, so much so that she does the unthinkable and steals some drugs while doing her job. Chelsea, no! Not you!

Kevin is out at sea (literally this time) and talking to his son’s picture, which is pretty adorable. I guess this whole Cuban plot isn’t going anywhere and I have to start writing about it. They arrive, and we know right away they’re Spanish speakers ’cause they immediately drop in a “cerveza.” Dios mio. Kevin is all, Vamanos, and takes them to the inn, where Sally is less than thrilled. He promises they’ll be there for only 48 hours and asks her not to make too big a deal out of it all.

John is doing his creeper thing, which is parking outside his old home. He calls his daughter, who sort of eye-rolls her way through the conversation while chatting on the computer with a mystery person. John is outside long enough to see Diana come home from what is clearly a date and kiss some random tall gentleman.

The next day, he tells his super sassy partner that he has a family situation that he needs to take care of. She starts talking about the horrors of growing up in a divorced home. And look, I’m sure she is a nice lady, but we’re halfway through the end of this season. Why are we dealing with her? Where is… say, Meg?

Roy talks to the Cubans about the sea, and I still don’t know what the hell this is about — but they toast to free trade. So, sure. Roy volunteers Kevin to take them all deep sea fishing, and this excursion turns out to have some highs and some lows. There’s a nice moment when Kevin talks about Hemingway and how Robert used to take them all deep sea fishing and about fathers and sons etc., and then they all toast to baby Rocky. I’d say the low is when one of these Cuban jerks takes out a gun and shoots a beautiful marlin. Kevin loses his mind, understandably.

Marco’s mom comes over, and Sally does her Sally thing: They talk about losing their sons and forgiveness. Sally manages to sway Mrs. Diaz’s mind into accepting a plea deal.
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Janie goes on a little road trip with her friend to meet this mystery boy. Where she should be is at family counseling, where John and Diana sit uncomfortably. We learn they’ve been separated for a few months and that Diana feels like the Rayburns never talk about a gosh darn thing. Uh, duh. She talks about going out on a date, and John is so over everything he can’t even pretend to feign surprise. The therapist asks what he feels, and he answers, “Nothing.” Diana’s face crumples.

Chelsea, just trying to live her life past the rotten hand dealt to her, is pulled over by the cops. It quickly becomes clear the cops are harassing her because they believe her brother to be a cop killer. This feels really truly unfair. Just like life, right, show?

Roy buys Kevin a big shiny truck as a thank you and tells him that the Cubans feel terrible about what happened that day and want to take him out on the town. Kevin can’t even pretend he has free will anymore, so he agrees with Roy’s suggestion that he go over to Sally’s with the baby.

When he arrives, he’s surprised to see John. John seems equally less than thrilled. But he tells Sally to go ahead and tell him the good news: The Diaz family has accepted the plea. Kevin is delighted. John reminds him not to over-celebrate just yet, and they sing the same old song about how Kevin isn’t dumb and John pretends not to think so. This family, man.

Chelsea finally goes to see Eric. She remembers that he used to tell her the same story all the time to distract her from problems when she was little: about a woodpecker and a loud piercing sound. Like much on this show, the details don’t matter. What does is she realized that Eric has literally ZERO imagination, so there’s no way on earth he could goose up a story like the one he has. In other words, she’s with him.

Kevin is at a strip clubs with the Cubans. He recognizes the bartender and tells her about how he’s just drinking Coke and cleaning up his act. He has a little bit of that old season 1 swagger. But not for long! The Cubans start doing coke right out in the open, which is nuts even in the Florida Keys, and Kevin is like, Guys, I can’t be seen with this. I’ll go to jail. But I think you all knew from the start what Kevin (being Kevin) would do. Oh, Kevin.

John creeps outside his family home again, but there’s no Diana arriving just yet. The house is empty. Hey, anyone else remember when there was another kid named Ben? Could we not afford him this season or what? Anyway he creeps around his old house and gets a call from his daughter, who — being a good Rayburn — lies about what she’s up to. John fumes.

So he goes and sleeps with his partner, and boy does it not look like it went well. (There’s a lot of fiction I can take, but not this one with Kyle Chandler. No effin’ way.) When a phone call comes in, he can’t get the hell out of there fast enough. She doesn’t look sad about it either. He says he made a mistake — and she’s like, Eh, we’re both working too hard. He doesn’t seem particularly comforted by that.

Kevin is in the bathroom, all messed up, looking at pictures of Rocky and trying to stay calm. It’s hard though, because the Cubans did something bad: They either hurt a stripper or got in a fight and someone got stabbed or punched — who knows – but someone is bleeding, and they need to get out. Kevin manages to hustle them all out before the police arrive.

John gets to the strip club and finds out from the bartender that Kevin was involved. He sighs a long, shuddering, existential sigh. He calls Roy and finds out that the trial is, in fact, still on.

When Kevin pulls the boat up to the inn, they have a funny sibling kind of thing where John won’t let him dock. He keeps pushing the boat away with his foot. It’s one of those nice details I’ve been missing from Bloodline this season — that little tiny gesture that speaks to a childhood of docks and boats together. It’s not so funny this time though because Kevin would like to dock. Too bad. He ends up swimming to shore and then tackling John, and they start wrestling on the beach. Sally comes and breaks it up, and boy, isn’t everyone’s family looking pretty good about now?