Ray Donovan: New Showtime Series

We watched the premier of Ray Donovan on Showtime last Sunday (you can probably catch in in repeat/OnDeman) airing right after Dexter.

Ray Donovan is about a “fixer” who takes care of problems of the rich and famous…but he seems to have his own problems with wife and a father who just got out of prison.

The show has a great cast and the first episode got you right into the story. We liked it and it got huge ratings (more than for premier of Homeland) on the first episode.

Looks promising - try to catch it if possible.

I watched it. I started a thread (actually, I started it a few weeks ago in anticipation) on GB about it. This episode had to introduce us to a lot of characters, so, like a lot of shows, it’s going to have to ramp it self up very quickly. Not only that, it’s going to have to separate itself from a lot of other shows. Someone on GB mentioned a handful of shows I hadn’t seen, but for me, it’s Sopranos. With the main character having a good strong crew working under him, yet he can’t get his family life in order.

I plan to keep watching in. Ray need to talk more. We get it, you have your business so finely tuned that you can say things like “Take care of it” and they jump into action, but the quiet mysterious thing is going to get old quick.

Is this a mob show? I’m really tired of mob related stuff myself, so I’m wondering if it’s just a take on that, or if it’s thematically different.

No, not technically, but it seems to have some of the same motifs. It’s, on the surface, about a guy who Hollywood big shots call up when they get in to trouble and he takes care of it. For example, in the pilot, an up an coming movie star woke up with a dead hooker in his hotel room, called Ray and Ray dealt with the situation. But at the same time, he can’t keep his own life as ‘clean’ as he keeps others.

By ‘same motifs’ I mean that I expect there to be a lot of violence as we move forward, Ray has a very good and trusting crew that he works with (but who knows, maybe people will double cross him, maybe there’s other people out there that do the same work as him), he has trouble at home like other mob shows etc

If you go to youtube there’s a handful of trailers for the show.

From the description and promos, I’m thinking more Scandal or House of Lies.

It was pretty good. Except for the horrible, fake Boston accents. Why make people do accents that they can’t do correctly? It’s not really needed for the story.

Good god, they were supposed to be from Mass.?

Anyway, I didn’t like it, except for the part with the stalker. “Bag or bat?” I’ll give it another shot in case it gets better, but I don’t think it’s going to be appointment tv for me.

Actually, the guy that woke up with the dead girl was (I think) an NBA star. The actor got caught with a transvestite.
I’ll admit I wasn’t paying 100% close attention during the show but I kind of got confused about who was who and what was what in some of the storylines.

I thought about that when I said “Hollywood big shots”. What I probably should have said is “big shots” or “people with money” or “first world problems” or something like that. But since, I think, they were in Hollywood, and they were big shots…

I’m into it. The cast alone makes it worth giving a shot. Good to see Shane from The L Word again.

Wife and I thought it was great but, having lived there, we’re suckers for shows set in LA.

Is there something about pervs and green dye? I didn’t get that at all.

Why? Has it been done before? He was just trying to embarrass the guy and give him a second chance. Also, since he knew the ‘mark’ this project took on a special interest to him. If it was a regular job, he would have gone back to the person who paid him and said “She not cheating on you, but she does have a stalker”.

I guess I did “get” it after all then. Just thought there might be something significant to dyeing somebody green.

Wow, I thought they were going for New Jersey. Let’s see if it gets better or goes away…

The second ep wasn’t as good as the first.

Anybody know why the wife is so willing to let the father-in-law into their lives despite Ray?? Is it more than just a kids/grandfather thing?

Ray hates his dad, wants nothing to do with him, would like to kill him, gave the mom very specific instructions not to let him near the kids or even in the house. Then she finds out that he was cheating on her (or she thinks she was) so all of a sudden it’s "Hey Mickey, c’mon in, you wanna hang out with the kids for the day and throw some money at them, sounds like a plan, let’s make sure to get a lot of pictures of it.

I have a feeling that she (and we) doesn’t quite understand how much damage she did by doing that. By letting him back into the house, she probably set up a dynamic that’s going to cause problems that are going to run throughout the entire series. Or at least make him this season’s villain.

Doing it for spite is a plausible answer but I thought I saw some real affection(or whatever) toward Mickey in her eyes.

Good episode last night but not quite seeing how the wife was suddenly forgiven (although that makeup sex scene was super hot!!).

I wish there was a little more information on why Ray hates his dad - obviously it must be something that only he and Mickey knows since the rest of them are happy to welcome Mickey back with open arms.

Another in a long line of flawed anti-heroes, but the cast makes it watchable, particularly Jon Voight.

He charmed her with his letters to her from prison.