‘Ray Donovan’ fixes for a new client and fixates on his new nemesis

Season 2 | Episode 6 | “Viagra” | Aired Aug 17, 2014

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One night in a sleepy L.A. suburb, two couples enjoy a lovely dinner party together. There is food to be savored, wine to be drunk and Scrabble to be played. A typical upper-middle-class suburban scene.

This is not that scene—at least, it’s not all that is happening at the Volcheck house.

ASAC Volcheck, shirtless, sits on his living room man-chair and watches his boss, Cochran, have sex with Mrs. Volcheck on the couch. Holly, Cochran’s wife, clad in a JCPenney pink lingerie set caresses and kisses his cheek. With no response from Volcheck, she joins Cochran and Mrs. Volcheck on the couch. Volcheck, unmoved, keeps watching.

The next morning, in a less dysfunctional Calabasas home, the Donovans get ready for the day. It’s Friday, which means tomorrow is Conor’s birthday. Not like anyone remembers—Conor fits in his Sixteen Candles moment early. He’s set to turn 14.

Abbie is more preoccupied with texting and meeting up with Jim the cop as well as confronting Bridget on the diamond earring. Conor who? Conor follows in the TV tradition of forgotten sons with more interesting sisters including Homeland’s Chris Brody, Friends’ Ben Geller and of course, Mad Men’s Bobby Draper.

Since no one cares about Conor, all attention goes to Bridget as she counterattacks after her mother’s confrontation. She calls Abbie a victim, who she can hear cry herself to sleep every night. She also tells her about the cops planting marijuana on her as a retaliation against Ray. This sparks an argument between Ray and Abbie as Bridget and Conor storm out of the house. Abbie is right behind them out the door.

In a transformative deep-cover role, Lena pretends to be a flirty lady at Volcheck’s gym pool. Volcheck and Pool Lena already seem to know each other—something which is frustratingly not explained in the Behind the Fix webisode. They rendezvous to the sauna and make out. Pool Lena cuts it short, telling him to wait for her in the sauna. Pool Lena doesn’t return, but Resolute Ray appears in her stead.

With little more than a nudge, Tommy Volcheck spills on his arrangement with Cochran: When Cochran calls, they go. After being promoted to ASAC, Cochran owns him. Despite his fear in betraying his master boss, Volcheck ultimately agrees to help Ray take down Cochran.

Avi questions Ray on why he is still going after Cochran after they settled everything with Tenacious Female Reporter. Ray grunts something about revenge for the slaughter of Tiny and needing insurance, but this grudge is personal. Cochran had Ray cornered and as long as he’s still around, he’s a threat. Avi backs off and leaves to wire Volcheck’s house as instructed.

Harriet the “creative” accountant definitively tells Ray he can’t afford the Trousdale house, at least, not on paper. Because Ray’s life is the embodiment of “when it rains, it pours,” former teen star Ashley pops in again, asking Ray for his help for her friend. This may be the answer to his Trousdale problem.

Ashley’s friend turns out to be motivational speaker and author, Steve Knight (Eion Balley), proving once again that all famous people in Hollywood know each other. Not only his he a motivational speaker and Ashley’s new, uh, “paramour,” he’s a shrewd people-reader and epic sociopath. He has the mannerisms and air of a cult leader. His problem to be fixed? He beat up a delivery man and tied him up in his closet when his peak-state ritual was so rudely interrupted. Oh, First World problems…

Ray frees Manuel (Omar Leyva) the delivery man and negotiates the terms of his silence: $350,000 and the promise to stay in Guatemala with the rest of his family seals the deal. Ray seals the deal, too, booking a new client out of Steve Knight, outside of the purview of Goldman and Drexler, a.k.a. Ezra Tikkum Olam. It may be the pragmatic choice, but Steve’s very essence gets under Ray’s skin. I’m sure that won’t end up being a problem.

After fixing Steve Knight’s issue, Ray troubleshoots Volcheck. He wants to back out since Cochran rejected the idea of another meet-up. It turns out his wife, now inexplicably referred to as Donna rather than Holly, doesn’t feel like Volcheck wants her. Despite that being true, Ray convinces Volcheck to assure Donna/Holly that he wants to swing with her. This situation is awkward already without the confusion over Donna/Holly’s name. It’s a mystery!

Abbie and Jim hang out together in a bar, shooting darts. “Am I really that distracting?” Jim asks after Abbie blames him for missing the bull’s eye. With those dreamy/serial killer-y eyes, yes, you are. They make out in the bar like a hot, immature couple in the throes of young love.

When Abbie doesn’t show up to his impromptu dinner date, Ray returns to the office to watch the Volcheck surveillance video. It’s, uh, colorful footage. Harriet calls to tell him about Terry’s idea to sell the gym. Great, more family struggles for him to “fix.” Just then, there’s a knock on the door. It’s Ashley in a trench coat. You know what that means. I’m obviously no authority on the subject, but I don’t get the appeal of Ashley at all. Jim on the other hand…

Favorite Donovan brothers Terry and Bunchy have their fair share of romantic entanglements, too. In a doctor’s check-up on his Parkinson’s, Terry sees Francis. He convinces her to meet with him to explain what happened to the priest. In a change of heart since the last we saw her, she shows up at the Fite Club. They eventually talk after some much-needed “reconnecting.” He explains that both of his brothers, Ray and Bunchy, were raped by the priest they killed. She gets it, but she’s a fundamentally more moral person than the Donovans. But Terry is not letting Francis go, not again. He sets into motion his plans to move to Ireland and even formally proposes to her!

Bunchy and Patty’s romance starts to bloom as she invites him over for a dinner, just the two of them. With the help of the titular little blue pill, Bunchy is ready to break his sexual anorexia. Clifford’s sudden return home marks what is supposed to be a comedic moment, but plays out much more horrifyingly given Bunchy’s childhood trauma. It could have gone very dark, very quickly.

Back at the Donovan residence, Conor and Bridget ring in his birthday while watching TV. Happy sweet 14, C-money.

Stray Bullets

• Favorite line of the night goes to Bunchy’s take on the Irish Potato Famine: “Isn’t Ireland on an island? I don’t understand why they couldn’t just have gone fishin’.”
• Favorite edit of the night: After Steve Knight asks Ray, “Do you know what else I do?” the camera cuts to Ashley. Ha.
• I liked Steve Knight’s storyline better when he was played on Jonny Lee Miller on Dexter. Take it!
• If I’m being radically honest, I think I miss Tenacious Female Reporter especially over Creepy Motivational Speaker.
• Cherry the prostitute is little more than a walking stereotype used to characterize Shorty and the apartment complex, but at least she is cordial. Oh, I get it—cherry cordial. Ha.
• Shorty and Mickey are right. Screenwriting is hard. One look at my dystopian-virus-action-romance script will tell you that.
• Number of f-bombs dropped: 27.

Ray Donovan, rated TV-MA, airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Showtime.

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