21 January 2020
Ray Donovan S1-7
Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) doesn’t have a healthy relationship with his dad Mickey (Jon Voight). That’s one of the forces driving the series: Hollywood fixer Ray’s desire to give his family the things he never had growing up in Boston, such as money, a mansion, food on their tables and a loving dad.
But it doesn’t always work out that way, especially because of Ray’s job cleaning up behind celebs and rich folk (like in the very first episode when he makes a dead woman’s body disappear from a pro athlete’s hotel room). He’s on call 24/7 and that takes him away from his wife Abby (Paula Malcomson), rebellious daughter Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) and wanna-be tough-kid son Conor (Devon Bagby).
Ray also has to play father-figure to his two brothers – elder Terry (Eddie Marsan), who is a boxing coach suffering from Parkinson’s, and younger Bunchy (Dash Mihok), who was molested by a Boston priest and is struggling to be a normal member of society.
Worse is still to come, thanks to Mickey being paroled early and finding his way to Los Angeles to be with his boys. “The family don’t want me, as bad things happen wherever I go,” says Jon about his character. But Liev adds, “Ray is going through a midlife crisis. One aspect of his pain is certainly articulated in that, having to clean up his family’s messes – especially his father Mickey’s.”
Season 7 sees Ray (Liev Schreiber) struggling between the dangers that need him to become the Ray Donovan of old, and making progress with his psychiatrist Dr Amiot (Alan Alda) to become a new, better-adjusted man.
Between the mayor of New York City, a range of new and more challenging clients as well as those of old, and a tenacious New York City cop who won’t stop until the truth is out, Ray has to choose between fixing himself, and fixing for his clients.
Ray Donovan has long been a critics’ darling, with the Boston Globe writing, “This fantastic … drama is that wonder of TV wonders, a low concept series that can’t be easily reduced to a quick sentence” and Time Out calling it “an extremely compelling portrait of a unique working-class family.”
All seasons of Ray Donovan are ready to binge-watch on Showmax.
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