So, this episode was bound to happen at some point this season. By that, I mean the episode in which the season begins it pivot from a nuanced and reflective character study to something far more plot-heavy. And if you've been reading these reviews up until now, you know that I've been somewhat dreading this moment.
You see, this season has made me actually think about Ray Donovan far more that any of the previous three. Since the show began I've seen it as a handsome illusion, but rarely anything more substantial. And, luckily for the show, the phenomenal cast helped disguise the fact that the show wasn't even nearly as deep as it was pretending to be. In this way, the show was similar to House of Cards, a show with a great cast, two charismatic leads and impressive production values, all of which hide the shallowness at its core.
So I find it curious how House of Cards became so much more successful than Ray Donovan. And after some thought, I've realised that how episodes of both shows are released is key to this. When you binge an entire season of House of Cards, you don't have time to acknowledge the show's flaws. This applies to any show you binge. But when you watch something weekly, you have a full week between episodes to think about what you watched, and whether or not it was any good.
For me, Ray Donovan has always been slightly better than House of Cards, because in its early seasons it did have some semblance of thematic ambition, while the other show has always been just a really trashy political soap dressing up as prestige television (I say this as someone who enjoys watching House of Cards).
So what Ray Donovan has pulled off so far this season has been surprising, because now this is a show about something, and has a depth to it that it's only now starting to explore. But this newfound depth has distracted from some of this show's most common problems: it struggles to tell an engaging season-long story. The exploration of characters such as Ray, Abby, and even Conor has been welcome, as has the increased focus on the Donovan family dynamics, but once again the show has failed to make the season-long arcs interesting. And since this show isn't Mad Men, it's going to have to focus on its plot eventually.
And that's what happens in this episode, as the storylines regarding Sonia and Little Bill Primm start to come to a head. And while one of these I mostly enjoyed, the other I have some issues with. Firstly, the one I liked, which is everything to do with Ray, Sonia and the Russian threat (which comes in the form of veteran character actor Raymond J. Barry, who - thankfully - doesn't bother attempting a Russian accent). This storyline worked for me because, while the show failed to make me care about Sonia, I have been more invested than I ever have before in Ray as a character, and this episode built quite naturally off the solid exploration of him this season.
Ray's decision to not kill Sonia doesn't make much sense to Abby, Avi or Lena, or even Sonia herself, but it makes perfect sense within the context of the season. Unlike other characters, we as viewers have watched Ray's mostly futile attempts to become a better man, as well as his many stumbles. So letting Sonia live and helping her flee feels like a great personal triumph for Ray. But of course it's then followed by Avi's abduction, thereby bringing up the question of whether, in this line of work, one really can make the right choice. This is in keeping with this season's core themes.
And so while I see the value of that entire storyline, I can't say the same about the episode's other major arc, which revolved around Mickey, with the assistance of Bunchy and Sylvie, breaking into Little Bill Primm's house to steal back the four million dollars he and Ray lost several episodes ago. Things quickly spiral out of control, leading to the deaths of Sylvie and one of Bill's henchmen, and Mickey, Bunchy and Theresa making off with the money. This part of the episode would've felt far more satisfying if it didn't feel like the show had forgotten all about Bill Primm for the last few episodes. But the most frustrating aspect of this was Sylvie's death. A character that received no development, and existed only to remind viewers that Mickey likes black women and then to be fridged, i.e. killed off to make Mickey sad. Ugh.
I say all of this out of affection for the show, as it has built up so much goodwill with me this season. And while the drop-off in quality was inevitable, I wish the show wouldn't play into unwelcome tropes such as "fridging". Of course, plenty of other shows do this too. But it hurts the most when it happen on a show you've come to expect better from. Another example of this was in the third season of the once excellent CW show The 100, which had done such wonderful work in its second season only to throw it all away in the next. Of course, everything that show did in its third season was far more egregious than what Ray Donovan did here. What The 100 did was break the cardinal rule of storytelling: it betrayed its characters, and it did so for the sake of shock value and exploitative violence.
But the execution of the Ray section of this episode gives me hope for this season's final three episodes. We're heading towards a climax,and all climaxes should not just be about plot, but character and theme as well. Hopefully, that's what the remaining episodes this season are going to give us.
