Showtime’s Ray Donovan kicked off on Sunday night with an introduction to a fixer and his messy family dynamics, as well as to the seedy side of the Hollywood clientale he serves. With Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight headlining an extensive cast, the series showed promise in its first episode. If you found the show gripping enough to continue, Showtime has now released an extended trailer giving audience a few glimpses into what is yet to come.
There’s some great moments where Schreiber actually shows us how scary he can get when he gets angry but his face remains impassive. While most of the trailer is disturbing and violent, I especially love it when we get a break from that stuff and Donovan's client describes a kid as “the black Justin Bieber,” as if what Hollywood needs in this very moment is another Bieber-type. Then, there’s Jon Voight’s Mickey, who already seems up to his old antics after getting out of prison. Additionally, I’m starting to love Donovan’s wife in the series. She’s got a lot of the typical social climber and nagger in her in the series, but her passion and her fervor make a nice foil for Donovan’s control.
Since the dark tone and threats permeating the series don’t make for quippy cut-to’s, this trailer is overly heavy-handed and doesn’t give us enough big moments with our main characters to really invest in what we're watching. Luckily, I've already caught the premiere and will probably continue, regardless of the extended trailer. if you missed Sunday’s premiere, Showtime has already put together some nicer, lengthier clips of the pilot episode that will give potential audiences more of an indication regarding what they are about to delve into. Additionally, even if you don’t subscribe to Showtime, the pilot episode is currently available online.
Reviews for the pilot episode have been generally positive, and while I felt the episode was a little clunky at times, it made enough inroads to give me a reason to return next week. While I liked the pilot, not everyone at TV Blend feels the same way. Luckily, since pilots are notoriously clunky, this one will get the opportunity to work out the kinks over the coming weeks, and I really hope Ray Donovan ends up hitting a smooth stride and finding a nicely sized audience (which can be difficult on Sundays, even during the summer) by the end of its first season.
Ray Donovan airs on Showtime on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET.
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