In the Season 3 finale promo of "Ray Donovan", we see a broken and beaten down Ray (Liev Schreiber) like we had never seen him before. What could have possibly happened to put him in this situation?
We can look back at episode 11 titled Poker for clues. In the previous episode, Ed Cochran tried to set-up Ray for the murder of Varick Strauss. He planted the murder weapon (a fire poker) in Ray's apartment and then tipped the police about it. He also practically blackmailed Andrew Finney into going to the police to say that he saw Ray kill Varick. Ray however was able to foil Cochran's plan with the help of Avi and Lena.
EW reports that Finney wanted Paige to corroborate his testimony to further implicate Ray. For a while, Paige was ready to go along with Finney's story but Ray confronted her with the truth and made her realize that she was just being used by her father. She then went to the police to tell them that Andrew Finney was the one who killed Varick.
Ray had previously been able to force Mickey to leave Los Angeles to spare the Donovan family from trouble after he got involved with the Minassians and their sex trafficking operations. Channel Guide Mag in its episode recap relates that Ray made his father choose between leaving LA or be placed in an institution under Ray's supervision. Mickey chose to move out but not before he throws himself a farewell party.
In the end however, his family would not let Mickey leave after he lied about having Alzheimer's symptoms and Ray's plans of conservatorship. Their confrontation did not go very well as the father and son exchanged blows.
Things are not looking up for Ray Donovan in the Season 3 finale. His home life will only turn for the worse especially with Abby and Terry growing closer. Mickey staying in LA will only put his family in danger because of the threat of retribution from the Minassian family. It is obvious that Ray has a very loose grip on each of his relationships.
Looking ahead, Cartermatt speculates that the reason Ray appeared broken in the trailer is because Connor may either be dying or badly wounded. The theory is made stronger by the scenes of Ray shooting in a restaurant and Abby being in a hospital looking worried. This could be the consequence of Mickey not leaving town like Ray told him to. It couldn't also be discounted that it could be Ray's reaction after being told of Bridget's situation and he blames himself after.
Episode 11 is among the best of Season 3 and it was successful in building up what is expected to be an explosive finale. "Ray Donovan" airs Sundays on Showtime.
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