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

Ray Donovan: Season 7, Episode 1 “Faith. Hope. Love. Luck.” (B)

I had forgotten entirely about this show’s existence, mainly because I wasn’t terribly fond of the most recent season, and also because Showtime hasn’t aired new episodes of a series in the 8pm hour on Sundays before, at least as far as I can remember. While I definitely wouldn’t argue that this show needs to continue, I will say that this premiere at least felt like a fresh start of sorts. Ray screaming at someone he was supposed to beat up and then returning to apologize was a change, and Stu evidently wasn’t pleased with his new attitude. The fact that he’s finally listening to Alan Alda’s therapist is big, and he seems to have a semi-legitimate operation going with Lena and Smitty. He’s still dealing, of course, with the heads of cops he killed surfacing, and of course the major bombshell that took place at the end of the episode. Mickey not making a run for it was a surprise, and it looks like he may finally be out of the picture for good, though I imagine that would be way too easy. I’m glad to see that Terry is exploring something new to try to help with his condition, and though we only saw Bunchy for a brief moment, he looks like he might be happy too. For the first time, Ray’s relationship with his daughter also seems to be going somewhat well, so maybe this will be just the turnaround this show needs. If not, I’m not sure I’ll stick through the season.