In an essay I published earlier
this year, I put forth the idea that,
for better or worse, the era of Peak TV is linked with the rise of the
anithero. However, the reason that many of these series don't have huge
audiences is that, for every Breaking Bad
or Mad Men, there are at least
three or four Chicago P.D. or Sons
of Anarchy, series with leads that could be antiheroes, but are really just
despicable people who do bad things with no real goal in mind. And nowhere has
this ever been more clear than with the series that seems to epitomize scum
than Showtime's Ray Donovan.
There are many, many problems with
this series, but to try and list them all would sound like a litany, so I'll
limit my complaints by sticking to the problems with the title character. First of all, there's his job. On more than
one occasion, I have said that Olivia Pope is basically Ray Donovan with a
better wardrobe. There is, however, one key element that raises her marginally
above Ray. At least, in Olivia Pope's world, there is at least the facade that
by covering up the crimes and misdemeanors that the powerful do, she is trying
to hold on to the idea that the people need to believe that their politicians
are above reproach if the system is to work. (Of course, that was before she
started rigging elections and killing vice presidents, but let's set that aside
for now) Ray's sole job is to make sure that the celebrities and power-brokers
in Hollywood don't get sent to jail
for doing the same horrible things, which even the most liberal among us can
only say isn't the same thing at all. In fact, given what we have learned about
the level of sexual harassment and assaults that some of the most prestigious
names in Hollywood have been
responsible for, this is one area where more light needs to be shed, not less.
Second, there is the issue of Ray
Donovan, the character. I was going to say 'the human being', but having
watched the series on and off for five years, I have yet to see any truly human
aspect to him. Hell, Dexter Morgan demonstrated more character growth in his
relationships that Ray ever has. He doesn't have a single friend to speak of,
he barely talks any more than he has to even members of his own family, he
doesn't seem to have any interest in the field he works in, and whenever any
question is asked him, he'll either lie or straight deny it. Now I know that
Liev Schrieber is a great actor. I've seen him do impressive work in film and
on stage. But Ray Donovan barely shows any range at all, even when it comes to
changing the tenor of his voice. Some people may be drawn to this minimalism, I
like my characters to show at least some emotion.
And he treats his family, who are
supposedly the people he is doing this all for, with an equal amount of
disdain. He's always hated his father, Mickey (and the way that this series has
utterly wasted Jon Voight is another crime in itself) but as utterly
contemptible as some of the crimes Mick's committed, it doesn't remotely
justify how little he seems to care for everybody else. Terry, who suffers from Parkinson's, and who
has been Ray's most loyal confidant, barely gets more than tolerated, and its
clear Ray has been using his gym to launder money - a move with almost got him
sent to prison. Bunchy, a victim of sexual abuse in his youth, has been given
little freedom for his life, and its clear Ray sees him as a burden. His son
has been dealing with delinquent issues, and was willing to join the marines to
get away from him. He has got to great lengths to sabotage every relationship
his daughter had. And his treatment of Abby (Paula Malcomson, also wasted), his
wife was loathsome, as he cheated on her throughout the series, and never really
listened to her pleas for help. In an interview for the series, Eddie Marsan,
who plays Terry said: "They (the Donovans) can't survive without each
other, and yet they're utterly toxic with each other." Most of this is
Ray's fault.
And this became even clearer this
season, when Abby, who had been stricken with cancer last year, began a final
descent. Ray utterly refused to accept her diagnosis, wouldn't listen to her
decision not to continue treatment, had an affair with his next door neighbor while she was dying, and then, in order to get her into a clinical
trial, infected a patient with meningitis, only to learn that his daughter had
helped Abby kill herself. He then spent the entire fifth season half drunk (its
also pretty clear that Ray is an alcoholic), pushing every member of his family
away, and not accepting any responsibility for anything he'd done. I imagine
the partisans of this series (whoever they are, I don't know anybody who
watches this show) will say there was some kind of redemption for him, in the
fact that in the end, he helped that same kid receive treatment. I would remind
those people that in order to do that,
they probably destroyed the doctor's reputation, which probably
endangered or killed God knows how many people, and basically had Ray end up
killing somebody. No doubt, people
will say he sold his soul. There was never one there.
This is a horrible, utterly without
any redeeming features series, and yet, for reasons which boggle the mind,
critics and some audiences do seem to like it. Liev Schreiber has been taking
Emmy nominations away from any number of deserving actors, including fellow
Showtime thespians Paul Giamatti and Michael Sheen. Now, I'll admit the Best
Actor category is flooded with similar characters, but at least some of them
are entertaining and have more of a range. I can't imagine what people see in Ray Donovan, the series or the lead.
And now, the show has been renewed
for a sixth season, where the main difference is Ray will be operating out of New
York , not Los Angeles .
(He had to relocate when his reputation was made public in LA.) But he showed absolutely no sign of either
changing or even acknowledging he has to change. The main difference is he'll
be working primarily for Sam Winslow, a studio head who, from the moment she
met Ray, has been completely able to manipulate him to do what he wants. (One
of the only enjoyable things about this series was watching Susan Sarandon tear
into this role like a coyote into a T-Bone.)
All that Ray Donovan has ever been able to do is gather an immense number of
great actors together, and waste their talents playing contemptible and
horrible people. There's something grimly fascinating about the show, I admit,
but its the fascination of a slow motion train wreck. The series will probably
begin filming Season Six any day now. If I run to Liev Schreiber by chance in Manhattan ,
I'm going to walk up to him, and punch him in the face. It'll be worth it, even
if I know from this series how good a brawler he is.
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