The Bag or the Bat

I just bought season 1 on DVD due to hearing good reviews on it and a certain pornstar in season 2 (Tori Black haha). I love Ray Donovan. The reviews were well said. Showtime has another hit on their hands. I'm currently on season 6 of Dexter and it's also a hit. Penny Dreadful is another Showtime show I just got but haven't started it yet. I might do a review eventually on it.

Ray Donovan is set in L.A. Ray is the titular character who is a "fixer" for the rich and famous. He will do anything to solve his client's problems. It starts off intense as Jon Voight (who I haven't seen in anything since Transformers) gets out of prison and kills a priest right away after getting out. We find out later in the pilot who he was and why he killed him. Jon Voight plays Mickey Donovan who is Ray's father.

Throughout the pilot, it shows Ray (who is played brilliantly by Liev Schreiber) dealing with several clients including an athlete named Deonte, and a Paramount studios producer named Stu Feldman. Ray also has a big family. His wife Abby (played by Paula Malcomson) is wanting their daughter Bridget to get into a great college and wants Ray to help her. Conor their son is a quiet character. I think both children will develop as the season goes on.

We also are introduced to Ray's employers Ezra Goodman and Lee Drexler. Both are great characters and Lee is hilarious in his role. Ray also has two "partners" who help him out throughout the pilot with his clients. Steven Bauer plays Avi and Katherine Moennig plays Lena a lesbian computer hacker chick. Both are amazing in their roles so far and will definitely develop.

Ray also has two blood brothers Terry Donovan and Bunchy Donovan. Terry is the owner of Donovan's Fite Club (a boxing gym), and Bunchy we find out, is an alcoholic and was molested by a priest. Oh really now? Everything seems to be coming together. Ray also has a half brother Daryll who is black.

Ray tells his brothers and family to keep Mickey away from him and his family. The tension builds up throughout the episode. Near the end of the episode, Mickey and Ray finally meet face to face and the chemistry between the two is fantastic!

There is a side plot involving Ashley Rucker (Ambyr Childers) who is being stalked by someone who Ray has to stop. Ashley is great as a Britney Spears type singer and she is very seductive in her scenes.

Next episode looks to be intense as Mickey goes where Ray told him not to go. His house.

Ray Donovan looks like it will be another big hit like Dexter. I'm excited to see where the Mickey/Ray battle goes.

This is very similar to The Sopranos with Tony looking out for his family while doing his other "business".

Check this out!

There are about 5 different plotlines packed into this pilot, with a whole cavalcade of characters all jockeying to fill up one scene to the next. Even with the benefit of having read up on the premise of this series before watching, the pacing felt jumbled and hectic, as if the writers did not feel like it was their duty to do any kind of plot exposition to set up this "Ray Donovan" universe in what should be the pilot episode.

Aside from the slight intrigue with Ray clashing with his father that feels like it could be developed into something bigger down the line, there was nothing else in this episode that beckoned me to continue watching.

This show is a step up from your usual police procedural drama, but there isn't anything special here.

I've just started to watch the show now. I didn't have much hope to be honest. So far the start went well. Nearly an hour long episode. I'd say a good pilot episode.

It's the story of the Donovan family which unfolds into a big drama with some flashbacks. Well written one. The Acting is OK. Schreiber's awesome as Ray. Supporting characters are unique in their own way. And their portrayals are good too.

Since the show is a new one i don't care much about IMDb rating. I'm going to watch the remaining episodes - that i didn't expect to do considering the fact i watched this episode just because i was bored.

It's definitely a 8/10 start.

For a pilot episode it was really great, I was expecting it to move a lot slower but the series pulled no punches, its dark gritty and adult with a fantastic cast, it was both the bag and the bat by the way.

The cast is made up of good actors with a few exceptions. For me, the one big disappointment is having Elliot Gould in a recurring role, in fact as one of the central characters. Gould is a terrible actor. No matter what the role he's assigned, he manages somehow to play himself. Gould always sounds as though he's reading his lines from a teleprompter.

The second disappointment is Josh Pais, who plays a sleazy, scummy film studio bigshot named Stu Feldman. Pais is one of those actors who is simply irritating, but maybe he's just typecast as a major irritant.

The rest of the cast is fine, even when their characters are unlikable. Eddie Marsan is great, as usual. He handles American regional accents better than most American actors do. Dash Mihok has created his character and makes Bunchy a sympathetic, childlike guy. Liev Schreiber as Ray is an example of perfect casting. He brings his character to life and makes that damaged, conflicted man a believable character.

I'm enjoying the series so far.