Norman Saves the World Recap: Ray Donovan

Ray hired Ed Cochran to get Mickey out of jail in “Norman Saves the World,” Episode 7 of Season 4 (8-7-2016). A new inmate who was working for the Minassian family was plotting to get Mickey out of jail too– in a coffin. Let’s just establish this: it’s the Armenians who want to kill Mickey. The Russians were supposedly going to protect him after Ray got Belikov out of prison. Why they would do that when it was Ray who framed Belikov for the Armenian murders in the first place, we don’t know. But it’s a moot point since Ray killed Belikov.

Ed Cochran was in the studio recording a cover of The Easybeats “Friday on my Mind,” the last song for “Beneath the Covers,” an album of covers he was making. There was one small hitch. He owed Josh, the studio owner, over $12 grand. Then the universe provided (quad praebet universum): Ray Donovan showed up with a cool million and a job. He needed Ed to help get Mickey put in the prison’s gay section right away. After that, Ray wanted Cochran to use the goods he had on TV icon Sherman Radley to persuade D.A. Jackson Holt to release Mickey.

What were the goods? Sherman Radley murdered Fiona Miller, the Coffee Shop Girl on the hit TV sitcom “Norman Saves the Day,” back when Ed was with the FBI. Radley’s agent, Nick Lowell, paid off Ed to get rid of the evidence, but being who he is, Ed kept the evidence for just such an occasion as this, when he could make some more money off it. To make sure that Holt would go along with springing Mickey, they had to find Miller’s body. Nick hired someone else to dispose of that.

Ray visited Nick under the pretense that Tommy Wheeler was looking for a new agent. Tommy appeared last season in in Breakfast of Champions when he was going to throw his career away to marry Chloe. Apparently, he is still such a hot property that Nick couldn’t wait to get over to Ray’s. He ended up getting punched by both Ed and Ray and waterboarded until he could be defiant no longer. Nick hired Ezra Goldman to get rid of the body. Ray and Avi quickly figured out that Ezra used a guy called “the Texan.”

Ray and Avi watched Ed get Jackson Holt to agree to let Mickey out of jail the day after he was able to arrest Sherman Radley for murder. Holt said the best he could do was let Mickey plead to felony manslaughter and do 3 months, but Ed said it wasn’t a negotiation. Mickey either got out or Holt didn’t get the evidence. Avi warned Ray that Ed would double-cross him, but Ray wasn’t worried about it.

In the meantime, Mickey was doing his best to get himself put in the gay wing. He assured Ray that he knew what to say in the interview that would come up. After the Minassian assassin, Jo Pho, got himself locked up, Mickey encountered him in the cafeteria. His sixth sense must have told him this guy was bad news because he went straight over to the guard and started complaining about sexual harassment. Mickey aced his interview with Burt Mancini and all that was needed was confirmation from his sons that they knew their father was gay. Bunchy and Terry confirmed it but Mancini couldn’t get a hold of Ray on his cell phone. When he called the Donovan homestead, Conor almost blew it for Mickey, informing Mancini that Mickey had 4 kids and a whole bunch of ex-girlfriends. Jo Pho slipped some poison into Mickey’s lunch when Mickey stepped away from the table, but his cellmate, Leo, took the dish and slurped away.

Back in their cell, Leo became violently ill. When Mickey called for help, he saw Mancini approaching. He pulled Leo’s drawers down and pretended that he was having sex with him, while Leo yelled “it hurts, it hurts.” Leo died and Jo Pho was sent to bunk with Mickey. Mancini showed up to escort Mickey to the gay ward just in time to save him from certain doom.

Norman Saves the World Guest Stars and Co-Stars

Ed went to see Sherman Radley to extort $5 million from him for making Ray go away. Radley gave up the location of the body and then went to see the Texan. Ray had already located the man in Canoga Park pushing a lawnmower. (Avi thought he would be riding a yacht in the Bahamas). Sherman Radley showed up and gave the Texan hell for not disposing of the body. So the Texan and Ray headed out separately to Radley’s now defunct restaurant, the Crab Grab, in Inglewood. Ed Cochran was already there. Ray called him and warned him to get out of there but Ed kept playing his games. Shots rang out and Ray went in. Ed and the Texan shot each other. Both were wounded but still breathing and talking. The Texan gave up the location of the body a lot quicker than Nick gave up Ezra Goldman’s name. Ed wanted to know if he could still get paid. Ray told him to go make the call to Jackson Holt.

Hector in the Club

Hector Campos and his manager, Punch, came to the Fite Club with a proposition: Hector wanted to train there because he has a rematch with Whittaker coming up. He likes the Fite Club vibe and thinks of the Donovans as family. He likes “how real it is.” At least that was how Punch put it. Hector was sitting in his office texting his half-sister, Marisol, who just got herself kicked out of rehab by setting off the smoke alarm. Hector sent Daryll to pick Marisol up and bring her home but she made a pit stop for some drugs. Then she wheedled Daryll into letting her see Hector before she went home. Hector was in the middle of getting ready for a press conference and was really pissed to see her. He kicked her out and yelled at Daryll too. Word, Hector. If you’re going to treat Daryll like your flunky, we’re not gonna root for you in that rematch.