Superb finale to a nail-biting, edge-of-seat season!! While a few reviewers have pooh-poohed this season, it seems they forget that this is an L.A. story. I cannot understand the disdain and contempt about this season perhaps because I am a completely unabashed aesthete of Ray and the Donovans (and of Los Angeles). What the naysayers seem to forget: the "Ray Donovan" stories explore and personify the myth that the sun always shines in beautiful L.A. We readily accept that TV series set in NYC, DC, in hospitals, fire houses, law firms, etc. are based on authentic stories. Kudos and many rounds of applause to the actors, writers, and directors who have wonderfully, almost painstakingly, ensured that these stories are very purely and aesthetically "L.A." With, perhaps, only one exception from a recurring guest star, the acting of this cast during the entire season has been truly ☀brilliant! Yes, I ♥ Ray Donovan.
9 Reviews
Great Final Episode to Another Great Season
85122227 November 2016
Greetings from Lithuania.
"Rattus Rattus" perfectly closed season 4 of "Ray Donovan". I really don't understand why so much negativity was thrown to this season - i simply loved it.
First off, i loved that they followed the main plot line during this season from the previous one. It was really involving, and sometimes nail-biting at the edge of your seat. Acting as usually was great by everyone involved, script is always entertaining and involving, as well as sense of location and directing.
Overall, if you enjoyed previous seasons of this show, season 4 will deliver goods. Really looking forward to next season, hope this show with this quality will stay on the air for many more seasons. Great final episode to a wonderful season overall.
"Rattus Rattus" perfectly closed season 4 of "Ray Donovan". I really don't understand why so much negativity was thrown to this season - i simply loved it.
First off, i loved that they followed the main plot line during this season from the previous one. It was really involving, and sometimes nail-biting at the edge of your seat. Acting as usually was great by everyone involved, script is always entertaining and involving, as well as sense of location and directing.
Overall, if you enjoyed previous seasons of this show, season 4 will deliver goods. Really looking forward to next season, hope this show with this quality will stay on the air for many more seasons. Great final episode to a wonderful season overall.
Optimistic, so what?
dierregi10 August 2022
This is usually such a dark an bleak show with only the occasional spark of humor, like Ray himself, that I actually welcomed this finale as a rare positive wrap-up of a series that the audience doesn't seem anymore entitled to have. Too many series end bad or on an ambiguous note, as if we don't have enough disappointment in real life.
Maybe the wrapping up was too easy and one may wonder why Ray didn't plan to dispose earlier of the Russians, but then again it's s just entertainment, not rock science.
A nice party to celebrate life and victory was much needed and for those who want a darker note, Hector was there to remind everybody that business is not over.
Maybe the wrapping up was too easy and one may wonder why Ray didn't plan to dispose earlier of the Russians, but then again it's s just entertainment, not rock science.
A nice party to celebrate life and victory was much needed and for those who want a darker note, Hector was there to remind everybody that business is not over.
More Donovans than ...Russians !!!!
Dr_Sagan19 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
What was that?? Terrible, unrealistic season finale ! An INSULT to all the fans out there and all the viewers with IQ more than 60 !
In this totally unbelievable episode, The Donovans take over the Russian Mob by themselves, basically because ...there aren't any Russian Mobsters!!! Dmitri the great Russian mob Boss, who travels with his own jet and has a billions-worth enterprise of Drugs and human trafficking, has only ...one driver bodyguard with him and 2 other guys guarding his L.A. base. It only takes ...Daryll and a heavily injured Avi to kidnap and then kill the greatest, cruelest mob boss there is! Not to mention 80 y.o. mickey and molested-Bunch (holding 2 guns I may add) to kill the remaining 2 (yes "two") Russian thugs of his criminal entourage.
"No one can touch us.", "we are safe", Abbie states in this season finale's final words. WHAT??? Dmitri's organization should have maybe hundreds or thousands "employees" of the worst kind. Maybe 50 lieutenants eager to take over the business. How on Earth Dmitri survived all these years, if it was sooooooo easy to take him out? Even Sonia could have easily had him killed!
B.S. episode just for kids (under the age of 6) or morons (with IQ less than 60).
In this totally unbelievable episode, The Donovans take over the Russian Mob by themselves, basically because ...there aren't any Russian Mobsters!!! Dmitri the great Russian mob Boss, who travels with his own jet and has a billions-worth enterprise of Drugs and human trafficking, has only ...one driver bodyguard with him and 2 other guys guarding his L.A. base. It only takes ...Daryll and a heavily injured Avi to kidnap and then kill the greatest, cruelest mob boss there is! Not to mention 80 y.o. mickey and molested-Bunch (holding 2 guns I may add) to kill the remaining 2 (yes "two") Russian thugs of his criminal entourage.
"No one can touch us.", "we are safe", Abbie states in this season finale's final words. WHAT??? Dmitri's organization should have maybe hundreds or thousands "employees" of the worst kind. Maybe 50 lieutenants eager to take over the business. How on Earth Dmitri survived all these years, if it was sooooooo easy to take him out? Even Sonia could have easily had him killed!
B.S. episode just for kids (under the age of 6) or morons (with IQ less than 60).
Not Terribly Original
napoleon-9780719 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The ending was so impossibly simple and tidy that it lacked credibility. But my biggest complaint here is that the plan our hero hatches is eerily similar to the scenario from the movie 'Snatch'. Screw over smarmy crime boss: check. Fixed boxing match that doesn't go according to plan: check. Ambush on crime boss' men during the fight: yep got that covered too. Meanwhile, Ray wraps up a criminal and the contraband in a neat little package to hand over to the feds, who are of course bewildered yet thankful for the service he's done them. Only thing missing was a note from your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Of course what would a happy ending be without a celebration? Thankfully everyone still has enough time to wash off the blood and make it to the after party! Yay!! Come on writers, surely you can do better than this.
By far the worst season finale
hansjs23 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers follow, please stop if you have not watched this episode.
There was potential here. Mickey's seeming redemption chief among them. But the finale falls apart in it's neat and tidy, and ridiculously simplistic ending. Mickey walks the streets to sell a painting ans stumbles on a drug ring. The Russian mob boss seems to have a staffing issue, as it take the Donovan family a couple guns and some bumps of coke to take down the entire Russian mafia. This has been the weakest season overall. Overly simplistic overall story lines and uninvestigated compelling story lines. Ray Donovan is basically outclassed for 11 episodes, but pulls it all together in the end and whoops the mafia.
There was potential here. Mickey's seeming redemption chief among them. But the finale falls apart in it's neat and tidy, and ridiculously simplistic ending. Mickey walks the streets to sell a painting ans stumbles on a drug ring. The Russian mob boss seems to have a staffing issue, as it take the Donovan family a couple guns and some bumps of coke to take down the entire Russian mafia. This has been the weakest season overall. Overly simplistic overall story lines and uninvestigated compelling story lines. Ray Donovan is basically outclassed for 11 episodes, but pulls it all together in the end and whoops the mafia.
What the heck? Unbelievable and ridiculous
Fargomoviecritic4 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The beat thing about season 4 was baldest any of That terrible daughter Bridget!! She is a horrible actress and annoy as hell character. Can't she get cancer And die or get shot? Annoying story lines with her character and the writing of her character is spot on for the biggest b in the show. She is so annoying that I didn't even talk about this episode.
So Avi can't get Sarkiloff but the bumbling idiots Mikky and Brendan take out the entire Russian mob at the house of ...two total mobsters..what! Only two mobsters are at the house and they get off guard by the bumbling idiots of the family? It is not hard to follow previous storylines . Come on.
Pretty Bad
asfhgwt-16 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
As others have noted, this finale was "pat" in the extreme. Neat and tidy as a box of Cheerios. With ten minutes left in the show, I remarked to my wife that I didn't think we'd see everything wrapped up by the end of the episode. After all, this was the biggest problem/climax in the series. Ray had to enlist his entire family and friends-list to deal with it! (My better half disagreed, and was right, as usual.)
As others have written (again), where the heck were all the Russian mob's men? And I almost laughed out loud as the intelligence- challenged duo of Mick and Bunchie posed as stealthy assassins, easily eliminating the pair of evildoers (yes, just two) occupying the security-lacking Russian compound. Easy peasy.
I shouldn't have been surprised. This season had so many easily- resolved setups which lasted an episode or two, that it was almost as bad as a season of Shameless.
As others have written (again), where the heck were all the Russian mob's men? And I almost laughed out loud as the intelligence- challenged duo of Mick and Bunchie posed as stealthy assassins, easily eliminating the pair of evildoers (yes, just two) occupying the security-lacking Russian compound. Easy peasy.
I shouldn't have been surprised. This season had so many easily- resolved setups which lasted an episode or two, that it was almost as bad as a season of Shameless.
Pretty dumb
cherold21 October 2016
The first two seasons of Ray Donovan were terrific, the third season was so annoying I gave up on it, and the forth season, well, it had issues, but I would have said it was pretty good overall if not for the final episode.
Even before then, there were some issues, like Mickey's rather sudden veer away from irresponsible psychopathy, but overall it was fine.
But that last episode was absurd. As other people have noted, the Russian mob seems to be severely understaffed. More significantly, nothing Ray did in that last episode couldn't have been done earlier in the season. It's like you had a series where there was a mysterious locked door and in the last episode someone says, "hey, why don't I try turning the door knob" and it opens right up.
There were a couple of other ridiculous plot points, but that alone is inexcusable.
Early on Ray has a dream, and later someone else has a dream, and as the episode played out with a ridiculous patness I thought, is this whole episode going to wind up being a dream? That would have been dumb, but less dumb that what we got.
Even before then, there were some issues, like Mickey's rather sudden veer away from irresponsible psychopathy, but overall it was fine.
But that last episode was absurd. As other people have noted, the Russian mob seems to be severely understaffed. More significantly, nothing Ray did in that last episode couldn't have been done earlier in the season. It's like you had a series where there was a mysterious locked door and in the last episode someone says, "hey, why don't I try turning the door knob" and it opens right up.
There were a couple of other ridiculous plot points, but that alone is inexcusable.
Early on Ray has a dream, and later someone else has a dream, and as the episode played out with a ridiculous patness I thought, is this whole episode going to wind up being a dream? That would have been dumb, but less dumb that what we got.
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