In the season premiere of Ray Donovan, Mickey buys a top of the range BBQ and dispatches major douchebag pimp Gary, in Ding, another Donovan, Terry is the main focus in prison and Bunchy is in a prison of his own making. The episode starts in the big house where Terry is at dinner, Matty winds him up till a guard delivers a shoebox care package from “your brother.”
Ray expends some energy at the body bag in the gym and Mickey gives the “girls” a pep talk that goes over like a lead balloon. These girls are high class, no walking the street and no standing on corners and no sticking around for outdated ideas… Ginger tells Mickey that it is not 1979, these hookers do it differently.
Ray gets a call from Bridget about her mother coming to school drunk and bringing home the big dog. Donovan comes home to find Abby in bed with the Marmaduke lookalike. They have a short discussion about her driving drunk and “scaring the kids.” While he is at home Bridget invites him to dinner and Abby tells Ray that his daughter misses him.
Paige Finney calls Ray and says she has a job for him. Avi offers Lena a job and Mickey learns that his “girls” work out of the Internet. Darryl is made Mickey’s partner in his latest idea and Ginger gets her new pimp to run Audrey to her Disney audition for the Shirley Temple part.
Terry gets into an altercation with a member of the “brotherhood” and knocks the guy out cold. Matty shouts out that the Aryan was knocked out by a “ding” (a disabled prisoner; Terry has Parkinson’s). Father Romero joins the gym and pays Bunchy for two months membership, he also asks about SNAP. Ray learns about Terry’s fight and tells off the guard Kevin. Lena tells Ray about Avi’s job offer.
In the infirmary, Terry learns from the prison doctor that his Parkinson’s will progress faster inside. The doc tells him that he will need a wheelchair in two years. Abby catches Conor screwing his bed while watching porn. The boy yells out that he was making his bed. His mother stands in the hallway outside his door with a hand over her mouth so Conor cannot hear her laughing.
Paige and Zack Davis, hire Ray to sort out a quarterback problem. Troy Landrieu the number one quarterback has slept with a Navy SEAL’s wife who has, in turn, threatened to shoot the player during the game that night. Ray has been hired to convince the cuckold husband to take a payoff of $500,000. If he succeeds Davis promises Ray 50 yard line tickets for life.
Abby and Ray share a laugh at Conor’s love affair with his box spring and mattress and Bunchy finally confronts the Mexican clients who have not paid their bill. He talks to the female wrestler and it appears he is interested in the young lady. He decides that they can work something out.
Ray talks to the SEAL and convinces him to take the money. Mickey and Darryl get a loan from the Kalamazoo guy’s sister for 10K. Darryl’s car title is taken for collateral and Mickey’s partner is not best pleased. Darryl tells Donovan that he is now the bank and takes control of the money. They then go for tacos and while Audrey cries, Darryl upset her, Mickey goes back in the kitchen to buy coke. Darryl reluctantly gives his partner 5K for the powder. The plan is to cut the product and give it to the girls to sell.
Audrey’s audition goes badly and when Mickey tries to make her feel better the little Shirley Temple wannabe says, “F*** you Mickey.” Ray takes the SEAL to the hotel and it turns out that Paige set him up. The man breaks the quarterback’s arm and there is no check.
The female wrestler runs a little dominatrix action on Bunchy, making him clean mold with a toothbrush. He leaves with the job unfinished and talks to her manager about hosting a venue for them in the gym. Ray is furious with Paige. He corners Finney in the ladies room and tells her to make out a check to the SEAL. She tries to threaten Donovan and then asks what he will do if she does not get the money and Ray tells her he will put Paige in the trunk of her Astin Martin and drive the car off a cliff.
Terry gets a rematch with the Aryan brother who stabs him. Terry grabs a weight and overpowers the man. Each time Terry punches the man in the face with the barbell, he asks, “Who’s the ding, motherf***er?”
Ray tells Lena that she does not want to be his partner after Malcolm Finney tries to buy him out. Mickey explains exactly how the coke business is going to work with the hookers which will then evolve into a loan shark business. He tells Darryl that all he has to do is be the muscle and keep track of the ladies. His cut? 20 percent. Darryl asks for more and Mickey says no.
Bunchy watches the female wrestler and masturbates from the relative safety of his office.Terry ends up in isolation, something he turned down earlier but now he has no choice. Ray bails out on the dinner invitation, Abby gives his meal to the giant dog she brought home, and Donovan heads to the SEAL’s house with the check that Malcolm wrote.
Ray offers the money to the SEAL who replies by punching Donovan in the face. Ray continues to offer the check after recovering from the punch and after the third hit, Donovan begins to grin.
Great character arc for Terry in this episode. Ray gets to show that while he may be a tough guy, he is not above getting the crap beaten out of him to prove a point. Mickey comes out all right after taking Gary out and Abby seems to have replaced Ray with the dog.
In a series that features Jon Voight and Liev Schreiber it can be difficult to stand out but Bethnal Green born Brit actor Eddie Marsan knocks it out of the park in this episode of Ray Donovan. While his beating of the Brotherhood member was worthy of cheers, it was his overall performance that prompted great admiration.
Ray Donovan airs Sundays on Showtime, cracking stuff and one of the best crime/drama shows on television.
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