John Rayburn

**Jonathan "John" Abraham Robert Rayburn** is a major character Netflix original drama *Bloodline*.

## Personality

To the public's eyes, John can been described by many as the "Golden Boy" of the Rayburn Family. He is hardworking, honest, calm, and collected in all aspects of his life, be it professional or personal. His steady personality makes him the mediator in the family, settling disputes between his siblings. He has shown great love and dedication to his family, willing to risk his career in order to help them out. He can be very protective of them, especially his children. As a cop, he is seen by his peers as dedicated, determined, and relentless in his job.

Privately however, John has many conflicts and flaws he contends with. He is plagued with guilt about Sarah's death and his lack of intervention, constantly wondering if he could have prevented her death if he had changed his actions. His guilt is exacerbated further by his involvement in covering up his father's assault against Danny, causing John to always come to Danny's defense in later life as a way to atone to his brother. He struggles to maintain the harmonious relationships within the family particularly when Danny comes back in their lives. Although initially okay with Danny's stay even after voting him out, Danny's descent back into his criminal ways and his increasingly erratic, vengeful behavior towards the Rayburns particularly when he thought Danny "threatened" his daughter changed John's love for his brother into hatred and anger, seeing Danny as a malignant force to be cut out. This gradual change highlights John's greatest flaw; protecting the Rayburn name. Since John's life and identity is based on the fact he is a Rayburn,he is willing to do anything to maintain his family's reputation and preserve the life and career he has built up. This is perfectly seen throughout season one with John and Danny's relationship falling apart after John realizes how much danger Danny put the family in for using the Inn as a front for selling drugs. All these lifelong issues and conflicts come to a head at the end of the first season, culminating in John killing Danny.

In the second season John's personality takes a downward turn. In order to cover up his tracks, he begins to abuse his power as a Sheriff's Deputy in order to manipulate the investigation into Danny's murder and use inside information to help frame or blackmail individuals; actions he wouldn't have done in the beginning. Living a double life has also caused John to develop a shorter temper, lashing out in frustration when things have gone awry. He becomes much more secretive and distrustful towards his siblings, keeping crucial information in the dark until he cannot hold it in any longer. Above all, John is seen constantly trying to justify his actions, telling himself that killing Danny was necessary and that he did what others could not have done. But inwardly, he is afflicted with guilt and questions whether he is still a good person. He has begun to hallucinate Danny from time to time as a symbolic representation of this guilt. Despite his downward spiral into corruption, John does retain a certain degree of his original values and morality since he did not kill Eric O'Bannon when he knew that killing O'Bannon would be more beneficial to him and help crush Marco's investigation against him . John has proven himself to be a natural liar and shows no compunction to using that to his advantage as long as it further his agenda.

## Behind the scenes

John Rayburn is portrayed by actor Kyle Chandler.