Monday Morning Moreno
Ray Donovan’s first season mixed violence, family drama and revenge with a dash of “Ray helps out another celebrity” of the week variety. That was fine and definitely showed a range of what the show could do and where it could go, but this second season overall seemed to focus on the effects Ray’s job has on his home life. Things got annoying at times (Conor having to apologize for pushing down a kid at school, anything with Abby) but Bridgette’s relationship with Marvin turned out to be the catalyst for a really great and tense second half of the season. New characters were introduced, some that were integral to the plot as a whole and a couple that were used as more filler. The thing is that Ray Donovan’s characters and storylines are dense enough there’s almost no need for filler, so most of the motivational speaker Steve Knight’s storyline was of no consequence, as an example. It seemed the show wanted to explore what makes Ray tick but it fell short.
Where the show was strongest this season was its build up to the second half. Up until then, it was pretty standard Donovan fare: inter-family conflict, Abby whining about being rich and not getting fucked enough, the kids being assholes, and Ray trying to put Mickey back in jail. Once the reporter comes into play, along with pressure from Hank Azaria and the federal government, things got pretty interesting for Ray. It wasn’t until Cookie killed Marvin that the show went from interesting to must see cable TV. Ray typically doesn’t give a shit about most things in the show but having Bridgette be the only eyewitness to the double homicide raised the stakes considerably.
The final shot of this season finds Ray sitting in his living room drinking, having just eliminated all his known enemies, looking over at contemplative Abby. Will she stay with Ray after all of this? Will she divorce him? I think it’s an angle of the show that needs to be resolved, and quick, so we don’t have to get through another season of them bickering and bitching at each other.
Some other highlights and lowlights of this season:
- Bunchy’s storyline. Bunchy is an interesting character, he seems to be the one person the family (and the show) often forgets about, so his little storyline with Patty and her kid proved again that he is the show’s most sympathetic character. That is, when they decide to focus on him.
- Cookie turned out to be the perfect nemesis for Ray this season. Usually being the one in control, it was refreshing to see how Ray responded to being kept on his toes by Cookie, a man who posed a very direct threat to Ray’s family. Also, he’s a big scary black dude named Cookie.
- The Kids. With the exception of Bridgette’s relationship with Marvin, both of these kids are pretty useless as far as moving the story along. Conor’s whining about spending time with Mickey was at the very least, annoying. Kid, how many fucking times does Mickey have to fuck up until you get it? He’s teenage smack talking and outbursts were grating, easily my least favorite character of the show.
- New characters were pretty solid this season. The aforementioned Steve Knight is probably the least useful new character, with others like journalist Kate McPherson, Cookie, Bunk the Parole Officer, and Hank Azaria’s FBI agent being integral to storylines and the overall success of the season. Mickey’s relationship with stoner neighbor Shorty also provided some lighthearted moments.
I give the entire season a 8 on 10. Definitely interested to see how and where they pick it up next season.
And now, easily one of the best moments of the entire show.