Swing Vote Recap: Ray Donovan

In “Swing Vote” (Ray Donovan, S3 E6, 8-16-2015), Mickey’s prospects are looking particularly bad but Ray’s are looking so good that he even cracks a smile, much to Andrew Finney’s amazement. Bunchy takes a trip to Bakersfield with Father Romero to see Teresa and Terry appears to be losing it. By the end of the episode, nobody’s prospects look good.

The Minassians call Mickey to a business meeting at a strip club called Xposed. Mickey is all jokes but Grandma Minassian isn’t. She called Mickey there to let him watch what happens to “partners” who don’t hold up their end. Minassian’s grandson, Davros, works the guy over and Mrs. Minassian tells Mickey to be a good boy. As if that wasn’t a bad enough way to start the day, Mickey returns home to find Ginger and Audrey packing. Mrs. Rosenblatt is threatening to call Child Protective Services if Ginger doesn’t move out immediately. Her only way out is to have a regular job and get Audrey in school. Mickey is so desperate he wants to torch Daryll’s car but Daryll comes up with the idea to put Ginger on the Fite Club books. LOL. A fake job at a fake business.

When Terry arrived at the gym, he saw a guy with a shaved head dickering over membership terms with Potato Pie. Then he found a weight plate sitting on his desk. He was so sure that the Aryans are on his trail that he made Pie get him a gun.

Ray ran into Avi at Lee Drexler’s office when he went to sign the papers on the 3% football deal he made with Paige. Avi tried to make Ray remember that they had a lot more good than bad in their history, but Ray ignored him. Lee wanted to know how Ray managed to swing this sweet deal with one of the Finneys. He said Ezra would have loved it because he knew Ray could go wherever he wanted “and here you are, Mr. Football. Hut, hut, hike.”

Ray and Lena intercepted Sylvester, the guy who was going to steal the football deal from Paige, drugged him and dumped him at a motel while the Finneys met with Zack Davis. He was only willing to close for a non-refundable 10% break fee. Andrew Finney was not cool with that but Paige gave her word that it’s the last thing she’ll ever ask her father for. On that note, Finney gave his blessing and Finney noticed Ray’s smile after the closing. Paige and Ray shared a congratulatory drink and he gave her the Gov. Verona naughty cell phone. Paige told Ray that the envelope she gave her father contained a break-up letter from her father to her husband. Ray offered her a little comfort that she mistook for personal interest, but when she tried to move in for an embrace, Ray said his wife was back.

Abby asked Ray to make up his mind. If he would not forgive her, then give her the house and kids and let her get on with her life. After the closing, Ray called Abby and told her he didn’t want a divorce. He wanted to take her to the Governor’s election party. On the way up the elevator, she managed to oh so casually ask Ray to buy her family’s bar and he agreed to do it, no questions asked. Abby tried not to act too impressed upon meeting the Governor and Andrew Finney but still managed to display her lack of social graces by asking Finney if he was really a billionaire. Ugh.

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, except for a couple of sour notes. Casey Finney told Ray to “tune the violins… The ship is going down.” Varick Strauss wondered if Governor Verona’s stupid statement about illegal immigrant labor earlier in the day would backfire at the polls, which would screw everything up, and yes it did. Verona lost and Andrew Finney found out about the deal between Paige and Ray.

Ray had to leave the party to deal with Terry’s paranoia. While he was trying to convince Terry that there were no Aryans on the premises, Mickey showed up and almost got shot. Ray observed that Terry almost did for free what he paid Sully Sullivan a lot of money to do– kill Mickey. Terry blamed it on his shaky arms and they all got a good laugh.

Ray was already on his way back to the party when Andrew Finney demanded that Abby get him back there on the double. The festive moods were all gone and Finney read him the riot act. Did Ray really think he wouldn’t find out about the 3% deal but guess what? Now he has 3% of bupkiss. Yeah, Ray now knows that little tidbit about Finney and Varick Strauss but he also knows there’s no proof.

Brendan’s True Romance
Bunchy took a little road trip with Father Romero to try to win the hand of the damsel he desires. On the way, Father Romero told Bunchy a little story about shooting his abuser and blinding him. To the viewer, this was a transparent ploy to find out what Bunchy knew about the murder of Father O’Connor. First Bunchy went to the gym where Teresa was and proposed to her. She told him to get out. Bunchy said that he was going to wait at the nearby Denny’s until she changed her mind. While he waited, he spilled the beans to Romero that he shot Father O’Connor in the stomach but Ray finished him off with a bullet in the head.

Right after that, Teresa appeared with her conditions: Bunchy can’t lie to her, cheat on her or hit her. She doesn’t want to be with a gabacho with a puppy name like Bunchy. He has to be Brendan and there’s going to be a longer discussion before they run off to a wedding chapel.

So what have we got now? A recipe for some desperate Donovans. Ray and Mickey are survivors and somehow manage to land on their feet whatever life throws at them. But will that hold true for Terry, Bunchy and Daryll? We’re probably not alone in wishing that Father Romero’s little trick gets him a headstone marker and doesn’t interfere with Bunchy, er… Brendan’s chance at happiness. Yeah, Teresa doesn’t seem to be The One for him at all, but the scene where she stood there crying when he left the gym showed that there’s a softer girl under that tough wrestler chick facade.

It would also be a shame if Terry let his guard down when it comes to light that Brendan uses weight plates for paperweights. Just because Aryans didn’t go in Terry’s office doesn’t mean they don’t know where he is.

Supporting Cast of “Swing Vote”