Ray Donovan: Season 1, Episode 3 – “Twerk”

SPOILERS ABOUND!

“The Golem has arrived” an unsurprisingly paranoid/frightened Ezra tells Ray early in the episode. While it’s debatable just how much Jon Voight’s Mickey Donovan is really like a golem, his menacing presence is felt much more strongly this week than the past two. Add in some revelations (and thus more mysteries) about Mickey’s ties to the mob and the FBI, and you’ve got some groundwork for intriguing stories ahead.

“Twerk” didn’t blow me away, but I think it was the best episode of the young series so far. It comes as a bit of a surprise, but most of the good stuff this week directly involves or is caused by Mickey, who has been kind of scenery-chewingly over-the-top so far.

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

I caught Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm recently on Turner Classic Movies. It is a film I had often heard about but never took the chance to see. I’m glad I finally did.

SPOILERS ABOUND! (for a 58-year-old film)

After the titles by the always-wonderful Saul Bass (with Oscar-nominated music by Elmer Bernstein), the film opens with Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) being released from prison. A former heroin addict and dealer in illegal card games, Frankie has kicked the habit in prison and has learned to play the drums, a skill he hopes to transform into a career. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get much support from his wife, Zosh (Eleanor Parker) who clings to him desperately.

Ray Donovan: Season 1, Episode 2 – “A Mouth is a Mouth”

After posting my mostly-positive thoughts about the over-stuffed and under-focused pilot episode of the new Showtime series Ray Donovan, I decided I’d stick it out for another few episodes, if not the entire first season. The previous post was mostly just a few thoughts and then a list of how the show was really piling on the character quirks and the bad vibes. I’m going to leave the list behind this time in favor of a more recap/review style, though I’m going to try not to spend as much time on this as I’ve spent on The Walking Dead in the past.

SPOILERS ABOUND!

[NOTE: An earlier version of this article improperly used the word “transvestite” to describe Chloe, while “transgender” is the correct term.The post has been edited.]

Episode 2 opens the morning after episode 1. Ray wakes up bloody from his batting practice with the green-dyed pervert. Ray takes Terry to a checkup where Terry tells his nurse about Bernadette, his girlfriend who apparently died some time ago. The nurse compliments Terry’s “guns” and Ray tells Terry he should ask her out. Then we get into Ray’s fixes-of-the-week.

Ray Donovan: Season 1, Episode 1 – “The Bag or the Bat”

I just finished the pilot episode for Showtime’s new series Ray Donovan created by Ann Biderman (who created Southland and won an Emmy for NYPD Blue). It’s a quality episode directed by cable mainstay Allen Coulter written by Biderman. I’ve read very little critical response, but the show set a Showtime ratings record for a new series premiere (topping Homeland). That’s even more notable considering this episode was available to stream online a week before it actually aired.

In brief, Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) is a “fixer” (think Harvey Keitel’s Winston Wolf) in Hollywood who helps the rich and famous with certain problems, including stalkers, transvestite prostitutes, dead hookers, cheating mistresses and whatever else his clients might need. Ray has relocated to the west coast from South Boston and lives with his wife Abby (Deadwood‘s Paula Malcolmson) and the cable-requisite older daughter and younger son (see also: Mad Men, Homeland, Dexter, The Sopranos, The Americans). Ray is good at his job and makes a pretty nice living, but he has other family problems involving his brothers Terry and Bunchy (Eddie Marsan and Dash Mihok) and most importantly his dad Mickey (the hammy Jon Voight).

I liked Ray Donovan and I’m interested to see exactly where they go with it. The cast is pretty great all around and the story, apart from the return of Mickey (who has been in prison) seems sort of unfocused and could zip off in any number of interesting or weird directions, or it could just sputter and stagnate. That’s the reason for this post, the fact that this pilot is so jam-packed with character traits, flaws and reveals as well as supporting cast members and potential plot threads. I get that the first episode of a show needs to introduce us to this world and these characters, but my goodness, is there a lot of stuff here! Rather than give an in depth recap, I’m just going to list everything good, bad, cliché or otherwise that “The Bag or the Bat” throws at us and marvel at how coherent and interesting it remains.

SPOILERS ABOUND!