Ray Donovan 7.5: Bing!

Another primo episode of Ray Donovan tonight - 7.5 - which ended with a great low Irish tenor voice from Bing Crosby singing "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-rah".  Bing's voice has been on television a lot these days, singing "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" for an ad for the US Postal Service.  And, just for good measure, I recall reading somewhere years ago that "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral" was John F. Kennedy's favorite song.

So lots of nostalgia in tonight's episode including the plot, which featured the return of another Sullivan - maybe the late Sully's brother - who had a major role in the Brinks robbery, which took advantage of Mick.  All this while Ray is starting to fall in love with Molly Sullivan, which I hope he does.  They should have had a shot of Ed Sullivan on some CNN retrospective of the 1960s, there were so many Sullivans around.

The episode also had a retired cop, Larry O'Malley, played by Mike Starr, who was so good as Tony on The Bodyguard.  Tonight he gets electrocuted by Mickey, trying to get some information out of him.  With Sandy and Daryll in on the action, this was good for some laughs, too.

And there was even what can only be described, against all odds, as a tender scene between Ray and Terry.  First on the Cyclone, I don't think I've seen either of them, especially Ray, laugh so much.  One of the best little scenes of the series.  And then the deer - something very emotionally effective about that.  And speaking of touching, what a scene with Alan Alda as Ray's shrink, hand shaking, saying he can't be Ray's shrink forever, because he has Parkinson's (which Alda in fact has).

And Dash Mihok as Bunch had a fine night, putting on masks of Hillary, Nixon, and Trump to get money for the mother of the kid he shot a few weeks ago.  All this going on while Smitty finally grows some.

So, like I said, a primo episode.  I'm really enjoying this season of Ray, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Ray Donovan 7.1: Getting Ahead of the Game ... Ray Donovan 7.2: Good Luck ... Ray Donovan 7.3: "The Air that I Breathe" ... Ray Donovan 7.4: Claudette and Bridget

See also 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 ... Ray Donovan 6.9: Violence and Storyline ... Ray Donovan 6.10: Working Together ... Ray Donovan 6.11: Settled Scores and Open Questions ... Ray Donovan Season 6 Finale: Snowfall and Mick

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" ...