Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek Talk Binge-watching at ‘Bloodline’ Q&A

More than a month after all 13 episodes of “Bloodline” hit Netflix, the show’s stars and creators gathered Monday for a screening and Q&A at the Pacific Design Center’s Silverscreen Theater in West Hollywood. Though they portray a dysfunctional family in the series, the “Bloodline” team reunited with brotherly embraces and affectionate teasing.

There was, after all, reason to celebrate: Each cast member was happy to report that they had received only positive feedback since the series debuted.

“It picks people up and they go along for a big, big ride with us,” said Ben Mendelsohn, who plays black-sheep older brother Danny. “It’s been great.”

One of the show’s creators, Todd Kessler, expressed his gratitude that people continue to get into the show after the novelty of its release has faded. “It’s kind of been a word of mouth show,” Kessler said. “It’s something that continues to be discovered, which is great, as opposed to something that a lot of people came to at first and then kind of moves off the conversation. It just continues to seem to build.”

Sissy Spacek, who plays the matriarch of the troubled family at the show’s center, described the show’s building popularity as “a groundswell.” She considers the show to be a draw for binge-watchers.

“I’m a binge-watcher! I binge-watched this,” Spacek said. “I watched it all in one day.”

Spacek isn’t the only avid TV binger in the cast. Kyle Chandler admitted that he’s been a marathoner since the pre-Netflix era.

“The first time I binge-watched was back when ‘24’ was still on VHS, and my wife was sending me to Blockbuster, which don’t exist anymore, so I did it before it was really cool and fashionable,” Chandler said, signature smirk firmly in place. “I was just on my motorcycle doing what my wife told me to do.”

Regarding the popularity of “Bloodline” among other binge-watchers, Chandler said listening to the unfolding conversation has been fun. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s worked out wonderfully,” he said.

The consensus among team “Bloodline” was that the show’s pacing is what begs the binge.

“Unlike traditional television, the story unfolds at a different pace because they know they have 13 hours to tell the story,” said Linda Cardellini, who plays Meg on the series. “There’s nothing that needs to be established quickly… It’s a very different show by the end. It changes in pace and in genre and in tone, and the characters change before your eyes in ways that seem still human.”

Cardellini’s feelings were shared by series creator Daniel Zelman, who was determined from the onset to develop a new take on the crime series.

“We talked about not doing a whodunit, but doing a why-dunit,” Zelman said. “The question isn’t ‘What’s going to happen?’ It’s how and why?”

The actors and creators kept very quiet about the details of the upcoming second season of “Bloodline,” apart from expressing eager anticipation.

“I’m excited about it,” Chandler said. “I still haven’t spoken to them about what season two is going to be, and I would not be able to guess what it would be, I’m certain. So I have to decide now how much I want to know and go from there.”

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