TV Show Review

TV Review: RAY DONOVAN: Season 2, Episode 7: Walk This Way [Showtime]

Sheryl Lee Ralph Pooch Hall Ray Donovan Walk This Way

Showtime’s Ray Donovan Walk This Way TV Show Review. Ray Donovan: Season 2, Episode 7: Walk This Way featured the family get-together from hell and the outing of many truths, damaging words and actions that can not be undone.

The Paramount Studios contract was Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight)’s first moment of retribution against Parole Officer Ronald Keith (Wendell Pierce) and his son Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber). If Mickey is able to write something that the studio is able to sink their teeth into, he will further that revenge by actually succeeding in life despite Ray and Parole Officer Keith’s perceived attempts to the latter.

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Mickey bringing Claudette (Sheryl Lee Ralph) to the “family” get-together was his second moment of retribution against Ray and was a powder keg waiting to explode. I do not know what Mickey Donovan hoped or thought the “Claudette Effect” would be but it happened (e.g. Bunchy Donovan (Dash Mihok) and Terry Donovan (Eddie Marsan) sharing a surprised look), sending Ray straight to the bottle for emotional solace. To his credit (and before the alcohol took effect), Ray was a gracious host and restrained himself from making a scene.

The thought of his wife having an affair, alluded to by Bridget Donovan (Kerris Dorsey), threw Ray into a tailspin. It was a microcosm on how men and women perceive sex. Ray sees his infidelities as casual, meaningless but sees Abby Donovan (Paula Malcomson)’s as potentially heartbreaking and the end of their marriage. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Ray that evening and whatever control he had remaining up to that point vanished.

The truth about Terry Donovan’s move to Los Angeles, California was the second most emotionally painful moment in Walk This Way. 99% of the time, Terry was presented by Ray Don0van‘s writers as stable but it seems that was not always the case. Since Terry did not refute one iota of what Ray drunkenly spewed, the viewer can surmise that everything he said was accurate. That made it hurt even more, especially since it was said in front of every one in Terry’s world that mattered to him.

No matter what entreatments Terry Donovan and Frances make toward Ray Donovan, Ray is never selling that gym. My guess, Terry asks his brother to buy out his stake in the gym instead. That will give Terry similar capital to the capital he would have received from the gym sale.

Daryll Donovan (Pooch Hall) told Mickey how much he liked the car and intimated fond childhood memories with it to Mickey and his mother on the way over to Ray Donovan’s home.

This led to the most emotionally painful moment in Walk This Way.

If Mickey were going to give that car to someone, why not give it to his son, whom he has given nothing to all of his life (except pimping him out for a beating for profit).

What transpired because of this turn of events was the best acting from Pooch Hall since his character was introduced on the television series. Well-rounded actors can act with their faces, convening emotions without uttering a single word. Daryll and his mother accomplished that the moment Mickey Donovan announced that he was giving his car to his nephew and not his son. Daryll and Claudette’s expressions spoke volumes during that scene and the subsequent one in Ray’s doorway.

Daryll’s anger and disappointment with Mickey bubbling over in physical action was to be expected. Ray’s anger toward Mickey almost caused Ray to murder him in front of his children during season one.

The relationship between Conor Donovan (Devon Bagby) and Tommy Wheeler (Austin Nichols) continuously provides moments of levity and nudity in Ray Donovan but it is the relationship between Bridget Donovan (Kerris Dorsey) and Marvin Gaye Washington (Octavius J. Johnson) that is substantive. After the conversation that Bridget had with her father, she realized that Washington was “wrong for her” but she was living for now, not later, and in “the now,” she wanted to indulge her feelings towards Marvin. She would worry about the every creeping future later.

When Ray Donovan danced with his son, he must have felt liberated, letting lose, not being the one in control for once. He was the one out of control, the one that needed to be managed. He was free and danced the dance of a free man.

The problem is, the consequences of his actions are right around the corner.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of Ray Donovan below in the comments section. For more Ray Donovan reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Ray Donovan Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, or “like” us on Facebook.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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