TV Show Review

TV Review: RAY DONOVAN: Season 2, Episode 8: Sunny [Showtime]

Liev Schreiber Ray Donovan Sunny

Showtime’s Ray Donovan Sunny TV Show Review. Ray Donovan: Season 2, Episode 8: Sunny was an episode where dreams, illusions, and love were blown asunder, their fragments littering the pavement like broken glass.

Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) is a cowboy living in his own world. Kicking in the door of Police Officer Jim (Brian Geraghty)’s house while he knows Jim was there was the actions of someone whose ego is out of control (though his situational awareness is keen). Ray calculated that Jim wouldn’t shoot him because he was having an affair with his wife. If that came out, Jim’s judgement and motives would have been called into question regarding Ray Donovan. Since Jim knew that, he did nothing. It was a chess match scene that neither of them won.

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Abby Donovan (Paula Malcomson) finally realized that her psychiatrist was right about Ray and the new house. It was reminiscent of that moment on The Sopranos when Tony Soprano and Carmela Soprano separated, telling each other off in the process. Abby kicking Ray out was pure fireworks and a venting of pent-up anger, Ray slapped in the face by his own hypocrisies.

As was mentioned earlier, Ray’s ego sometimes gets the better of him (he says, does, and intimates things that will ultimately hurt him). Kate McPherson (Vinessa Shaw) has only one way to undo what Ray Donovan, Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight), and Ed Cochran (Hank Azaria) have done to her: get to the real story first before someone else gets to it. If someone else gets the real story and publishes it before she can, she will look like a dolt and her journalistic credibility (with her readers and colleagues) will take a big hit. The only way she can stop that from happening and save herself is to get to the real story first and to publish it first.

In that way she can shape the narrative e.g. “they lied to me but I was not fooled. I dug even deeper and found the whole, real truth.” Finding out why each of them lied to her, what they had to lose (or gain), will make her story even better. As a seasoned reporter, she will realize this.

Mickey Donovan is his own worst enemy. He worked, and worked, and worked to get himself out from under with his Paramount Studios pitch. He was able to articulate his vision to a financier in a favorable and picturesque why, the listener able to see the film because of Mickey’s well-chosen words. Then, in one moment, Mickey washed it all down the toilet. He had it, right there in the palm of his hands, financial freedom (after a lifetime of struggling), and he blew it.

Here is the kicker though: the viewer should have known that something was going to obstruct Mickey from becoming a legit and upstanding, financially independent citizen. The exact same thing happened again and again on Burner Notice e.g. Michael Westen would get close to getting re-avowed by CIA and unburned, something would happen, and he would be on the outs again. If Westen ever got back into CIA, the premise of the show would have been blown ergo the writers were never going to let Westen get unburned. It’s the same with Mickey. Mickey will make scores but he will never be set for life financially, not like his son is (e.g. being on retainer for $100,000 a month). Being dependent and in need of cash is part of Mickey’s story-line (and this fact can be applied to all of his future endeavors).

The “best” moment in Sunny transpired in its last scene. The set up was a classic one, seen previously in many films and TV productions. In this incarnation, there was a well-placed twist. This twist will have future implications for Ray Donovan for three of its characters that currently exist within its boundaries.

That tragic scene ended with one last tender moment between two characters, one of them on-screen for the last time. There was affection in the touch, making those few seconds all the more real.

There is no way the survivor is going to the police. As the only witness, all the perpetrator’s minions would have to do is eliminate that person. Once gone, the case against the perpetrator would be soon to follow. The witness’ parents will never let it get to that point. They will tell the witness to keep their mouth shut (guaranteed) and they will drill into the witness’ head the sentiment: “You were never there.”

Ray Donovan told Lee Drexler (Peter Jacobson) not to screw with Cookie Brown (Omar J. Dorsey). It’s so strange with rich people who hire someone that is an expert in a given field: they get that expert’s advice, honed from years of experience “in the trenches,” and then they disregard that advice in lieu of what they want to do. They suddenly know better than the expert. It was hubris on Drexler’s part. Drexler knowing “how to deal with Black People” (the meaning of this statement alluded me) was that hubris spoken aloud, denoting a decision that ended in blood and the loss of what he was so desperate to retain. Drexler thought he knew Black People but he was just as ignorant of his clients and their associates as he was the laws of the street (where his clients and their associates came from and were molded by).

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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