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Pros: Intense character study on human nature and human morality. A slow burn filled with suspense and tension in every episode, every scene. Magnificent performances. Simple and beautiful cinematography. It will literally keep your on the edge of you seat.

Cons: Some writing conveniences.

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Review by Alfredo

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Holy fucking shit. So it’s over. I finished the season in 6 days. I am completely overwhelmed at the moment. So many emotions are just running through me right now. Let’s see if I can gather my thoughts and make this review comprehensible.

Thus far, this entire series has been the most intense character study of human nature I’ve ever seen. Yes. It can be a slow burn at times but it’s the best kind of slow burn imaginable. This season is the equivalent of watching a python slowly squeezing its prey for 10 fucking hours. And watching the squeeze is much more satisfying (to me anyways) than watching the prey suffer it’s inevitable end. There is just so much to talk about that goes on in this season so I’m going to break it down individually for each character.

John Rayburn played by Kyle Chandler. This fucking guy gives a masterful performance here. This character is beautifully written because sometimes I fucking hate him and consider him the biggest piece of shit but at the same time I completely understand him and his actions and being put in his shoes I’m not sure if I would have handled the situation any differently. He’s going through serious shit this season and still jumping through major hoops to keep himself and his family afloat. He decides to run for Sheriff, running against the current Sheriff Aguirre played by David Zayas (Batista from Dexter) who insists on keeping Danny’s case open since Lowry never admitted to his murder. At first we think he’s doing this just to fuck up his campaign but as he starts digging he begins noticing there are some seriously questionable gaps in the timeline and tells Marco played by Enrique Murciano to keep investigating. John is literally haunted by Danny, wonderfully played by Ben Mendelsohn, as he keeps seeing him in certain moments contemplating his own thoughts. John loses his grip on control with each passing episode and we see him spiraling downward. His family is slipping away from him, especially when Diana figures out on her own what John has done and this is the moment that seriously shakes him to his core. “What you have done could destroy us.” is what his wife Diana played by Jacinda Barrett says to him and it echoes in his mind. By the end of the season, we see John leaving the Keys. Leaving all his shit behind because he knows there’s no way out for him at this point.

Favorite John moment: When he beats the shit out of Ozzy.

Kevin Rayburn played by Norbert Leo Butz. This guy is seriously the dumbest character in the history of television. But in all fairness, his actions are realistic and consistent with his character but holy fuck he’s such a stupid fuck. I caught myself screaming at the screen several times during his scenes. He’s all fucked up. He goes from alcoholic to recovering alcoholic, from coke user to coke dealer, within a few episodes and keeps fucking shit up for himself and for his family. He’s got a kid on the way now and there’s no way he’s ready to be father. One dumb fucking mistake after another is all this guy does. And in the final episode it looks like he’s finally made the biggest mistake of his life. He’s fucking done.

Favorite Kevin moment: When he smashes Maroco’s head in once he realizes there is no way out for him.

Meg Rayburn as Linda Cardellini. This bitch is all fucked up too. She tries to leave her family and all her problems behind but they seem to always catch up to her. There’s really no way out. You can take the girl out of the Rayburn but you can’t take the Rayburn out of the girl. We slowly see Meg’s life crumble piece by piece in one of the most shocking scenes of the season we see Meg and Kevin confront John about how they are cutting all responsibility with what happened and putting it all on John. Saying that John forced them to help and had no other choice. Fucking bullshit. John has always been there to help all of them with every crisis they were dealing with and now that John is in the thick of it, they just abandon him in true Rayburn fashion. The last time we see Meg, she runs to Sally and is about to tell her “everything”. Who knows what kind of shit this is going to ignite.

Favorite Meg moment: When she approaches Marco and his new girlfriend completely trashed at the restaurant. Hilarious and awkward and so sad at the same time.

Sally Rayburn played by Sissy Spacek (Carrie White herself). This lady is something else. She seems like the sweet lady she presumes to be and in all respects she is but she can be one tough bitch too. She has her moments of coldness and also some of warmth. She feels extreme guilt for how she treated Danny and how she never did right by him before he died. She is approached by a beautiful but broken woman who happens to be the mother of Danny’s child, Evangeline played by Andrea Riseborough. Apparently, Eve, has been receiving payments from her husband Robert Rayburn played by Sam Shepard and the payments stopped after he died and she’s now come to collect. At first, she seems like a money hungry whore who’s just looking for her next pay day but in time we see her actually come to care for Sally and refers to them as her family. I also love her interaction with Danny’s son, Nolan played by Owen Teague (who happens to also play young Danny in Season 1). She appears to be so blind to what is going on but I think it’s mostly on the surface. Deep inside I think she knows more than she let’s on but tries to act as if everything is nice and tidy.

Favorite Sally moment: When she tells Nolan to “clean up your fucking mouth… now come inside for some lemonade”. That line just sums up her character perfectly.

Danny Rayburn played by Ben Mendelsohn. This guy is a fucking monster actor. One of the best character actors I’ve ever seen. He simply blends into every character he plays. His subtle and nuanced performance is remarkable. I love how he was brought back this season as a haunting reminder in John’s mind and we also see him in flashbacks scenes leading up to the beginning of season 1. We get a little more backstory on what he was doing in Miami and a little more information on the restaurant he opened. I love how we got to see more of this relationship with his son, Nolan, and how and why that bond was ultimately tarnished. Danny was truly a victim of circumstance. I truly believe Danny was a really good guy with the best intentions who was dealt a shitty fucking hand and had to deal with it in his own way. Numerous times he tried to do good and time after time he kept getting fucked over. Sure, he may have brought most of the shit on himself and he may not have made the best decisions in his life but I honestly believe he tried to do the best he could and just fell short of realizing his dream.

Favorite Danny moment: I have two for him… 1. When he was teaching Nolan how to cook in his restaurant and 2. When his father gave him the ultimatum about the money and chose to continue taking care of Nolan and Eve instead of getting the money for his restaurant. (This moment alone shows the kind of character Danny truly had).

Nolan Rayburn played by Owen Teague. This kid was the perfect casting choice for Danny’s son. As I mentioned before he plays young Danny is season 1 (and one scene in season 2) and this fucking kid talks, walks, and smokes a cigarette just like Danny. It’s truly fucking scary. Putting myself in Kevin’s or John’s shoes, I would be fucking scared shitless to have this kid walking around my house. Teague is a fantastic actor and hope to see more of him. And we can clearly see the contrast in character shift from the flashbacks where we see Nolan, before the piercings and before the attitude when he was truly a good kid who loved his father. As oppose to present Nolan, with piercings and a bad attitude but at the same time you still see the vulnerability and at the end of the day he’s just a lost kid trying to find peace within himself and find out what happened to his father.

Favorite Nolan moment: When we realize he was the one who sets Danny’s restaurant on fire in order for Danny to get the insurance money, followed by the moment he overhears his mom talking with Sally and how Danny gave up on the restaurant because the police found the fire to be arson and didn’t get any money from it. So fucking heartbreaking.

Special guests: This season we saw some great supporting actors such as John Leguizamo playing Ozzy Delvecchio, a short tempered, impulsive opportunist who was a friend of Danny’s in Miami. He comes around and starts stirring a bunch of shit for the Rayburn family especially for John as he sees them as an easy mark to scam some money out of him which he eventually does through Meg. He’s also fucking Eve, Danny’s ex and seems to be a bit obsessed over her (understandably since she is quite the piece of ass).

Another special guest actor was Beau Bridges (brother of The Dude) who comes in as a saving hope and decides to fund the Rayburn campaign out of the goodness of his heart. Yeah fucking right. This dude has shady written all over him. And it seems I’m right because when he buys Kevin’s boatyard and starts using it as a way to transport drugs (or people), using the same guys Lowry was working with (come to think of it he could have been Lowry’s boss). And we also see him with the tape that Danny made that implicates John. So who knows what he’s planning to do with it but it’s nothing good that’s for fucking sure.

Favorite series moment: I absolutely loved how they played Danny apart of John’s psyche. Especially the moments where John would hear Danny’s voice then he’d look over and it would be Nolan. And every time he would appear to John in his subconscious was so fucking brilliant.

Favorite performance of the season: I didn’t mention him in this review once but by far my favorite performance and the most extremely underrated actor in this series is Jamie McShane who plays Eric O’Bannon. This guy is fucking great. There’s just something so natural about him that truly blows me away.

Favorite episode: Part 23