Ray Donovan: 7 episodes to watch before you stream the movie

If you’ve never watched the brilliant series Ray Donovan on Showmax, I’m sorry, but the newly released Ray Donovan: The Movie is not the place to begin.

It is intended to serve as a conclusion to the series, following seven seasons and 82 episodes, at which point it was cancelled. Fans were not happy (it would run forever if I had a say) with things not being wrapped up satisfactorily; without any spoilers, personally I think the movie has addressed some of them but offered several more in their place. What will happen to Bridget (Kerris Dorsey), Bunchy (Dash Mihok) and Daryll (Pooch Hall)? Or even Ray himself…

The Movie picks up after the events of the Season 7 finale, and while I’m avoiding spoilers for the all-too-short film, recommending the seven episodes you really must absolutely rewatch first will include specific events that will hopefully enhance your viewing pleasure and understanding of what is going on if you don’t have three days and 10 hours to spare.

Let us commence with a quick recap. Formerly of Boston’s south side, Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) is a fixer in Los Angeles. He cleans up celebrity messes. His wife is Abby (Paula Malcomson), and his children are Bridget and Conor (Devon Bagby). Ray’s brother Terry (Eddie Marsan) runs a boxing gym with third brother Bunchy, who is a bit dim. Later, a fourth sibling, Daryll, turns up. 

And then there is Mickey, the father of the year (not), played by Oscar winner Jon Voight. In the series premiere, he arrives unannounced after being released early on parole, and no one is particularly thrilled. And from that moment onwards, he is almost solely responsible for every moment of drama that ensues. So this is a good place to start – at the beginning.

Season 1, episode 1: The Bag Or The Bat

There’s always something about the very first episode of any series that demands your attention. It’s the opening scene in which the main characters of the piece are introduced, and lays the groundwork for everything that follows. I find it next to impossible to pick anything up if I miss this.

It’s important to The Movie, because this is Mickey getting out of prison after 20 years, and in The Movie, we see how this came about; as much as it’s a conclusion to the Donovan saga, it’s also an origin story, and you’ll see how Ray became a fixer and other previously unseen moments.

Season 2, episode 7: Walk This Way

This is the second-highest ranked episode on IMdb, and my all-time favourite. I’m a bit off-script here because this is not necessarily a list of the best episodes, but those you need as background. However, the loophole is that during the course of the series, Ray’s focus shifts from being exclusively about his work to family issues, and his protection of them, and that’s important when you get to The Movie.

This episode reflects both sides, when Conor wants everyone at his birthday party even though there is massive family tension, and it’s an exercise in keeping the peace and preventing anyone getting killed, but at the same time, sweet and funny in places – something that doesn’t happen very often in this show.  

Season 2, episode 12: The Captain

Although the character of Ezra Goldman (Elliot Gould) is introduced way before this, this episode illustrates what he is capable of, and Ray’s relationship with him.

It’s relevant because in The Movie, we see Ray meeting Ezra for the first time, as the attorney of actor Sean Walker (Johnathon Schaech in Season 1). The events of that night reveal exactly what happened – who got shot, and how teenage Ray fixed it. A born natural. 

Season 3, episode 12: Exsuscito

In this season finale, Bunchy and his tough wrestler wife Teresa (Alyssa Diaz) are having a baby. I said earlier Bunchy is a bit dim and that’s not really fair; he’s well-meaning and has suffered a great deal emotionally, which is just how he is, and how he defines himself. When Teresa tells him she’s pregnant, he’s terrified. 

Because of what he went through as a child (details in Season 1), he worries he’ll be a terrible father. Teresa is supportive and says they’ll figure it out. Sadly, this doesn’t come to pass, and in The Movie, Bunchy calls Teresa and they have a conversation laced with hope for the future.

Season 6, episode 1: Staten Island, Part One

Abby died of cancer in Season 5, which left Ray a complete wreck, after he’d pulled all his strings to get her into treatment programmes, as well as Bridget’s boyfriend (later husband) Smitty (Graham Rogers). In this season premiere, Ray jumps into the river but is pulled out by an off-duty cop, which leads to a long story arc that will in turn again illustrate Ray’s devotion to Bridget. He couldn’t save his sister or his wife, but he can save her.

The Movie link here is the introduction of Dr Arthur Amiot (Alan Alda) who Ray meets in the hospital where he’s taken for a psych evaluation following the suicide attempt. It’s Dr Arthur with whom Ray is in conversation in The Movie.

Season 6, episode 12: The Dead

The family that kills together, stays together. This episode shows how the Donovans – and Smitty – work together when they have to get rid of three bodies. It’s all new for Smitty and he’s not convinced he can do it. Bridget, despite having said she can’t deal with this way of life, steps up and takes charge. This is also the episode they get married, which sets the mood for Bridget’s state of mind in The Movie.

A true family episode (very different from the birthday party episode), everyone is in agreement Mickey should go back to jail (again), but then they have second thoughts when he gets all sentimental. Ray calls Dr Amiot for advice. They really shouldn’t have let Mickey go…

Season 7, episode 10: You’ll Never Walk Alone

As much as the first episode is critical, so is the last. In this case particularly so because the shootout that kills Smitty, and Mickey subsequently going on the run pursued by Ray, is pivotal to The Movie. It’s also the episode in which Ray learns the truth about his sister’s suicide.

In The Movie, Bridget is understandably traumatised and rightly blames Mick for Smitty’s death. She struggles to understand how her father and uncles grieve and mourn, when a life has been so cruelly wiped out. The episode, like The Movie, opens with Ray burying somebody out in the middle of the woods. Could it be a significant somebody, or is it merely a representation of the many bodies left in his wake?