Showtime had a lot riding on Ray Donovan. It was the next drama they launched after Homeland
became the premium channel’s first show to challenge HBO’s prestige brand at award shows and year end critics list. To give it an extra boost, Showtime debuted it after the final season of its most successful show Dexter
. And that worked as the first season became Showtime’s most watched new show ever. The problem thought was that of all the people who watched it, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who thought Ray Donovan was great. And it lacked the critical acclaim though it did pick up two acting nominations at the Golden Globes, but those are really considered the drunk Emmy’s where nominations can be bought (you will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it gets nominated got any real Emmy’s, but do not hold your breath; it will certainly will not get any wins.)
Ray Donovan was good on paper, the show was created by the same person who did the critically adored (but little watched) Southland
. Titular character was movie star Liev Schreiber while Jon Voight was hungry for a comeback. The cast was filled out by notable character actors Paula Malcomson (Deadwood
) and Eddie Marsan(V for Vendetta
) with appearances by Elliott Gould, James Woods, and Rosanna Arquette. But at this point it seemed like people were sick of antiheroes like Ray who are more “anti” than “hero.” Certainly no one wanted to relive the Boston area priest abuse scandal that more than one of the Donovan brothers were a part of and Ray’s cases were just extremely clichéd.Without the Dexter lead-in, Ray Donovan is now tasked with anchoring its own night (this time with the show being followed by the second most watched debut in Showtime history, the vastly superior Masters of Sex
which actually showed up on Best of the Year lists, including mine). Bu here I the thing, the second season is dramatically more entertaining than the first and that is because they actually brought in characters finally worth caring about.First you will meet Hank Azaria (The Simpsons Movie
) as the head of the FBI who wants to know just what happened on the docks when Sully Sulivan was killed and instantly has the best lines in the whole show and some extracurricular activities that, although are not the kind Ray can exploit, are extremely entertaining. Next up is Wendall Pierce (Treme
) who pops up next week as Mickey’s parole officer and even though his easier to exploit extracurricular activities, Pierce continues to be great in everything he does, even if the material is not great. Even the where has she been hiding the past decade Vinessa Shaw (Ladybugs
) is a better addition than most of the original cast as a Boston Globe reporter who does not believe the FBI’s story of what happened to the West Coast to see how exactly the Donovan family is connected with the death. Not only has the guest stars been upgraded this season, Ray’s cases are more interesting including a singing competition contestant getting shot and a producer that will do anything to have sex with a porn show. The first season of Ray Donovan may not have made any Best Of lists last years, but for those that stick around and watch the second season just may find space for the second season on this year’s list.Ray Donovan airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.
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