Note: Please be aware that English is not my first language
“Walk This Way”, “Sunny” and “Snowflake” premiered respectively on Sunday, August 24 August 31 and September 7 at 9:00 PM on Showtime.
Hey guys. I’m truly sorry that I couldn’t make it to write the reviews of the second part of this season of Ray Donovan. If there is a reason to it, it’s because I moved to Paris at the beginning of September and I started my first month of college, so I had a really hard time to get used with the huge amount of work they are giving us each week.
Anyways, since the season just ended, I’m going to write two reviews. This one includes episodes 7, 8 and 9, and the next one is for the last three episodes of the season. I will probably finish to write it very soon. Hope you'll enjoy both of them.
In “Viagra”, the writers gave a semi-conclusion to the adversity between Ray and Cochran with Cochran being recorded in a very compromising sex tape that could hustle his career.
We also witnessed the deterioration of the Donovan couple. So this episode was pretty prominent and weighty as we left the episode thinking: “this is the calm before the storm”.
And indeed, “Walk This Way” was probably one of the most powerful episodes of the show yet.
“Walk This Way” written by Ann Biderman (the creator of the series who will no more write episodes for the show next season) and directed by Liev Schreiber (the actor playing Ray Donovan) was a mind-blowing episode. At first sight, we start the episode thinking that things are suddenly calm in our characters lives and that the whole family will gather in happiness to celebrate the birthday of Connor who is turning 14. But we all know that a family reunion can only end in madness with the Donovans.
But Connor soon realizes that his parents forgot his birthday even if they tried to pretend the opposite. When Ray asks his son what gift does he want, Connor says that he wants a family reunion with Mickey in it. Connor wants a healthy relationship with his grandfather, which is totally normal and understandable. Therefore, Ray put his hatred towards Mickey aside and invited him to the party they agreed to prepare.
Since then, everything involving every character is leading to this party or involves this party.
Mickey invites Claudette to be his date at the birthday with the company of their son, Daryll.
Terry and Frances want to talk to Ray at the party about their plan to move to Ireland.
Bunchy is inviting Stan at the birthday, his new friend who is a little lonely and asocial, and Abby and Ray are trying to organize a real and enjoyable family reunion to make Connor happy. Since this birthday is the culmination of all those things, we understand pretty quick that’s it’s going to be one hell of a mess.
This birthday started in a very pleasant atmosphere but ended up in a disaster.
First, Ray didn’t agree with Terry on his plan to move to Ireland and dropped a bombshell that astonished him and made him furious: the gym box is actually just a way for Ray to launder his money.
Stan, Bunchy’s friend kissed him on the lips, which made Bunchy really uncomfortable.
Mickey being Mickey just made things worst by saying inappropriate things to everyone. In addition, his gift to Connor (a magnificent car) angered Daryl as he felt forsaken by his father who never gave him a gift like this (or a gift at all knowing Mickey).
Then, Daryl smashes off the car and things get pretty intense in the Donovan house. Ray yells at Mickey for inviting Claudette at their house without warning him and Claudette is also furious because Mickey lied to her by saying that Ray invited her to the party.
The music used was perfect for this scene. It was "Walk This Way" (the title of the episode) by RUN-DMC.
The after party was pretty interesting enough to end the episode in a very satisfactory way. Indeed, Bridget suggested to her father that her mother might be having an affair.
But since I’ve seen the rest of this season, the most important part might be the one where we learn that Cookie Brown wants to talk to Ray and Lee Drexler.
“Sunny” was a really emotional and life-changing episode. It’s the kind of episode that changes the course of a show by shifting the nature of some characters and leading them to whole new outcomes.
Indeed, Abby still had plenty of doubts concerning Halloran and her relationship with him as she was still considering herself as Ray’s wife. She made an oath after all and that’s not worth nothing. The house in Trusdale was simply a way to consider a eventual future for her and Ray, being side by side and welded. She wanted him to open up to her.
But Ray’s life is in turmoil. Even Ashley’s boyfriend, Steve Knight tried to help him open up himself and talk about his feelings, his fears and his doubts. But Ray is just too busy for that apparently.
And while Abby is estranging herself from her husband, she falls easily in the arms of Halloran who is here for her. And the confrontation between the husband and the wife after Ari confirmed to Ray that Abby is cheating on him was really powerful… especially since Ray went to Halloran’s house to tell him to stop seeing his wife.
So when Ray comes home, he threw the pictures of Abby and Halloran kissing and he tells her to sign the paper for the house in Trusdale but Abby refuses, as she finds no utility in moving there no more.
The two of them start a fight with Abby asking Ray to leave the house and Ray trying to kiss her but Abby finishes by telling him to leave her alone.
His marriage has fallen apart.
He went to Lee’s house and called Ray to meet him there. When he arrives, Cookie tells him that he wants his money back but will agree to just have Marvin back for himself because he thinks that this is an investment that will be lucrative regarding the money Marvin will make for him.
But Recon says he doesn’t care about the money and wants his son to stay with him. Ray warns him: Cookie Brown is not the kind of guy you want to mess with.
But Lee Drexler made the fatal mistake of relinquishing the deal that made Recon turn Marvin to Cookie. And Recon and Marvin decided to go with him all the way on his decision.
That decision cost them their lives as the episode ended on the most shocking cliffhanger of the show imho. I was truly shocked when Cookie came out of nowhere when Recon, Marvin and Bridget were in a car at a red light… and shot them. Except Bridget as she was lying on the back seat and Cookie probably didn’t see her. She walks out of the car and calls her dad.
I enjoyed her character at the beginning of the season and her return is really enjoyable as she learns that she’s been told many lies from the FBI, Ray and Mickey about the Sully Sullivan case.
Plus, In Boston, Kate visits an inmate to find out more about Sully. He explains that Sully hated Mickey and there is no way that he came to L.A. in order to get some help from Mickey.
While Ray gets to his daughter after the tragedy that occurred, his principal concern is the safety of Bridget. Did Cookie saw her and decided to spare her or is he really convinced that there was no witness at the murder scene?
Ray decided to confront Cookie to see if he could extract information about what he saw and it was a success as Ray subtly pushed Cookie to confirm that he saw no witness.
Therefore, for Ray, Bridget had to lie to the police and tell them that she wasn’t in the car at the time or the murder because if she had to testify against Cookie, she could be in a real danger then. Even is she disagreed first and agreed with her mother that she had to tell the truth, Bridget lied to the police.
Outside the police station, the altercation between Cookie and the Donovans is worth mentioning:
Cookie: [to Bridget] Snowflake! I'm so sorry about what happened. I loved the little nigger, too. He had everything in front of 'im.
Ray: She's had a long day, Cookie. We need to go.
Cookie: Understood. It's gonna hurt for a while, but it's gonna get better.
Far from all this crazy drama, Bunchy is facing difficulties with his ‘’girlfriend’’ as he’s ill-at-ease when it comes to her child, especially when he has to take him out of a bath… the kind being naked. And with Bunchy’s background, we all know that his demons aren’t fare behind.
And what about Mickey? Well, his troubles with justice don’t seem to bother him as he is now planning a heist with his neighbor Shorty.
At the end of the episode, we’re facing a new facet of Ray. Since the beginning of the show, Ray never verbally expressed his state of souls and feelings. But his head hangdog in the last scene is worth all the words in the world. Bravo, Lieb Schreiber.
Verdict: 7/10 for “Walk This Way”, 7,5/10 for “Sunny” and 7/10 for “Snowflake”. These three episodes offered a lot of change in the lives of our characters, drastically. The show runners seem to have a clear idea of what they’re doing and up to now, this season is far better from the first one in my opinion. We just witnessed three powerful episodes that changed completely the dynamic between the characters in the show.
I like how they are depicting the deterioration of the family unit but how it can still be a reliable thing to rely on in time of crises.
Hit the comments section below and tell us what you thought about these three episodes of Ray Donovan. Were you shocked by Marvin's and Recon's death? Let us know !
