Bloodline was announced in October 2014 as part of a partnership between Netflix and Sony Pictures Television, marking Netflix's first major deal with a major film studio for a television series.

Creators Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, and Daniel Zelman, who had previously created the FX series Damages, settled on the theme of family for their next project because they each came from families with three sons and recognized the roles they played in their own family dynamics.

The show's creators cited Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment as a major narrative influence, comparing the series to a 13-hour movie where the murder happens early and the rest of the story explores the aftermath, reflected in the tagline 'We're not bad people, but we did a bad thing.'

The creators were drawn to casting Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn specifically because his warm, inviting on-screen persona from Friday Night Lights contrasted with the character's deeply flawed nature.

Ben Mendelsohn was the only actor the producers met with for the role of Danny Rayburn, and Netflix took a hands-off approach, letting the creators choose the actor they felt was best suited for the part.

Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard were described by the creators as their 'dream' actors to play the Rayburn parents before casting began; Spacek, a fan of Damages, signed on once the rest of the cast had come together.

Despite his character being killed off at the end of season 1, Ben Mendelsohn returned as a series regular in season 2, as the creators had planned from the start to use him beyond just the first season.

The series was filmed on location in the Florida Keys, chosen by creator Todd A. Kessler for the unique color of the water and the contrast between its paradise-like appearance and the darker underbelly of the story.

Cinematographer Jaime Reynoso approached the show in a hyper-realistic, almost documentary style, often favoring first takes and having actors skip rehearsals to preserve spontaneity.

The cost per episode was approximately $7 million to $8.5 million, bringing the total production cost for all 33 episodes to between $231 million and $289 million; despite tax credits for filming in Florida, this high cost was cited as a key reason for the show's cancellation.

The official trailer featured a cover of Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters' performed by Lissie, and after its release the trailer helped push Bloodline to eighth among all cable/streaming programs in Digital Audience Ratings.