Wednesday, January 16, 2019

What I’m Watching: Ray Donovan (Season Finale)


Ray Donovan: Season 6, Episode 12 “The Dead” (B-)

I’ve been wondering a lot this season about how best to define this show, since, in its early days, it was a drama that had style and intrigue, often driven by its rhythm more than anything. Lately, it’s been prone to cyclical repetitiveness and musical interludes, both played in the background to accompany montages or actually sung by characters, as was the case in this closing hour. Some of what’s happening, at face value, is just absurd. Bridget was walking around delivering sandwiches to her family members as Sandy casually sawed off a dead cop’s dead, and then nonchalantly agreed to take over for Sandy while Smitty was vomiting nearby. Somehow that romantic setup encouraged Smitty to decide that they should get married right away, and no one was bothered by the fact that only Terry was invited to the courthouse ceremony. After a season of playing so many sides, Ray managed to get Lena back on his good side by allowing her to kill Sam’s right-hand man, and possibly Sam herself, while he made a deal with Feratti that enabled him to get Bunchy out. Ray working for Feratti would be more of the same, but he’s going to be a new person now that he’s acknowledged that he needs some help, calling Alan Alda’s doctor to take the next step. I wish I was more excited that this show, which I used to really like, was continuing, but I’m hoping for some serious reinvention in the season eight premiere since this year just didn’t really cut it for me.

Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Eddie Marsan as Terry

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