On Netflix‘s dark, sweaty, slow-burn drama series Bloodline, the men are constantly making a mess of things. The “good” Rayburns who do “bad things” are seemingly doomed from the start; the patriarch of the family, Robert Rayburn (played by Sam Shepard), is shown to have a hell of a temper (and penchant for beating up his eldest son Danny) over the course of the first season, which in turn creates a bit of a monster of black sheep Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) as he navigates a messy, crime-ridden adulthood. To add insult to injury, the rest of the siblings are forced to lie as children to protect their father after he puts Danny in the hospital, which sets Danny up for a lifetime of resentment. By the end of the first season, golden son John (Kyle Chandler) has murdered Danny, covered it up, and involved his younger siblings Meg (Linda Cardellini) and Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) in the lie. Season two finds them trying to pick up the pieces and move on, which proves harder than expected – so much so that youngest Rayburn Kevin ends up murdering Meg’s ex-boyfriend/John’s partner. The third (and final) season that premieres today continues to follow the deceptions that grow bigger and bigger as the family attempts to reckon with what’s happened (and avoid tarnishing the Rayburn name forever), and one thing’s for sure – when the dudes screw up, the ladies swoop in to save the day… by whatever means necessary.

The most prominent example of the importance of Bloodline‘s women lies at the heart of the Rayburns – and the series. Sissy Spacek‘s Sally Rayburn, the matriarch of the tragedy-plagued clan (and somehow simultaneously the worst and most sympathetic Rayburn) can arguably be blamed for the destruction of the entire family. That might sound crazy, given that the two central murders on the show (and most shenanigans) have been committed by John and Kevin, but Danny’s descent into corruption and twisted sense of justice – which eventually drove John to kill him – was caused because of Sally’s perpetuation of a big, harmful lie. The dark family secret that inevitably becomes the first in a long line of deceptions begins after the accidental death of Sarah Rayburn when Danny was a teenager. Robert, devastated by Sarah’s loss, blames Danny for taking her out on the boat, and beats him so badly that he breaks bones. Sally covers this up by coercing the rest of the children to lie to the police, and Danny is forever doomed to be locked into an extremely dysfunctional relationship with his family.

Sally, racked with guilt, constantly attempts to right these wrongs in the first season by pulling Danny closer, but the damage has been done. Even after Robert dies of a stroke, she’s hellbent on protecting his name; Sally’s even willing to swallow the fact that John murdered Danny if it means saving the family name. “You need to help the family,” she repeats over and over. There’s nothing more important to Sally than the Rayburn legacy, and she’s the best liar in the whole group. It’s uncomfortable to watch her put on a face for the Diaz family after Marco is murdered (by Kevin, unbeknownst to them) – after sympathizing with her position for so long, it’s suddenly painstakingly clear that Sally is the fakest Rayburn of the whole bunch. Moral qualms aside, she knows how to get stuff done. When the men in her family are cracking left and right, she maintains an eerie composure. She has to keep the Rayburns afloat. In her mind, there’s no other option – so there’s no stopping her.

Meg, the only living Rayburn daughter, takes after her mother in many ways, but her moral compass points a little closer to north. While she does cheat on Marco (and it sucks to watch her go down her self-destructive paths), in the world of Bloodline, adultery might be the least offensive sin. Meg uses her prowess as an attorney to protect the family and their employees, and when shit hits the fan at the end of Season One, she’s forced to take control while John recovers in the hospital after murdering Danny. When it comes to family dynamics, Meg typically gets the shortest end of the stick (aside from Danny, of course): her father never really loves her the way he loved Sarah, Danny blackmails her about her affair, she thanklessly takes on legal duties and a role as John’s campaign manager as he runs for sheriff, and eventually loses the one man she ever loved because of Kevin’s inability to keep it together. Time and time again, she gets her heart broken after trying to be loyal. Meg knows that she’s better off without her crazy family, and happier as a non-Rayburn. She might be the only one smart enough to see it.

The Rayburn women are not the only ones doing housekeeping for the sloppy men; Diana (Jacinda Barrett), John’s wife (technically a Rayburn, but smart enough to keep her distance when necessary), stands her ground when it comes to protecting her children and follows her instinct – even if it means saying goodbye to the love of her life. She’s not afraid to stand up to Sally when Sally crosses the line, and she sets firm boundaries. Chelsea O’Bannon (Chloë Sevigny) tries to be a voice of reason for her criminally-active brother Eric and Danny, and while she may put on a show for John and other key characters, she’s got her own best interest at heart. She takes care of her bitter, mean mother, and works long hours as a nurse to support her. Belle, Kevin’s once-estranged wife and now mother of his child, won’t take Kevin’s alcoholic, drug-fueled, childish behavior, and she won’t stick around for his lies – but, like Sally, she’ll do anything to protect her family. Evangeline (Andrea Riseborough) is a conflicted con artist for the ages, constantly coping with the disasters caused by Ozzy (John Leguizamo) and her son Nolan. Every single one of these women is plagued by particularly reckless men and the scenes of chaos they leave in their wake, and even if it takes some time, they find a way to win.

No one on Bloodline is a particularly good person – Diana might be the closest we get – but without the women, the series would just be a showcase of men running in circles, drinking too much, and probably going to jail. Manipulative as they may be at times, the ladies at the heart of the show are the ones who clean up the mess, keep the peace, and fight the (sometimes good?) fight. While the dudes keep killing each other and getting into more illegal ordeals, the women remain the backbone of Bloodline – there’s no doubt about that.