Ray Donovan – “Irish Spring” Top Three Moments Recap.

Season 2, Episode 5

Airdate: Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“You fucking Donovans. You’re like a virus…so which one of you is going to prison? You or Ray?” – FBI Bureau Chief Ed Cochran

Following Conor’s (Devon Bagby) suspension from school for pushing his friend Alex (guest star Garrett Boyd) down the stairs, Ray (Liev Schreiber) finally finds the time to take Conor to Alex’s house to apologize to both him and his father Barry (guest star Shane Blades). But Barry acts like a complete asshole so Ray takes Conor home, lesson unlearned. Avi (Steven Bauer) is following Kate (Vinessa Shaw) to keep her safe from digging too deep but she’s a hard woman to keep up with. Mickey’s (Jon Voigt) parole officer Ronald Keith (Wendell Pierce) informs Ray of Mickey’s kidnapping, and Ray learns some noteworthy information about Cochran (Hank Azaria) from his FBI snitch Frank Barnes (Michael McGrady). Meanwhile, Abby (Paula Malcomson) tries to have fun with her prospective Trousdale neighbors now that she’s in her dream house but that blows up in her face. Bridget’s (Kerris Dorsey) boyfriend Marvin (Octovius J. Johnson) takes her to a party at the house of hip-hop mogul Cookie Brown (Omar J. Dorsey). But the big question on everyone’s mind is where the hell is Mickey?

Moment #3

Marvin and Bridget are amazed at everything they see at Cookie’s party.

What the hell is wrong is wrong with Abby? What kind of mother practically ignores her daughter when she says she’s sick and wants to stay home from school? It doesn’t seem to matter what Bridget tells her mother, Abby is much more interested in rushing out the door to the gun range so she can meet up with her new ‘friend,’ Detective Jim Halloran (Brian Geraghty). Bridget, however, is faking her illness. It’s the age-old trick teenagers play on their parents, especially when the parents are otherwise occupied. But could Abby know Bridget is lying, which is why she ignores her? Either way, Bridget is going to get herself in trouble if she continues to hang out with Marvin, especially when they go to Cookie’s party. In addition to running a hip-hop empire, Cookie is an ex-con who’s fresh out of jail, and I don’t like what he says to Marvin. “Me and you, young fellow? We need to talk business real soon.” Exactly what does Cookie have in mind, and how much trouble are Marvin and Bridget going to get themselves in?

Halloran is Abby’s knight-in-shining-armor.

As if that isn’t enough, Abby decides to visit the house in Trousdale even though she isn’t in the right frame of mind. First she wants the house and then she doesn’t. I don’t think it matters much after what she does to her new neighbors. I didn’t think Abby had it in her to act like that! There’s no way she’ll be welcome in the community now. Fortunately, Halloran is there to smooth things over for her with the cops. To be honest, I don’t think Abby knows what she wants. She professes to love Ray but then she falls into Halloran’s arms wanting to have sex with him. And even though Halloran acts like a perfect gentleman this time, that won’t be the case next time. Abby needs to be careful; there’s no telling what she’ll say in the throes of passion. With Abby’s sexting and giggling, she is acting more like a teenager than Bridget or Conor. I know she’s basically an unhappy woman but she shouldn’t let her kids suffer because of it.

Moment #2

Ray gets what he wants out of a drunken Frank.

Kate needs to be careful. She’s getting a little too close for comfort in her investigation of who killed Sully (James Woods). I must say, though, she’s doing an excellent job of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. She even manages to reach Frank on his houseboat, but he isn’t doing too much talking after his dustup with Ray. Don’t you just love Kate for giving Avi the finger after giving him the slip? The woman is not to be deterred, nor should she be taken lightly. I’d like to know is what is on the paper Mickey’s neighbor Shorty (Steph DuVall) sneaks into Kate’s purse. Once Ray and Cochran realize how close Kate is to uncovering the truth, they, along with Mickey, concoct a story to tell Kate about the night Sully died. With all three men playing their parts so well, I guess Kate believes them…maybe.

Moment #1

Don’t you just love how Mickey acts like a gorilla once he spies the camera in the “cage” where he’s being held? He cracks me up! Cochran, on the other hand, is one crazy son-of-a-bitch. He’s an egomaniac, hell bent and determined on keeping the Donovan family from ruining his shot at becoming the “No. 1 law enforcement agent of the United States…hell, of the fucking free world, Mick.” At times, I think the man is losing his marbles! Now he wants Mickey to sign a paper saying Ray told him he’s responsible for killing FBI Agent Van Miller (Frank Whaley). Azaria absolutely blows me away with his performance in “Irish Spring,” particularly in this scene. The way he portrays Cochran’s anger and previously unseen rage is spot on; I actually jumped out of my seat when he slams his hand on the table to make a point. When that doesn’t work, Cochran resorts to an alternate method—reminding Mickey of all the dead people Ray had a hand in killing, including Mickey’s girl Linda (Rosanna Arquette). For a moment, I thought I saw Mickey wavering. You know he isn’t going to stay secreted away for long, especially now that Ray knows where he is. It’s only a matter of time before he convinces Superior Court Judge Irving Salzman (guest star Richard Fancy), whose name Ray coerces Ezra (Elliott Gould) into giving up, to sign Mickey’s release. I especially enjoyed the way Ray gets Salzman to do what he wants. Man, is Cochran angry when he sees Mickey leaving his private hellhole!

As an aside, as much as I enjoy watching Gould, his presence in Ray Donovan doesn’t seem necessary anymore. It’s a shame to use such a talented actor this way. Ezra has no story line to speak of; all he has are the bits and pieces of dialogue the writers throw his way to keep him in the series. Writers, please, either give Gould a meatier part or write him out altogether.

Conclusion

As the final scene of “Irish Spring” fades to black, we see Ray, Abby, Bridget, and Conor sitting down to pizza at the family dining room. Nothing could look more normal. But normal isn’t a word I would use to describe Ray’s family. They are anything but. Ray has so many hidden secrets; it’s amazing he can keep them all straight. With Abby about to embark on an affair with Halloran, neither parent really knows what’s going on in their kids’ lives. And that’s when shit tends to happen. Even though Kate is out of the picture for now, heading home to Boston, there’s always the possibility she’ll return if and when she figures out the story she was told isn’t true. That’s if she’s an investigative reporter worth her salt. It can’t be long before this façade implodes on all of them. How will Ray ‘fix’ things then?

What did you think of “Irish Spring?” Leave me a comment below or tweet me @SeasideTV. Do you agree with my top three moments?

Tune in to Ray Donovan, Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

LIKE Ray Donovan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RayDonovanOnShowtime.

Follow the series on Twitter @SHO_RayDonovan. And follow cast mates Ray/Liev Schreiber @LievSchreiber, Daryll/Pooch Hall @iam_POOCHHALL, Bunchy/Dash Mihok @dizmihok, Conor/Devon Bagby @DevonBagby, Bridget/Kerris Dorsey @kerrisdorsey, Avi/Steven Bauer @thestevenbauer, Lena/Kate Moennig @katemoennig, and Terry/Eddie Marsan @eddiemarsan.

Stay up-to-date with the series on the official Ray Donovan website: http://www.sho.com/raydonovan.

Biography of the Author(Read Below)..
Latest Posts (view them )..

Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!