Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 9: Happiness comes to some Donovans, but for how long?

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 9

Ray Donovan recap Season 3, Episode 9 “The Octopus” (original air date Sept. 6, 2015): Episode 9 of Ray Donovan “The Octopus” finds the Donovans (at least some of them) in a rare moment — happy and enjoying family.

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 9The episode starts with Mickey (Jon Voight) working the informant deal. He thinks he’s got a name and offers it up to the Detective Sheila Muncie (Michael Hyatt). What he really has is a common Armenian nickname like “dude.” But that’s OK, they’ve got another plan for old Mick. Some guys from the human trafficking division who are preparing a sting against the Minassians’ Russian counterparts walk in. Apparently the Russians are working with the Minassians in trafficking young girls and they are trying to get to them before their latest shipment of girls go missing. Mickey is the answer.
“That’s not what I do,” Mickey explains.
“That’s exactly what you do. You’re a piece of shit pimp, aren’t you?” Muncie reminds.
Mickey tries to distance himself from any of this, but he needs to cooperate or he’ll be looking at least 10 years behind bars. He agrees to help, but stands them up. More on that in a minute.

Ray (Liev Schreiber) and Abby (Paula Malcomson) host an awkward engagement dinner party for Brendan (Dash Mihok) and Teresa (Alyssa Diaz). Abby, of course, pulls it together and forces Ray to socialize. You know that doesn’t come easy. He’s not sure what to think of the cleaned up almost-domestic-looking Teresa at his dining room table. “I like her. I think she’s a badass,” Abby tells him. “She loves Bunchy.” Meanwhile, Avi and Lena are in another room rummaging through the guests’ belongings taking photographs and gathering intelligence for a background check. Got to love that. Later, Abby and Ray start to reconnect in the bedroom where we start to see a more gentle side to Ray but they are abruptly interrupted by screams from Terry (Eddie Marsan). He’s frantic and confused, it’s his Parkinson’s, but Ray calms him down. Terry sees he wet the bed. Embarrassed he asks them to leave. Abby, however, goes to him and hugs him, lovingly stroking his back telling him he’s going to be OK. Ray silently watches, appreciating his wife now more than ever.

The NFL gets held up on the Finney deal with one of the minority stakeholders they can’t find — Varick Strauss — so they assign one of their new hires to investigate the situation. Serendipity would have it that the new hire is Ray’s old nemesis Ed Cochran (Hank Azaria), who was the disgraced FBI agent who was entangled with Mickey and Ray over Sully and who Ray later outed for his sexual shenanigans. Not good.

Lena (Katherine Moennig) informs Ray that Teresa’s family checks out OK. He wants her to keep digging, doubting that anyone could actually love Bunchy for who he is. Lena doesn’t get him, but who does. Harriett, the crusty accountant Ray’s got working for him pays him a visit. She’s still reeling over his poor decision on buying the bar in Boston for Abby, and can’t believe he’s going to turn over the 1.4 million to his “short-bus” brother. “If I had known you were going to throw this money away I would have embezzled it from you.” She recommends treating the wedding as an experiment and revisit the topic in several months or years. He asks her to just look into for now.

Ray Donovan season 3 episode 9One of the more lighthearted parts of the episode follow Abby and Terry shopping for booze for the wedding. A senior couple see Terry staggering while carrying two cases of beer. Through pursed lips she comments: “I hope you’re not driving.” Abby barks back: “He got Parkinson’s you fucking [rhymes with hunt].” Only on Ray Donovan would you a little old woman be called that. “It’s good to have a Southie bitch on your side,” Terry tells her. And they enjoy an endearing moment to K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s “Shake, Shake, Shake.”

Ray meets up with Bunchy before the wedding for a little heart-to-heart talk. He’s not nervous. “Truth is I can’t believe I get to see her for the rest of my life.” Ray lets that sink in for just a second. “Normally a father would do this sort of thing but we both know that’s not going to fucking happen,” Ray begins. But the conversation isn’t about being a good husband, instead it leads to the background check Ray ran on Teresa’s family. But Bunchy’s not going there or is he concerned about Ray’s doubts. “It’s not about her. It’s about you. You can’t stand that I might make a fucking decision by myself,” Bunchy assesses. But their conversation is interrupted by the police knocking on the door looking for Mickey. When they see he’s not there, they arrest Bunchy instead for racketeering and prostitution.

Ray pays a visit to Detective Muncie where he makes a deal with her. If he finds Mickey she’ll release Bunchy, she doesn’t quite get it.
“You want to trade your brother for your dad?”
“Any day of the fucking week,” Ray says.

He gets two minutes to talk to Bunchy. Ray wastes no time drilling Bunchy on why he would have ever gotten involved with running drugs and prostitutes for Mickey. “I needed a job,” Bunch tells.
“Oh that makes sense. How about fucking Pizza Hut,” Ray suggests. “You can’t trust him. When are you going to figure that out?”
“I’m not in here because of Mickey. I’m in here because of you,” he tells Ray. “Because you hold my money over my head and make me feel like a piece of shit for even asking for it.”
Bunchy dares him to “be a man” and say it to his face that Ray thinks he’s a child. Ray concedes. “You are a fucking child, Bunch, look at you,” Ray says. And challenges him to think about who really cares about the money right now.
“Can you get me out of here?” Bunch asks. “I don’t want Teresa to leave me.”

Daryll (Pooch Hall) is falling for one of the prostitutes, Michelle, and asks her to quit whoring. She likes him but she likes making money, too, and thinks she can do both. They head to the wedding together.

Ray starts his manhunt for Mickey. He starts by leaving a message on his cellphone: “Your son’s in prison, call me back you prick.” Then he heads to his apartment where he finds Ginger and Aubrey cleaning out his stuff. Mickey told them they could take whatever. Ray gives her a pile of money, but Ginger only tells him that he took 10K and some other items and left that morning, she’s not about to disclose his whereabouts.

Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) is out bowling with Mr. Donellen (Aaron Staton). She starts rubbing his leg but he stops her. “Are you worried someone is going to see us?” she asks. Ah, yeah! She doesn’t care, she’ depressed and is desperate seeking someone. Mr. Donellen tells her: “Yes, because they might get the wrong idea.” He just wants to take Oxi and enjoy some bowling, not get involved with a student. Not liking that answer she grabs his bottle of Oxi and heads to the women’s bathroom to take more.  She’s plenty high for the wedding.

Ray DonovanRay goes to the church and runs into Teresa who is looking for Bunchy. He tells her everything is going to be fine. He corners Daryll for information on Mickey. Daryll confesses that Mickey was working with the Armenian Mafia and that’s why the Feds are after him. On the church steps he looks across the street to the Octopus Inn and a light bulb goes on. Ray finds Mickey at the motel dressed to kill — suit and tie, holding a gun pointed at Ray. “I’m not missing another one of my son’s weddings,” he tells him. Mickey’s clueless as to what really is going on and that there will be no wedding unless he turns himself in. “I go in, what they want me to do, I’m fucking dead,” and he tells Ray to get out of his way.
“Go ahead Mick, do what you always do, make a run for it.”
It finally hits home. Mick puts his gun down.

Ray gets Bunchy out. On their way to the church Bunchy tells Ray that he knows working for Mickey is dangerous and that giving the money to Teresa would be dangerous too, but Ray’s not going to tell him what to do anymore.

At the church Brendan apologizes to Teresa for worrying her. She calls him out for wearing the wrong socks. But it’s OK she got him an extra pair, she knew he’d forget. “Now get your head on straight,” she tells him, and gives him a kiss. Ray gets it now. She does love him.

Ray Donovan episode 9Detective Muncie and team wire up Mickey and send him into the Minassians’ place with a bag of cash. “Mr. Donovan. You are very brave to come back in here,” Mrs. Minassian (Grace Zabriskie) says. She really looks like something out of a horror movie. She’s sitting next to a bald man named Ivan (Aharon Ipalé). Mickey apologizes and tells her that he thinks the actions she took against him were fair. It seems they have come to a truce. He gives her the money and explains that half of the money is payback for what he owes her, the other half is for girls he believes she may have access to and won’t cause him a problem. They hand him a deck of photos to select from. “Ivan’s girls are the highest quality,” she tells him. Mickey gets what he needs and returns to the surveillance van with the material.

Ray Donovan episode 9Brendan and Teresa’s wedding is perfect. Terry and Ray exchange conversation, as Terry has some reservation on taking communion after their excommunication. Ray considers it just a wafer. The reception is at Fite Cub. Ray’s the best man and gives a loving and honest toast. “Bunch, you’re always going to be my kid brother but that doesn’t mean I’m always going to be right. I realize now how much Teresa cares about you. How strong she is. She’s a fighter Bunch and I think everyone here can vouch for that. It just feels right looking at the two of you together because I know you’re going to protect each other.”

Ray DonovanRay and Bunch embrace and share I love yous. Ray gives Bunchy his settlement money. It’s not his wedding gift though, he jokes. He got him a standing mixer. “What the fuck is that,” Bunchy asks.
“I don’t know. Some kitchen shit. Abby picked it out,” Ray says.
Classic Donovan moment.

Ray finds Mickey hiding out in the club’s bathroom. He made it to his son’s weddng. Mickey’s scared and desperate as he knows he won’t live through this. “Have you considered suicide,” Ray suggests as a soluction. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
Now Mickey needs Ray. “Can you help me?” Mickey asks. “I need help. Please.”
“Go say congratulations to your son,” Ray tells him, and for once he listens.

Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan in Ray Donovan (Season 3, Episode 9). - Photo:  Patrick Wymore/SHOWTIME - Photo ID:  RayDonovan_309_0230.R

Ray returns to the reception and soaks up the happiness of the moment watching Abby and Terry dancing and laughing (only Abby and Terry realize Bridget’s doing drug). Ray turns down Mickey’s offer to help clean up and sends him down the road home alone.

The episode ends with Ray calling Lena asking her to look into the Minassians. Maybe Ray will help Mickey? And then it closes with a giddy Cochran who just discovers that Ray Donovan is part of the NFL deal he’s investigating.

 

Images Credit: Patrick Wymore/SHOWTIME

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