Well, the first season of Ray Donovan has finally come to a close. Some twists and turns have been thrown our way throughout the season, but the end of this episode finds the Donovan family together again and things seem to be okay. Things are as good as can be expected, at least considering the situation that everyone is in.
The episode begins with the old man who took Mickey's money finding himself chased by Ray and Avi and eventually run over by a car. He is taken to the hospital and Avi quickly grabs the bag of money and they head out. Ray is then called over to Ezra's house where he finds Frank, who recently accused him of killing Van Miller. Ray offers himself up and understands that Frank does not actually think he killed Van, saying that he would not be stupid enough to leave a body. The next scene takes us to Bunchy returning to his place and kicking Mickey out. It looks like Bunchy is finally ready to mature and have his own place, after buying it earlier in the season.
Sully is hiding out in a hotel room with the associate who dug Mickey's grave. It seems safe to assume that he has already hit the road and headed somewhere else, but we soon find out that Sully is still in town. Ray is shown in the next scene meeting with Sully's partner, telling him that Sully will kill him. The associate seems to know this already, and asks Ray if he can come work for him instead. I would certainly hate to work for Sully, as scary as he is. He also mentions to Ray how hard it was to see them kill Sean Walker and that he loved him as an actor.
Mickey shows up at the hotel where Abby and the kids are staying and surprises them, in an awkward situation. Ray has put them there until he can figure things out. Mickey comes over to keep them company, wanting to explain things, and unexpectedly falls asleep in Abby's bed. This comes as a great surprise to Abby of course, and she freaks out after seeing him there. She has an interesting conversation with Mickey after they get up; he reveals to her that he knew that Ray was abused when he was younger. Mickey acts as if it was no big deal back then, because it was happening to everyone, a very disappointing thing to hear him say. Soon after, we see Mickey give Ray a call and he tells him that the boys revealed what happened with O'Connor. Father and son agree to meet at the gym and have a surprisingly emotional conversation. Mickey pleads with Ray, asking why his son would order his death, something that has been puzzling him ever since. Mickey even starts to cry when Ray confronts him and talks about all the reasons that he wanted him dead. Ray tells him that he has been dead to him ever since he was ten years old, something that would be hard for any father to hear. In the final part of this episode, we see Ray and Avi heading for the docks, where they plan to board Ray's boat. They are immediately confronted by Mickey, Sully, and an associate of Sully's, who proceed to shoot Avi and hold Ray at gunpoint, forcing him to lead them to his boat. It appears that Mickey has joined up with Sully, but this soon changes. After they reach his boat, the group is met by Frank, who pulls out his gun and tells him that he is FBI. This does not frighten Sully in the slightest, who tells him he is the FBI's most wanted and pulls his gun on him, telling him that if he shoots, then Ray will die. He tells Mickey to remove Frank's gun, and in a sudden twist of events, Mickey shoots and kills Sully. Mickey sees this as saving Ray's life and thinks that they are even now, but unfortunately Ray does not feel the same way; he is unwilling to let go of the past. Ray takes Avi to the hospital, and listens to a very sweet message left on his voicemail from Abby and is finally able to make it home by the end. We are left at the end of the season with Ray, Abby, and the kids enjoying a day at the beach, seemingly happy at last. Of course, this cannot last long and we are left wondering what will be next for them until the start of season two. It's a good end to the season and wrapped things up nicely.
Thoughts and Quotes
-- Abby: "You know Ray was abused? That same priest that abused Bunchy." She asks Mickey if he knew what was going on at the time, praying that he did not, but he simply said that he did and acted as if it was no big deal, since it was happening to everyone...a disappointing response, but very good acting from Jon Voight in this episode.
-- After Abby hears what he says and tells him to go, Mickey pleads with her, wanting to be with his family and says, "Abby, come on. I thought we were friends. All those letters you sent me, I loved being able to keep up with the kids."
-- Lena comes over to keep an eye on Abby, Bridget, and Conor while Ray is conducting his business throughout the episode. Bridget breaks down and starts to cry before leaving on a walk with Lena. Lena has a heart to heart discussion with Bridget like we have never seen from her, in which she says, "Stay open. I think you'll realize he's okay." Her character is excellent when included and is great in this episode.
-- Mickey: "I had this idea, you know. If I came out here, things could all work out." Well, that certainly didn't work out as planned. Nice try, Mick...he says this to Ray in the beginning of their long talk at the gym.
-- Ray: "I told you what happened with that man, O'Connor. Remember what you did, Mick? You called me a liar and you beat the s**t out of me. He didn't stop and he kept after me. Then he went after Bunchy. That's when I decided to kill you, Mick." Ray says that Mick has been dead to him since he was 10 years old; wonder how long it is going to take for that dream to become a reality.
-- After Frances come over to the gym to talk to Terry about what happened the day before, things get a bit intense. He is loyal to his family in a way that she will never understand and says to her, "Jesus, woman. We're loyal to each other. If that's a problem, then that's a problem!" Terry explodes on her like we have not seen before and really shows his emotions.
