Ray Donovan recap Season 3, Episode 3 – What would you do to save your brother?

Ray Donovan Season 3, Episode 3 “Come and Knock on Our Door” (original air date July 26, 2015): Episode 3 of Ray Donovan begins with a beat-up Ray (Liev Schreiber) sitting in Bridget’s room watching her sleep. Bridget’s startled by both his looks Recap Ray Donovan Episode 3, Season 3— his face took quite the beating by that ex-NAVY Seal Paige Donovan got him involved with — and him actually being home. He apologizes for not making it home for dinner. She tells him Abby (Paula Malcomson) gave his food to the dog. “She thinks you’re still punishing her over that cop,” Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) explains.

When she asks her dad why he didn’t come, Ray doesn’t answer. Instead he stares eyes glazed in the corner of Bridget’s room where the ghost of his dead sister stares blankly back at him. He grabs his bottle of whiskey and tells Bridget (who is named after his sister) to go back to sleep. “Seven Swans” by Sufjan Steven appropriately plays in the background.

Back at his apartment Ray relieves his beaten face in a bowl of ice water. He chuckles watching a rerun of Mr. Roper zapping himself on Three’s Company, but the moment of simple times is short lived as his sister’s ghost followed him home. At his office, Ray’s zones out on more TV while Lena (Katherine Moenning) cleans out her office. “What the fuck happened to you?” Lena asks.

“I lost a fight,” Ray says.

Lena asks Ray about Finney’s job offer.

“I spent 25 years being told what to do,” Ray says. “I’m done.”

Unable to help him, Lena leaves her job as Ray’s faithful backup girl. She hands in her keys and gives a departing gift — a new coffee maker.

At Mickey’s seedy little Melrose Place, he gathers the prostitutes for a second meeting of the minds. Initially the ladies weren’t up for donuts and sample packs of cocaine but Ginger (Fairuza Balk) asks them to give Mick (Jon Voight) a chance to outline his new vision. Admitting his previous game plan was old school he’s able to win the girls over with a business plan that allows the girls to split the profits of their cocaine sales to their johns. Daryll (Pooch Hall) will serve as their driver and bodyguard, and Mickey will take care of their advertising and time management. He rolls out a one-day test run to get their buy in.

Ray Donovan recapRay’s still watching TV when Bunchy (Dash Mihok) comes calling for $20,000 from his settlement fund. Bunch explains how he’s investing in a business – Luchadora shows — and explains how they’ve been training at the gym. Their conversation is cut short when Ray takes a call from Kevin the prison guard (Mark Rowe) who tells him that Terry (Eddie Marsan) killed an Aryan in a fight. The prison has plans to move him. As he exits to address that problem, he squashes Bunchy’s dreams. “It’s a front Bunch, it’s not suppose to make money,” Ray tells him of the Fite Club.

Outside two of Finney’s goons — Finney’s assistant Varick Strauss (Jason Butler Harner) and a new face — need Ray’s help to keep both sides of the story on his son’s fake kidnapping insured (his son’s accomplice needs a visit). “Not my problem,” Ray tells them.

“Mr. Finney would prefer if you would reconsider his offer,” the older man tells Ray. “Having you as an employee would help him sleep easier.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ray asks. He’s the family attorney, Mr. Goldberg, who advises Ray that it would best to keep Finney as a friend. Immune to threats, Ray stands firm on what he already communicated to Finney: “He’s not for sale.”

Bridget tells Abby about Ray’s late-night visit. Abby explains that he’s just trying to figure things out. She needs Abby’s signature, as she’s getting a D in calculus. Abby’s not happy as they went through a lot of “bother” to get her into that school. Yeah, right, whatever mom as Bridget calls her out citing the only reason she’s at that school is to get her away from Melvin. She’s no dummy. Conor (Devon Bagby) digs in Abby’s wallet and pulls out cash for lunch. They both leave. Abby’s got no control over those two, all she’s got is her “best boy ever” the slobbering giant runaway dog she adopted.

An unplanned reunion finds Mickey and Ray at the prison concerned over Terry’s safety. Mickey was going to bribe one of the guards with cocaine. Ray tells him to stay out of it. “You’re going to need me on this Ray,” Mickey pleads. Ray laughs and shows Mick how he’s got it handled. Ray simply announces his name to the guards and they buzz him in. Inside Ray learns from his hired-prison hand Kevin that if Terry killed anyone other than an Aryan he could have protected him, but the Aryans have just about all of the guards working for them. Kevin shares this so Ray will “understand the fucking magnitude of the favor” he’s doing for him, as he lets him visit Terry in isolation.

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 episode 3“What the fuck happened to your face,” Terry asks Ray.
“What the fuck happened to yours,” Ray counters. They both laugh.
“You all right Terr,” Ray asks.
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Terry tells.
“I know you didn’t. I’ll get you out of here,” Ray says.
“It doesn’t matter any more,” Terry says. He explains his status of his Parkinson’s and tells him he’s just three years away from a wheelchair. “I don’t sleep no more. I got these fucking visions. They get me — they’re doing me a favor.”
“Don’t you fucking quit on me Terry,” Ray tells him. Ray needs Terry more than he knows.
“I’m through. I’m just going to get worse. I got nothing to come back for. … I love you Raymond. But I don’t want your fucking help.” Times up, Ray needs to leave.

Mickey calls Abby and asks her to meet her at the club. He needs a babysitter for Audrey. She’s pissed, but Mick explains that he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t a life or death situation. Looks like Mick’s heading to Judge Wettick’s (Tom Bower) house. But Ray’s already beat him to the visit. He pleas for a compassionate release based on Terry’s Parkinson’s. The judge explains how the prison system is corrupted and they have given control away to the very men they incarcerate. Ray offers $50,000 and another 50k once Terry’s released. “I would have thought you would have had more imagination,” the judge says, unimpressed with the offer.

“Take the fucking money,” Ray warns. The judge pulls out a gun and tells him to leave with his money.

Ray Donovan Season 3 Episode 3Ray returns to his office to find Abby and Audrey. Abby begs to know what’s going on. Ray tells her about Terry and how he let Lena go. “I’m worried about you Ray. I want to help you,” she says. Ray gives her a list of things she could never help with. She tells him she’s been “fucking delusional sitting at home waiting for him to come back.” Bad timing Abby, this isn’t about you. Ray walks away. Realizing if she wants to help it can’t be about her. Audrey gives her the best advice. “My mom says if you want to make a man run fast, act needy.” Ouch.

Daryl’s juggling multiple girls’ schedules and needs to take off but Mickey’s not around. Bunchy comes over looking for Mick so Daryl assigns him to take some marketing photos for one of the girls. Bunchy’s next job is finding breast milk for one of Ginger’s clients. Surprisingly, he’s able to pull it off. But when Abby looks to bring Audrey back to Mickey’s she’s disgusted to find Bunchy there, a strange Mexican woman breast pumping and Ginger getting ready for her next job. Not a site for young eyes.

Next on Ray’s desperate save-Terry visit list is his old pal — FBI Agent Frank Barnes (Michael McGrady) — who is giving a lecture at a school still getting praised for capturing Sully Sullivan. Ray wants Barnes to investigate Judge Wettick for campaign fraud. If he knocks him out of his job, Ray promises he’ll never see him again.

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 3Mickey is starting to panic fearing for Terry. He makes his own visit to the judge. In a genuine act of fatherly love, the only way Mick knows how, he tells the judge that his boy went to prison because of his actions and admits to orchestrating the armed robbery. But the judge tells him if he truly wanted to help his son he should have done it four months ago. Mickey doesn’t like that answer and starts pushing Judge Wettick around informing him that he’s the one who decides who lives and dies. He tells the judge to get on the phone and call whomever he needs to call to get his son released. The judge, however, has a heart condition and needs his medication.

Just after the prison doctor stitches Terry up an inmate attacks the doctor, and then tries to get to Terry. Two guards detain the inmate but he gives a clear warning to Terry telling him he’s next and he’s going to cut off his head. Kevin the prison guard is blamed, and the warden pulls him off his detail. Kevin calls Ray to tell him he’s done and that Terry’s going back to “gen pop.” Terry’s now a dead man walking.

Ray’s with Barnes when he gets the call from Kevin, they take off to the judge’s house. Once there they find Mickey inside, judge on floor. Frickin’ Mickey is sitting clueless knowing, once again, that he’s screwed things up. Ray immediately starts administering CPR begging the judge to take a breath. “Everything you touch turns to shit,” Ray tells Mick after unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate the judge. “You just killed another one of your kids, Mick.”

“I’ll tell em it was me, Ray. I’ll trade my life for Terry’s,” Mick says running after Ray. “Come on Ray we can still fix this.” Ray walks away.

Abby returns home to find Conor and Bridget sitting in the kitchen. She asks Conor to take out the dog while she prepares her big boy’s dinner. Conor opens the door and let’s the dog run off. Abby runs after her only friend, but he’s gone. Abby reaches her breaking point and gives Bridget the keys telling her she’s in charge, as she needs to leave for a few days to figure things out. She doesn’t know where she’s going.

Ray’s drowning his problems in a liquor store parking lot with another bottle. His sister’s ghost is in his backseat. They don’t talk. He looks up at a billboard for Governor Tom Verona and then takes off; he’s not going to give up.

Back at the prison Terry returns to the general population.

Ray turns to Finney (Ian McShane) as his last hope. Ray finally breaks down and asks for help, fully realizing he is selling his soul to a devil.

A distraught and defeated Mickey returns to his apartment to find Daryl and Bunchy, happy to see him return and report their successes for the day. “Ain’t that wonderful — working with your brother,” Mickey assesses.

Ray Donovan season 3 episode 3Andrew Finney arranges a meeting with Governor Verona (Skipp Sudduth) at his re-election campaign headquarters where he introduces Ray as his “good friend.” They explain the situation to the governor who doesn’t like the idea fearing his competition will get their hands of this and it could ruin is re-election. Finney promises he’ll handle the press. “I’ll pardon him one week after I win my second term,” Verona offers. Nope, that won’t work. Finney tells him he needs to pardon him tonight.

“My platform is cracking down on crime, not releasing prisoners,” Verona says.
“This is taking far longer than I thought it would,” Finney says.
“I’ll get it done tonight,” Verona concedes. “I appreciate your friendship Andrew. And your continued support.”

Ray and Finney return to Finney’s home, where Ray is handed his contract. “Whatever Mr. Finney wants,” Ray signs the contract and agrees to start work tomorrow. On his way out, Paige (Katie Holmes) appears, wine glass in hand. “I thought you were through with the Finney family.”

Just as Mickey is about to reach his breaking point, he gets a call. It’s Ray. “He’s out.” Mickey’s beyond relieved. His girls also bring good news. His plan is working and they start filing in with their cash earnings. It’s party time for Mickey.

At the prison gates Ray waits for Terry.
It’s a tearful reunion as they both get real and embrace.
“I thought I lost you, you obstinate prick,” Ray hugs Terry.
“You can’t keep carrying us,” Terry says. “I told you not to do this.”
“You’re an ungrateful bastard, ya know that,” Ray teases.
“I told you to leave me,” Terry says.“I fucking love you Terry,” Ray says, fighting back tears. “You think I’d ever let anything happen to you?”
Terry asks what it cost him to get him out, as he swigs on Ray’s booze. “Nothing Terry. It didn’t cost me a fucking thing.”
Ray laughs and “Seven Swans” plays on.

Credit: Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME

 

 

3 Comments

  1. Well, it might be a “slobbering dog”( actually a Dogo Argentino- Mastiff of Argentina) but I already considered it a cool, adorable character addition to the show.
    I really hope that dog turns up at the back door!

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