‘Ray Donovan’ Breakdown: “S U C K”

No lie lives forever…but SPOILERS do…

Season Two, Episode Four: “S U C K”

Written by David Hollander; Directed by Tucker Gates

In this week’s episode, Ray is shown in a way we haven’t really seen in so far during this series: vulnerable. He’s definitely a little more humanized, highlighting his desire to be a virtuous individual while also wrestling with the temptation to do whatever the hell he wants.

Quick Breakdown

And there it is. We all saw it coming, right? We all knew that we would eventually see Ray and Kate “copulating furiously” at some point this season, perhaps just not so soon. While we could argue it wasn’t necessarily what one may describe as “furious,” let’s leave conjecture out of it. The matter at hand here is that it happened.

What’s left to be seen (and hypothesized about), however, is the type of repercussions that will be birthed from this transgression. It’s clear that Kate isn’t going to let their arrangement get in the way of her doing her job, which, ultimately, jeopardizes Ray’s freedom. It’s also clear that Ray is fairly seasoned at adequately covering his ass when the need to do so arises. It’s probably best for him to keep Kate close for now. No one (including viewers) is really sure of what she’s capable of yet. At the moment, she’s the true definition of a wildcard.

Further throwing a wrench into Ray’s keep-everyone-out-of-jail plan is Tiny, along with the help of his figurative, and quite literal, big mouth. He got arrested for stealing a roasted chicken from a local grocery store and decided to get cheeky with a detective, mentioning that he was at the dock when Sully was killed. Of course, this is no good for anyone involved since it’s in direct conflict with the story Cochran has been feeding to the media. So, naturally, Ray is told to “fix” it.

While Ray is busy hemming up Tiny, Kate has tracked down Mickey. Luckily, Ray has hedged his bets when it comes to Kate, assuming she would find him quickly and having Ronald once again intercept her attempt. Though this time she does get to speak with him briefly. She informs Mickey that she’s been told not to speak with him, but she thinks he should decide for himself. His response of “I always do, sweetheart,” while not surprising, definitely speaks volumes about how willing he is to manipulate any given situation in his favor (big surprise), which he quickly does, requesting Ray to allow him to go the fight club to “see his boys.”

Battling with his own morality, Ray chooses to take care of Tiny in a less-than-permanent way by holing him up in a motel room and leaving Avi to babysit until they can get him on a one-way flight out of the country.

As it turns out, no one is too thrilled to see Mickey once he arrives at the fight club. In his despair, he consoles himself with a marijuana cigarette, leading to a weird hallucinogenic vignette involving his neighbor’s Miami Dolphins hat telling him that he “isn’t a captain.”

Determined to prove otherwise, he calls up Kate to offer her the story about what happened with Sully on the dock. It’s later revealed that his phone is obviously tapped when Cochran demands Ray meet him and plays the audio of the conversation between Mickey and Kate. We’ve seen this situation quickly spiral out of control despite Ray’s best efforts to sweep everything under the rug in a decent, humane manner.

But Cochran, after being reminded the best way to get something done is to do it yourself, has decided to take matters into his own hands, ordering Frank to kill Tiny. Ray gives up, bringing Tiny some liquor and his last meal in a final attempt to prove to himself that he is a conscious human being after all. In the end, Tiny dies just as he lived: one part hilarity, two parts haplessness. Frank shoots him at the top of the motel stairs where he tumbles to the bottom, landing on some innocent bystander who Frank offs, too.

We come full circle at the conclusion of the episode when Ray — like his father — calls up Kate in a moment of helplessness, telling her that chasing Mickey is putting her life in danger and wants her to meet him somewhere. She obliges. After all, they’re both just doing their jobs.

Rating

B+

“S U C K” wasn’t nearly as thrilling as last week’s installment. Much of what happened this week could be seen building the past few episodes. The one thing we all want to know is how is Ray’s affair with Kate going to blow up in his face because as it currently stands, there are a variety of different scenarios that could play out and only one of them can work in his favor.

Stray Bullets…

So, Cochran is more than just a douchey, wannabe rock star asshole; he’s a self-absorbed megalomaniac who actually is cheating on his wife. Hmmm.

Abby knows Ray has been with another woman and blames herself since she bought into the idea that Ray’s overly-sexual behavior was a form of rape. From one extreme to the other.

Ray is obviously in a bit of a financial bind considering he extorted money from Ezra to do the “dirty work” he’s been doing for him all along. I guess that’s what buying a $4.6 million dollar house to make yourself feel better after sleeping around will lead you to.

Where the hell are those guys taking Mickey? And what the hell were those tapes he was messing with when they showed up?