Ray Donovan Season 2 gets even darker

Published Jul 28, 2014

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The term ‘dysfunctional family’ is taken to dark, deceptive and dangerous levels in the second season of M-Net’s Ray Donovan. Debashine Thangevelo looks at how Jon Voight and Paula Malcomson are dealing with the aftermath of the first instalment.

RAY Donovan is one of the most addictive shows to grace our TV screens in recent times.

A few weeks ago, my interview with Liev Schreiber revealed that things get rather hairy as more secrets are revealed in the second season. Also, there is an unexpected shift in his interaction with his nefarious, party-loving criminal father, Mickey.

For those watching the new season, Ray had to bring Mickey back, with the FBI’s James Cochran putting his back against the wall.

Jon Voight shares: “Mickey made a big mess that somebody has to clean up. And finally Liev (as Ray) has to get Mickey because he’s got to be accountable. He is also hoping that he can save him from going back to prison, but he doesn’t quite know how he is going to accomplish all of this. And Mickey doesn’t like being anything but a free spirit and pursuing all of his lusts and madness. Anything that would cut into that would be deeply disturbing to him, and that’s what happens.”

On what he is most thrilled about this season, he says: “I’m excited to see how he (Mickey) is going to explode. Everybody is trying to keep the door closed on him, keep him out of action, you know. And Mickey himself is feeling a whole lot of things. With every episode, something pops. You’re like, ‘whoa, that’s magnificent’. Mickey has very theatrical sequences one after another, one of them being the continuing grandfatherly advice to his grandson. I don’t know how it’s going to resolve, but the chess pieces are being set up.”

And there’s also the issue of Abby and where things stand between them.

“Abby was really hurt and felt guilty because she had brought this monster into the family out of her own compassion for him, exchanged in letters with him, and then he disrupted everything and turned out to be a real negative force. So she winds up against him.”

Shedding light on what Abby will bring to the storyline this season, Paula Malcomson says: “Abby’s going to therapy and yoga. She’s still complaining a lot and asking: ‘Where the f**k are you Ray?’ every five minutes. Abby’s a great mum, but she’s becoming a sh**** mum in season two. She’s just over the whole lot of them and they are a bunch of ungrateful b******s and she’s sort of had it. She is demanding time for herself.”

Commenting on Abby’s strained relationship with Mickey, she offers: “Well, Mickey’s on the outs with everybody, you know. And the one person who was sort of an ally has turned. Abby is not pleased – the veil has been taken away from her eyes regarding Mickey. Her intention was that they would be one big happy family and it just didn’t go that way. So she’s really pissed off right now.”

That Ray Donovan continues to stay true to its initial appeal is an understatement. The writers have upped the ante with the drama and characters’ journeys.

The seasoned actress teases: “Everybody is going off on their own journey of dealing with past stuff this season. We’re sort of spinning off with these characters in a different way. It’s going to be an interesting season for sure – more f*****g, more fighting and, you know, more craziness with the Donovans.”

Such an ingenious series, I am surprised it hasn’t bagged more accolades yet!

• Ray Donovan, M-Net (DStv channel 101), 9.30pm, Tuesdays.

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