Ray Donovan 6.9: Violence and Storyline

The slugfest and beatdowns that have become ubiquitous in Ray Donovan this season continued apace in episode 6.9.  Alan Alda's kindly "Grandview" psychiatrist, offering Ray an egg-salad sandwich made with his late wife's recipe, was a welcome relief.  I hope we see more of him.

As I've mentioned before, I'm no fan of brutal beat-down porn.   And this season. we've seen more it than ever.  Even Sam was knocked out cold in her own bed a few weeks ago.  Not that she didn't amply deserve some kind of punishment for all sorts of reasons, but that's not the point.  There are ways other than fists to punish or keep people in check. I'd like to see some future season with less violence and more story.

And the story this season is pretty good.  Seeing Ray pursue his craft when he's not up to par makes for a compelling storyline.   And his legion of enemies has ratcheted up the tension.   As we saw in the coming attractions, Mac's on his way to being an enemy, especially unfortunate, given that Mac is the one who got Ray out of Belle ... er, Grandview.

But what this season has slowly been building up to is the confrontation between Ray and Mickey.  Just as Ray has never been in worse shape, Mickey has never been in better shape.   Ray can say to the FBI or whoever all he likes that he doesn't care what they do to Mickey - that won't stop Mickey from eventually doing all he can to repay Ray for sending him to prison, etc.

The brightest hope in Ray's life as of last night is Bridget.  Her decision not to leave will likely be crucial in the episodes ahead.   She already got Lena to help.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

See Ray Donovan 6.1: The New Friend ... Ray Donovan 6.2: Father and Sons ... Ray Donovan 6.4: Politics in the Ray Style ... Ray Donovan 6.6: The Mayor Strikes Back ... Ray Donovan 6.7: Switching Sides ... Ray Donovan 6.8: Down

See also Ray Donovan 5.1: Big Change  ... Ray Donovan 5.4: How To Sell A Script ... Ray Donovan 5.7: Reckonings ... Ray Donovan 5.8: Paging John Stuart Mill ... Ray Donovan 5.9: Congas ... Ray Donovan 5.10: Bunchy's Money ... Ray Donovan 5.11: I'm With Mickey ... Ray Donovan 5.12: New York

See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In ... Ray Donovan 4.4: Bob Seger ... Ray Donovan 4.7: Easybeats ... Ray Donovan 4.9: The Ultimate Fix ... Ray Donovan Season 4 Finale: Roses

And 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


 

It started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Goodbye Norma Jean" ...