# Ray Donovan: New Showtime Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650 "2013-07-04T17:10:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/21 "2013-07-15T20:11:42Z")
Yeah, when Ray got all stern with her at the end of the first episode, insisting that she keep Mickey the hell away from the family, she kinda forgot to mention they’d been corresponding for years. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/22 "2013-07-30T13:13:54Z")
It took a while but the backstory is starting to make some sense. Anybody know if there are plans for a second season? Seems like all of the conflicts will be resolved this season. The brother that got raped by the priest sure was permanently affected based on his choice of bicycles!! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/23 "2013-07-30T14:03:42Z")
It seems to me to be following a decent pacing schedule that should afford another season with ease. It started showing his 2 employees in very limited fashion, but they are giving tiny glimpses into their personalities and relationships with Ray, so I think at some point in the future it makes sense that there would be storylines involving them. We were shown in a matter of seconds that Ray’s “secretary” Lena is in a lesbian relationship, and in another quick-cut moment that Avi was at some point in a Libyan (IIRC) prison. I also liked the confidence of Avi and his friendship with Ray, when he wrestled the gun from Ray in the parking lot. The Mickey Donovan plot I think is likely to be resolved during this first season, and Jon Voight either killed off, or reduced to a more cameo-every-once-in-a-while kind of character. I haven’t been exposed to much of this type of television (R-rated, I mean), so I can’t really compare to other kind of gritty series that have aired in the past or are still running, but I am really enjoying this show so far. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/24 "2013-07-30T14:24:01Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > The brother that got raped by the priest sure was permanently affected based on his choice of bicycles!! I always tell people that symbolism is totally and utterly lost on me. If an author mentions a texture or shape or smell of something in a book, I won’t give it a second thought, if a movie portrays one house with a lot of green and another house with a lot of blue I probably won’t even notice or if I do I might not be able to put together what it means. This was another great example. I noticed the bike. Totally didn’t think anything of it. But yeah, robbed childhood and all that. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/25 "2013-07-30T14:55:24Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Anybody know if there are plans for a second season? Seems like all of the conflicts will be resolved this season. > ! Yes, Showtime has already announced there will be a second season - ratings have been great so far. I doubt they will kill off either the Eliot Gould or Jon Voight characters - too big of actors…then again, I guess that depends on if they have other projects lined up and perhaps only signed on for one season. Deposits $1.4 million and then asks for $50…that is my SO’s worst nightmare if we ever win lottery and I say, “Here is your share…” The bike was a nice touch…if you think about it, how many guys who are suddenly rich go out and buy that old Mustang or Corvette they coveted when they were a kid? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/26 "2013-07-30T15:14:37Z")
I saw the latest episode but it wasn’t clear to me what the backstory was between Elliot Gould’s character and Mickey Donovan. Because normally a studio executive in LA and a Boston mobster wouldn’t ever cross paths, let alone have a shared background. The trailers and commercials for the show implied that this was more or less about a studio fixer, but we hardly see him dealing with the studio’s issues. And the Ray Donovan character reminded me of the LA private investigator [Anthony Pellicano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Pellicano), while the father’s connection with that FBI agent reminded me of Whitey Bulger and his corrupt FBI pal. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/27 "2013-07-30T16:31:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I saw the latest episode but it wasn’t clear to me what the backstory was between Elliot Gould’s character and Mickey Donovan. Because normally a studio executive in LA and a Boston mobster wouldn’t ever cross paths, let alone have a shared background. Mickey was in prison for 20 years, right? I assumed that they all started back east and then migrated west. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/28 "2013-08-01T08:03:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I saw the latest episode but it wasn’t clear to me what the backstory was between Elliot Gould’s character and Mickey Donovan. Because normally a studio executive in LA and a Boston mobster wouldn’t ever cross paths, let alone have a shared background. The general gist I got was that back in the early days of the company it was just Ezra and Ray, and one of the ways they “fixed” a(n as yet unspecified) problem was to frame Mickey to take the fall for it. Reading more into it, I’m guessing this was their first actual “fixing” that got their company started. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/29 "2013-08-09T00:36:14Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > The general gist I got was that back in the early days of the company it was just Ezra and Ray, and one of the ways they “fixed” a(n as yet unspecified) problem was to frame Mickey to take the fall for it. Reading more into it, I’m guessing this was their first actual “fixing” that got their company started. If I understood it right, they said last week that they framed Mickey for a murder that Sean Walker (the neurotic actor) committed while high on Mickey’s drugs. But Sean looks too young to have done that 20 years ago. I’m liking this show a lot, even though they are giving the backstories drop by drop. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/30 "2013-08-12T20:11:23Z")
Not much competition in the summer rerun season, but this is now my favorite show. The last couple of episodes have been outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/31 "2013-08-13T10:19:03Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > If I understood it right, they said last week that they framed Mickey for a murder that Sean Walker (the neurotic actor) committed while high on Mickey’s drugs. But Sean looks too young to have done that 20 years ago. When I first read this last week I thought you meant the gay actor in rehab, the one who hit on Ray’s son. The actual Sean Walker character looks early 40s to me (and the actor was born in 69) so it’s conceivable he could have gotten a starring role in the early 90s, but generally leading men don’t get to hit until their late 20s. (As opposed to leading women, who can hit in their mid-teens.) So yeah, a little young, IMO. However, that clip we saw of the movie that made Sean Walker a star was **terrible**. Cheesy garbage, B-movie at best. And then the guy claims it laid the ground for Reservoir Dogs? (Which was 1992, btw, meaning you need to start making your movie in 89-90 to pave the way for a film released in 1992.) Ugh, that bit of blasphemy tainted the whole episode for me; the cheese of the priest movie spilled over and made the rest of the episode kind of cheesy for me. I look forward to it resuming its non-cheese factor next episode. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/32 "2013-08-30T19:42:59Z")
Well, the show started out as a promising series, but after five episodes, I’m giving up. First there was the episode with Rosanna Arquette, then the appearances by James Woods: horribly written dialog, direction and acting. They must have signed up these actors and then told the writers to squeeze them in somehow. The Arquette episode in particular was pointless, tasteless and contrived. The most recent, with Woods being driven cross country by Avi, was pointless and contrived, with a murder scene that was so amateurishly done as to be laughable. The show, thanks to his relentless mugging for the camera, has become The Jon Voight Emoting Hour. Forty minutes of Voight hamming it up, and a few minutes for the rest of the characters. I quit. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/33 "2013-08-30T20:19:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, the show started out as a promising series, but after five episodes, I’m giving up. First there was the episode with Rosanna Arquette, then the appearances by James Woods: horribly written dialog, direction and acting. They must have signed up these actors and then told the writers to squeeze them in somehow. The Arquette episode in particular was pointless, tasteless and contrived. The most recent, with Woods being driven cross country by Avi, was pointless and contrived, with a murder scene that was so amateurishly done as to be laughable. > > The show, thanks to his relentless mugging for the camera, has become The Jon Voight Emoting Hour. Forty minutes of Voight hamming it up, and a few minutes for the rest of the characters. I quit. So you’re on the fence? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/34 "2013-08-30T20:25:55Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, the show started out as a promising series, but after five episodes, I’m giving up. First there was the episode with Rosanna Arquette, then the appearances by James Woods: horribly written dialog, direction and acting. They must have signed up these actors and then told the writers to squeeze them in somehow. The Arquette episode in particular was pointless, tasteless and contrived. The most recent, with Woods being driven cross country by Avi, was pointless and contrived, with a murder scene that was so amateurishly done as to be laughable. > > The show, thanks to his relentless mugging for the camera, has become The Jon Voight Emoting Hour. Forty minutes of Voight hamming it up, and a few minutes for the rest of the characters. I quit. Wish I had something to say, but like a lot of us, I’ve missed the last 4 episodes (5 this weekend) due to the TWC/CBS dispute. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/35 "2013-08-30T21:07:41Z")
In the last episode, one character finally suggested a premise for the show; that celebrities can get away with _anything_ as long as they’re making money for their employers. If they stuck with that, and dropped the endless drama about Ray’s family, his father, Sully, Sean Walker, the Elliot Gould character, etc. it might be more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/36 "2013-08-30T22:28:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In the last episode, one character finally suggested a premise for the show; that celebrities can get away with _anything_ as long as they’re making money for their employers. If they stuck with that, and dropped the endless drama about Ray’s family, his father, Sully, Sean Walker, the Elliot Gould character, etc. it might be more interesting. I can’t tell you how much I loathe Elliot Gould, and always have. His presence in film mystifies me. The family drama is tedious: I can’t stand the wife’s constant hate you/love you/fuck me now you bastard stupidity; the black kid next door has zero appeal; the daughter is a poor actor and I don’t care about her. The only characters of any interest here are the two brothers and Ray’s secretary. Somebody went really wrong with this series, probably a producer who hired his teenage son to write the dialog, which has really taken a nosedive. Ah well, they can’t all be winners. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/37 "2013-08-30T22:31:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I can’t tell you how much I loathe Elliot Gould, and always have. I always liked him in Friends. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/38 "2013-08-30T22:35:15Z")
Gee, Chefguy, I sure hope you hang around and continue to bash the show in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/39 "2013-08-31T01:32:47Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Gee, Chefguy, I sure hope you hang around and continue to bash the show in this thread. Nobody asked you to read it. If it bothers you, ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650/40 "2013-08-31T01:41:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Nobody asked you to read it. If it bothers you, ignore it. How about if you don’t like the show, ignore it. All this time you spend bashing it could be better spent writing your own screenplay and making a million bucks, since you know so much about what they did wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-donovan-new-showtime-series/662650.md?page=3)