Ray Donovan

(series)
Trailer 7
USA, (2013–2020), 74 h 49 min (Length: 45–61 min)

Creators:

Ann Biderman

Composer:

Marcelo Zarvos

Cast:

Liev Schreiber, Paula Malcomson, Eddie Marsan, Kate Moennig, Kerris Dorsey, Frank Whaley, Jon Voight, Elliott Gould, Ambyr Childers, Devon Bagby (more)
(more professions)

Seasons(7) / Episodes(82)

Plots(1)

Set in the mecca of the rich and famous, Ray Donovan does the dirty work for L.A.'s top power players. The series stars Liev Schreiber as the go-to guy who makes the problems of the city's celebrities, superstar athletes, and business moguls disappear. This powerful drama unfolds when his father, Mickey Donovan, is unexpectedly released from prison, setting off a chain of events that shakes the Donovan family to its core. Ray works with two associates – his #1, Avi, an imposing Israeli, and Lena, a laconic, hardboiled lesbian who serves as his #2. Most of Ray's work is for the most powerful law firm in town led by his confidante and mentor Ezra Goodman, and his partner, Lee Drexler. The only problems he can't fix are those involving his own family. Ray's brother Bunchy was abused by a priest and now can't stay sober; his brother Terry was left in the boxing ring too long and developed Parkinson's; and the ghost of their little sister -- who committed suicide when she was a teenager -- haunts them all. Additionally, his wife Abby is still adjusting to their suburban life while raising their two children, Bridget and Conor. To Ray, all of their problems can be traced back to one person: their father Mickey, a gangster with the Irish mob who never protected his family. But everything is turned upside down when Mickey, after twenty years in a cage, makes his way to Los Angeles and is hungry for revenge. He wants money, a new life, and his place at the head of his family. (official distributor synopsis)

(more)

Reviews of this series by the user Necrotongue (78)

Season 1 (2013) (S01) 

English After Season 1, I'm pretty happy with the series overall, even though I originally expected something else. I thought the creators would focus more on Ray's work than on his family relationships, so I was slightly disappointed. But my disappointment faded away over the course of the last four episodes. I was very pleased with the casting, especially Liev Schreiber, Eddie Marsan and Jon Voight were very convincing. ()

The Bag or the Bat (2013) (S01E01) 

English The pilot episode was very successful for the creators, the concept pleased me. Ray Donovan actually does the same job as Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction, which means that I have to like the series. The first episode didn't only focus on Ray's work activities, but also allowed us to have a glimpse into his complicated personal life. ()

A Mouth Is a Mouth (2013) (S01E02) 

English In the second episode, the pace of the story slowed down a bit, Ray's work took a back seat, and most of the plot was taken up by family and relationship issues, which did not add much attractiveness to this episode. 4* ()

Twerk (2013) (S01E03) 

English This time, I wasn't completely thrilled either, after the introductory episode, I still thought that the story would develop on a different level. Ray's work is still a marginal matter and the series delves too much into relationships and analysis of feelings (Abby). The season is not bad at all, but it could use more excitement. 4* ()

Black Cadillac (2013) (S01E04) 

English The fourth episode did seem to be a bit better after all, I really liked the family day in Bel Air, it turned out that the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, Ray Donovan nor Stu Feldman would have to perform a paternity test on their sons. Jon Voight plays excellently, his character really gets on my nerves and I think that's exactly what the creators intended. ()

The Golem (2013) (S01E05) 

English The series slowly fill with more or less (rather more) disturbed characters, such as a stalker who was after Ashley and obviously infected her with his perversion:-) I still have a problem with the fact that the creators pay too little attention to what Raye's livelihood is and focus too much on relationships, not only in his family. ()

Housewarming (2013) (S01E06) 

English Well, well, in the comment to the fifth episode, I complained about the fact that the creators delved too much into interpersonal relationships, while they could have added more action and as if on purpose, there was a party at Bunchy's. It's true that I like it when characters have depth, but here it really needs some liveliness, the script got tangled up in the relationship part of the story. 4* ()

New Birthday (2013) (S01E07) 

English The plot was livelier this time, Ray's stay in Boston significantly helped the pace of the story, I was entertained by Abby's adventurous moment including the consequences, only the storyline with Marvin and Bridget didn't captivate me too much again. ()

Bridget (2013) (S01E08) 

English This black and white duo really bores me and unnecessarily spoils the overall impression of every episode. I enjoyed Ray's complaint related to collecting money for Bunchy's house and Mickey's misunderstanding of the situation. ()

Road Trip (2013) (S01E09) 

English In the ninth episode, I finally had a great time, the family troubles of the main character were mostly set aside to be replaced by a black comedy about transporting a wanted criminal from Boston to Los Angeles. And as if that wasn't enough, I also enjoyed Ray's efforts to get someone out of trouble, someone who attracts him like a magnet. Even Mickey was funny this time. ()

Fite Nite (2013) (S01E10) 

English It looks like the series has finally taken off; even the tenth episode had a similar good pace as the previous one. This time, the plot revolved mainly around Mickey and his meeting with an old friend, and I had a great time. ()

Bucky Fuckn' Dent (2013) (S01E11) 

English For the third time in a row, I rated the episode with five stars, which surprised myself. The plot of the series has been stagnating in some places, so I really didn't expect such an improvement. Bunchy has been a rather boring character for me, but now he has done something commendable for the first time. ()

Same Exactly (2013) (S01E12) 

English High-quality conclusion of the first season. The creators once again focused mainly on the interesting events around Sully, but surprisingly, the development in Ray's family now fit into the plot very well. "Is he dead?" "I think he's sleeping. Don't disturb him." ()

Season 2 (2014) (S02) 

English Season 2 started off excellently, but it soon lost momentum. Some of the characters started to get on my nerves and I was getting concerned about the future of the show. The eleventh episode managed to restore my hope and the finale was simply amazing. Just like in the previous season, I wasn't too amused by Ray's disagreements on the home front. I wished that there were more action scenes, which are one of the strengths of the series. This was confirmed in the final episode, and it was a blast to watch. ()

Yo Soy Capitan (2014) (S02E01) 

English I was pleased that the first episode of the second season smoothly continued from the ending of the previous series and that the creators stuck to what worked in the four previous episodes. Although family problems were still being addressed, Ray's professional matters took priority, moreover, Ed Cochran played by Hank Azaria is an incomparably more charismatic character compared to the unremarkable Van Miller. ()

Uber Ray (2014) (S02E02) 

English And there was another shift towards Ray's family problems, moreover, the plot revolved too much around Mickey, and although the sudden change in the position of a parole officer was not bad, it was not enough for me to give it a full rating. ()

Gem and Loan (2014) (S02E03) 

English The third episode was in my opinion the weakest so far in the second season, nothing really essential happened and the only thing that slightly lifted my mood was Feldman's filming, that was really well done:-) 4* ()

S U C K (2014) (S02E04) 

English The fourth episode was not bad at all, Drobek almost ruined the engine on the first hundred meters, and the further development of the plot around his character was excellent, but towards the end of the episode, the pace dropped a bit, which was a pity, the fifth piece was not far off. I hope to make up for it in the next episode. ()

Irish Spring (2014) (S02E05) 

English The fifth episode was definitely successful, I enjoyed it the whole time and Ray's domestic problems were fittingly complemented by other events. The story had a very decent pace and everything got a little more complicated again (fortunately in the right way). ()

Viagra (2014) (S02E06) 

English The quality went down slightly this time, the plot wasn't as dynamic and the pace of the story wasn't as smooth as in the previous episode. I wasn't overly impressed by the plotlines of Mickey and Bunchy, which bored me in some places. The new character Steve Knight hasn't appealed to me yet either. ()