Ray Donovan: Yo Soy Capitan (Season 2 Premiere)

The season 2 premiere of Showtime’s Ray Donovan, Yo Soy Capitan (July 13, 2014), began with a montage of scenes from last season. Then we see Ray right where we left him at the end of Season 1, on the beach chair with his bloody shirt. Instead of his wife, Abby, coming to snuggle next to him, he’s being buried alive with dirt being shoveled on him. It’s a dream, natch. He wakes up, rolls over and without a word, forcefully penetrates his half-asleep wife. She obviously feels violated but silently acquiesces.

“Hola, Mickey, welcome to Mexico.”

Mickey Donovan wakes up in a motel on a beach and tells the woman in the bed that he’s going for a swim. Down the beach he goes, swilling booze and smoking. He enters the inviting waters and begins to hallucinate with a talking dolphin welcoming him to Mexico, telling him he’s a captain and inviting him to swim deeper. Suddenly, the murdered Linda appears from the depths and says she’s in a dark place thanks to him. Mickey says “It wasn’t me. It was Sully” and she disappears. Linda didn’t get any insight into what happened in that dark place or she might be haunting Ray.

Bridget and Conor argue over Marvin Gaye Washington’s video. Ray takes them to school, letting Bridget drive. Ray goes to a therapy session with Abby afterwards. She admits her wrongdoing in letting Mickey into their lives. The therapist lays out a list of violence Ray has exposed his kids to from hitting Mickey with a gun to letting the kids see him passed out and covered in blood. Ray says he loves his family and agrees to keeping his violent behavior separate from his family. He gets a call and leaves. The therapist questions Abby about sex, believing Ray is hypersexual because they do it two times a day. He calls it a symptom of Ray’s abuse. Abby says maybe Ray just likes it, how about that? We’re like when is he ever around her long enough for two times day?

“You’re a bagman for movie stars”

At the FBI offices, Frank Barnes informs Ray that the bullet that came out of Avi was traced to Sully’s gun and now Cochran wants to knows who killed Sully. Ray marches into Cochran’s office and tells him what happened from the 2 million he paid Sully to murder Mickey to Mickey murdering Sully. Ray says Cochran should hold his press conference and enjoy his moment in the sun now that America’s Most Wanted is dead. But Cochran wants to know where Mickey is. Ray walks out with his typical parting words: “bleep you.”

At the gym, Terry secretly pines for Frances, calling up to hear her voice then hanging up. Enter Ray demanding to know where Mickey is. Terry says he’s in Mexico but doesn’t know where and tells Ray to leave it alone. Bunchy has an interview for a job at a bike shop. He shows up in a dress shirt and tie but has no long pants. Bunchy doesn’t know where Mickey is either so Ray calls Daryll, who tells him to find Mickey himself: “You’re the Magnum PI, motherbleeper.”

“It’s that global warming; Big Bear they have no snow”

As Ray looks around for some clues, Deonte calls with a crisis. His wife has come home unexpectedly from a trip and found him in bed with Tiffany, American Idol’s No. 3 girl. Deonte’s wife shoots Tiff in the arm and says she is going to shoot Deonte, too. Ray tells her to do it because Deonte is a piece of shit but she collapses. Ray takes the gun away. He leaves with the injured Idol hopeful, takes her to a park and makes it look like she was shot in a random mugging. Lena shows up to take care of her and make sure they are all on the same page.

At Conor’s high school, he brags about knowing Marvin Gaye Washington and a kid calls him a liar, then knocks Conor’s cell phone out of his hand. Conor retaliates by knocking the boy down the stairs. He suffers a broken collarbone and Abby has to call Ray to come to the school.

In Mexico, Mickey is hanging out with a woman named Jazmin when Daryll arrives. He is offended when he sees the poster calling him El Negro but Mickey explains it doesn’t mean the same thing in Mexico. A man appears demanding $300 for Mickey’s room and $100 for the “puta”. Mickey threatens to knock his teeth out for talking that way about Jazmin, explaining to Daryll how expensive she would be in L.A. He gets the money from Daryll to pay. A kid runs up and asks Daryll to sign the El Negro poster. Daryll obliges, telling the boy he’s black Irish.

In his therapy group, Bunchy is applauded on his tie, his upcoming interview and getting rid of Mickey and all Mickey’s vices (booze, porn, coke, hookers). Later a new fellow named Stan tells Bunchy that he really connected with him and wants to go out for a bite to eat. Bunchy declines and goes off to his interview, where he tells the guy how good he is at fixing bikes, but the man wants work experience. Delivering the Boston Globe is the best Bunchy can do.

Ray makes it to the high school after stopping off to buy a clean shirt since the one he has on is smeared with American Idol blood. Principal Amato explains the seriousness of the situation and Conor is suspended for 5 days. Abby complains about the interruption in her life but Ray says it will all work out. A call from Ezra and Ray’s gone.

On the night of his fight, Daryll is dismayed to see that his opponent, Miguel “La Fuerza” Montago, is not the small guy Mickey alluded to but a big bruiser that the crowd loves. Montago beats Daryll to a pulp. He can’t even get up as he watches his father collect money and realizes Mickey bet against him.

Tikkun olam

Cochran drops in on Ezra to discuss Ray and Mickey but Ezra isn’t telling him squat. Ray shows up and Cochran gives him 24 hours to produce Mickey. After he leaves, Ezra raves about his legacy, the Ruth Goldman Cancer Center and repairing the world. An overwrought Ezra asks Ray if he’s sure he’s got everything under control. “Yeah,” Ray replies.

Bridget and her friend talk about Sylvia Plath on the way home when they are stopped, ostensibly because her friend failed to use her blinker when making a turn. Bridget is asked to step out of the car and marijuana is suddenly “found” in her backpack. Weeping, she calls Ray and he knows what went down after a brief talk with Officer Jansen who says they will let Bridget off with a warning. Ray asks Bridget to keep it from Abby till he can figure out how to break it. He tells Jansen to let Cochran know he got the message.

Ray finds Terry watching Frances make dinner outside her home and wants to know if he’s stalking her now. He tells Terry why it is important for him to find Mickey. Back in Mexico, Mickey is partying away while a battered Daryll watches in disgust. When Mickey staggers to the bar and orders drinks “para todos”, Daryll confronts him. Mickey says his heart was with him but his money wasn’t. Daryll angrily says he doesn’t want to end up like Terry, but Mickey says even the doctor thinks what Terry has is hereditary and they could all get it. He offers his son half the winnings. Daryll refuses at first but snatches it and stalks off. Outside he calls Ray to inform him where Mickey is. Ray already has the Rosarito part. Daryll supplies the exact location.

Ray calls Abby with news that he can’t make it home. (No twice a day today, honey). He sends Bridget a text asking her to hold down the fort till he gets back. Avi, his mother and Lena watch American Idol and Abby does too. Tiffany’s “misfortune” is announced. She is brought out in a wheelchair, rises and sings Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Avi tells his mother that Lena helped Tiffany. Avi’s mother wants to know if Tiffany’s hair and breasts are real. Abby has no idea that Ray had anything to do with what she’s watching.

As Mickey dances to La Bamba at the bar, he asks his dance partner to translate the song. It blows his mind when he learns the words mean “I’m not a sailor, I’m a captain,” the talking dolphin’s revelation. Ray shows up while an even drunker Mickey sings with his new amigos. Mickey introduces Ray as his son, El Blanco. Mickey tells Ray he’s not going back with him. “I’m a captain,” he says, “not a sailor.” Ray says all right, goes to the juke box and plays “Come a Little Bit Closer.” He walks out, calls Cochran to say he has Mickey. He takes his shirt off, grabs a baseball bat and re-enters the bar. But we only get to hear and not see what goes down.