Ray Donovan is good TV but will never be one of the greats, by Jim Shelley
Cast and credits of Ray Donovan
By Jim Shelley for MailOnline. The hip Hollywood drama attempted the delicate trick of portraying its notoriously grubby underbelly — but in heavily stylised, glossy fashion, which certainly sounds like a contemporary Catch Come on Ray, smarten yourself up! It certainly made a big entrance, with its pilot in the States setting record ratings for Showtime, beating its previous hits such as Dexter and Homeland. The action showed us the life of the eponymous Ray Donovan Liev Schreiber , a handsome hunk rolling around LA quietly issuing threats or meting out violence while looking immaculate.
Fade in on a white sand beach accompanied by mariachi music playing in the background. Did Mickey really find his way back to Mexico? Well, sort of. Remember that mystery job his parole officer got him last week?
It also created a partnership, for this hour at least, between two of its more disparate parts: the family drama and Ray as a fixer. It also was a rare episode where everyone, by the end of it, was more or less content. And while each of these characters are great, it was nice to give them pause in order to allow other stories to have a chance to deepen.