"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, June 27, 2016

Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back

Good to see Ray Donovan in its and his season 4 debut last night.   It had all the elements we've come to enjoy in this quirky sometimes brutal sometimes tender show.

Ray is back from the brink where we left him last season.  And he winds up having to fix things up for the very guy who helped him back from the edge.  Not only that, but this happens just at the time that Bridget has accepted Ray's heartfelt invitation to have dinner with the family.  Classic Ray!

The only thing that didn't happen according to what we've come to expect is that Bridget is not angry at Ray for coming late, and neither is Abby.  Each has good reason:  Bridget is thrilled with the girl with guitar painting she thinks Ray bought for her (the title of this episode) and Abby is understandably concerned about her Stage 0 breast cancer (Stage O is the best a diagnosis for cancer can be, but it's still cancer and incredibly upsetting).

As for the painting, we know of course that Ray did not buy it - it was sent by the woman who wants a piece of Ray, and here we can see the beginning of big trouble brewing for him this season.

Elsewhere, Jon Voight puts in another customarily inspired performance as Ray's father Mickey, replete with some musical scenes with singing by the love of Mickey's life, which captured something of the singing we've seen over the years in David Lynch movies like Blue Velvet and its imitations.   But it worked well in Ray Donovan last night.

This series has a unique mix of all kinds of offbeat, colorful threads, as I indicated at the beginning, and I'm looking very much forward to seeing what it comes up with this season.

See also Ray Donovan 3.1: New, Cloudy Ray ... Ray Donovan 3.2: Beat-downs ... Ray Donovan 3.7: Excommunication!

And see also Ray Donovan 2.1: Back in Business ... Ray Donovan 2.4: The Bad Guy ... Ray Donovan 2.5: Wool Over Eyes ... Ray Donovan 2.7: The Party from Hell ... Ray Donovan 2.10: Scorching ... Ray Donovan 2.11: Out of Control ... Ray Donovan Season 2 Finale: Most Happy Ending

And see also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger ... Ray Donovan 1.8: Poetry and Death ... Ray Donovan Season 1 Finale: The Beginning of Redemption


  different kinds of crimes and fixes

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