Ray Donovan [Showtime] [** Spoilers **]

Just watched the first episode and loved it. The contrast between the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the cold, hard work that Ray and his team done was really well done. The manner in which it transitioned from the case of the week and Ray's dealings with clients to the emotional turmoil of his messed up family was superb. It's been a long time since a show handled the mundanity of the weekly mystery and the over all story arc in such a mature and realistic manner. Nothing here felt tacked on, each scene worked to further the story and added something to fleshing out the characters.

Ray as a character reminds me a lot of Walter White. At heart he's a good man who sets out with the best of intentions but his blind immorality means that things aren't going to work out very well for him or those closet to him. He's a deeply sympathetic and flawed character but there's never a sense that the writers are doing this to pander to audience expectations of how the character should be treated. In the hands of lesser writers the show could be little more than another generic trawl through the gutters. I really hope that the standard is kept up, it's been quite sometime since I've watched a show where every character felt fleshed out and could elicit such sympathy from the viewer.

don ramo wrote: »

this irishnis it already wearing thin, and its multiplying my annoyance of other aspects, who the **** says Top O The Morning, and the fact their pure irish descendants when they have a soup taking name, and own a boxing gym:rolleyes::rolleyes:

i like it, but they would wanna drop the irish **** fast, there a few generations out of the country, give it a rest,

A lot of the Boston Irish indulge in the stereotypes. It's kinda ridiculous when you're over there and hear the way some of them go on. A lot of them were surprised the sole domain of characters in film and TV.