White Lotus Fans Will Love This Dark Family Drama With Crime and Secrets

If you’re yearning for the weekly “Who’s the body in the water?” intrigue from HBO’s The White Lotus, I recommend diving into another series that merges a luxurious vacation setting with a dash of murder – Netflix’s Bloodline. With The White Lotus season 3 wrapping up in early April, us dedicated fans are on a quest like Carrie Coon for our next TV fix. The critically-acclaimed Mike White series tends to take its sweet time between seasons, with about 1.5 to 2-year gaps between each installment, so we’re left seeking an alternative.

Exploring different parts of the globe through its sharp social commentary on affluent travelers, The White Lotus has captivated us, from Hawaii to Sicily to Thailand. Watching The White Lotus often sparks daydreams about upcoming vacations for me. Similarly, I found myself reminiscing about my next getaway while watching Bloodline, a series set at a family-run inn in the Florida Keys. The Rayburns, a tight-knit family, are thrown into chaos when their prodigal brother Danny returns home, leading to events that eventually turn deadly.

Netflix’s Bloodline Also Takes Place At A Vacation Destination & Features Plenty Of Crime

We Quickly Learn The Rayburns Are Up To No Good

Despite harboring numerous mysteries within its structure, the Rayburn House in Bloodline appears to be a traveler’s utopia. Its idyllic location boasting a sun-kissed property on the water has visitors pleading with family matriarch and innkeeper Sally Rayburn (Sissy Spacek) for an extended vacation. Remarkably, this setting bears striking similarities to the characters of The White Lotus prolonging their stay in paradise at the end of their holiday, if not for the unfortunate incidents of death.

Let me set the record straight – Bloodline isn’t a promotional piece for the Florida Keys; instead, it delves deep into the grim underbelly of crime and mystery, much like The White Lotus. However, unlike The White Lotus where the contrast lies between the privileged guests and the hotel staff, in Bloodline, the affluent and powerful characters are the very family who run the inn. Similarities with The White Lotus can also be drawn from the fact that both series boast an impressive cast, featuring acting heavyweights such as Kyle Chandler and Linda Cardellini.

The Sordid Family Drama Makes Bloodline A Must-Watch

The Rayburns Are Up There With Some Of The White Lotus’ Messed-Up Families

In every season of The White Lotus, a family with a tranquil facade hides a storm of chaos and conflict. If you’re captivated by the family dynamics in this HBO series, then the Rayburns from Bloodline boast enough secrets to fill a yacht like that of Gary-Greg. The tight-knit trio of siblings includes the protective middle son with a hidden darkness, John (Kyle Chandler); the impulsive and volatile youngest brother, Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz); and the calmest among them, the only sister, Meg (Linda Cardellini). Their lives are forever altered when the eldest sibling, Danny (Ben Mendelsohn), comes back to stir up trouble.

Though the siblings in question might not share the intense dynamics observed between Saxon and Lochlan in ‘The White Lotus’ season 3, their parents can’t help but remind one of Timothy and Victoria from ‘Bloodline’. Just as Timothy isn’t shy about causing pain to his children, Rayburn patriarch seems equally unbothered. Similarly, Sally, much like Victoria, presents herself as a refined southern woman who values her tranquil lifestyle above all else, going to great lengths to avoid any discord that might disturb her well-kept world. In the first few minutes alone, you’ll find yourself yearning to peek into the Rayburn household, even before ‘Bloodline’ began.

Why Fans Of The White Lotus Will Love Bloodline

It Features Incredible Performances From Actors Playing Terrible People

Most of the principal characters in “The White Lotus” are individuals you might find unpalatable in everyday life, yet they’re compelling to watch on TV. The Rayburns share this quality, as each member has some form of guilt or wrongdoing, whether it’s physical or metaphorical. Much like the Ratliffs, they present a friendly front and claim to be an ordinary family. They’re definitely not a family I’d choose to be part of, but I found myself drawn to them and fondly remembered them when I started watching “The White Lotus”.

The acting in Bloodline is truly outstanding, and multiple actors were even nominated for Emmys. Among them, Ben Mendelsohn was the only one to win. His character, Danny Rayburn, shares some similarities with Walton Goggins’ Rick Hatchett from season 3. Both characters come across as selfish misanthropes on the surface, but beneath that tough-guy persona lies a deeply troubled man on a path to self-destruction. A line in Bloodline’s theme song goes, “You’ll drown before the water lets you in,” and considering the water motif in The White Lotus season 3, I strongly recommend Bloodline as your next TV series to binge.

2025-06-01 19:47