Little Bill Primm’s Big Green Horseshoe Recap: Ray Donovan

So remember that sinister guy who was watching Ray Donovan when he traded Belikov for Mickey in “Marisol” last week? He showed up in “Little Bill Primm’s Big Green Horseshoe” (S4 E3 7-10-16), but not for long.

The title of Episode 3 had nothing to do with that, of course. It referred to the Big Green Horseshoe filled with $4 million dollars that Mickey Donovan had plans to relieve his former employer, Bill Primm, of. Primm inherited the horseshoe from his daddy, Big Bill, and he planned to have his nanny, Algoma, break it open with a ceremonial tomahawk and build the greatest Native American museum and cultural arts center in the world with the money. That was a decidedly better way to use the money than Mickey’s plan of living it up in Boston with Silvie Starr, the lounge singer.

The Donovan family was getting ready to have a reunion with Bridget on her 18th birthday but that didn’t go so well after Abby saw her right outside the house having sex in a car with her former teacher, Greg Donellen. Nevermind Bridget– we really didn’t think Donellen would have the nerve after Ray beat the living daylights out of him in the Season 3 finale. When Bridget did come in the house, Abby tried to shame her and was roundly mocked by her own daughter with some choice expressions that she surely learned from her potty mouth mother, delivered in a faux Boston accent. Bridget ran off as a white food truck pulled up.

Mr. Sinister got in the Donovan chateau. Thinking Bridget returned, Abby sent Ray down to talk to her, and it was on. Ray got the upper hand at first but the assassin got back up and produced a gun. Abby appeared with her own gun and shot him dead. After disposing of the body, Ray had Avi whisk his family off to a motel for safekeeping. He and Abby swung by Donellen’s house, who declared his love for Bridget and invited Ray in for coffee. But Bridget departed with her parents and the dog, leaving Donellen out of the loop on the lawn.

Big Green Horseshoe Guest Stars and Co-Stars

At the motel, Avi told Ray: “Conor’s in 221 with me. Bunchy and the pregnant one are in 222 and the black one’s in there,” pointing to 217. “Where’s Terry?” Ray asked and Avi said “He wouldn’t come.” Ray knocked on 217 and Daryll confirmed that Terry refused to come. Daryll explained that he bounced when Terry started pulling out guns. Just then, Bunchy appeared in the hall and said Teresa made him come. He wanted to go back to the club, but his bossy wife demanded that he get back in the room and so did Ray.

Waiting for the Russians at the gym, Terry and Daryll discussed disadvantages of being a Donovan, white or black, and reenacted “Blazing Saddles” quotes No Russians showed up but Damon did. Before Terry could explain why the brothers were accosting him with guns drawn, Damon punched Darryl in the nose. Back at the motel, Avi tried to convince gangster wannabe Conor that he should go into hedge funds if he really wants to make skrilla, yo. “I’m not gonna be a gardener, dude,” Conor replied.

Ray went off to find Det. Muncie and he found her all right. She was dead as a doornail. Meantime, Lena found a connection between Sonia Kovitsky and Belikov. Ray forced Waller, Kovitsky’s lawyer, to spill the beans on the nature of that relationship. Then he caught up with Kovitsky at a soccer game and had to promise to get Belikov out of jail in a week and cover her losses to even get her to pay attention to him.

Teresa continued to bully Bunchy at the motel and she got what she really wanted out of him– sex. However, she also went into labor.

In Primm, Wovoka (aka Jerry) busted Mickey’s chops with some more “Crooked Tree” stuff while he tried to line up a crew for his big heist. Mickey convinced Ed they could pull it off with some night-vision goggles, Ed recruited Pinkie-Toe Josephine Melcher III, a weirdo who worked on the casino’s electric system. Mickey really didn’t want to work with crazy Pinkie but time was running short. Silvie did her part by sending a “NOW” text message when it was time for Pinkie to cut the power. When the lights came back on, Mickey ran out, with his goggles hanging off. just in time to see Ed and Pinkie take off with the Big Green Horseshoe. Silvie wanted Mickey to stay with her. She said “maybe it ain’t so bad being a crooked tree… when they come to cut down that forest, they take the tall, straight ones. They leave the crooked ones alone.” She tried to reassure him: “You’ll be the last one standing, daddy. You and me.” But Mickey went off to hitchhike out of Primm. As the cars whizzed by him, Bunchy sent him a photo of Maria Donovan, the newest star of the Donovan clan. Mickey held his granddaughter’s photo up to the stars.