Ray Donovan Recap of Shelley Duvall

Loyal Donofans that we are, we tuned in to watch the fixer who can’t fix himself in “Shelley Duvall” (9/17/2017), Episode 6 of “Ray Donovan,” Season 5. Ray had to get Sam Winslow’s box back from the back of car of the not-so-dearly departed Vicky Delgatti. Mickey’s plan to get Bunchy out of jail went awry, and that’s putting it mildly. There were a lot of Abby flashbacks and some goings on in New York City that had shocking implications on how Abby died.

The episode was named for actress Shelley Duvall. When Ray went to see Sam Winslow, her step-son, George, was watching “The Shining” and he told Ray all about the bad time Stanley Kubrick gave Shelley on set during filming. Her hair fell out, George said, but he wouldn’t have cared because to him, Shelley was perfection incarnate.

Ray and Winslow’s World

Lena got in the trunk of Ray’s car which he then parked in front of a fire station so it could get impounded and she could retrieve the box back from Vicky’s impounded car. Ray paid off his fees to retrieve his car and drove out of there with the box and Lena in the trunk. He sent Lena to find Tom Minor, the blackmailing fixer, while he went to see Sam Winslow about his fee. Ray wanted more than $20G’s because the original job didn’t include having to deal with crazy Vicky.

After fixing Ray a whiskey, Sam opened the box and took out her dead daughter’s bloody dress. Then she asked him if he had been thinking about her. He awkwardly asked “what?” She repeated it and said it was a simple question. Ray said “yeah.” She told Ray how her daughter was born a “perfect angel beast” with small little teeth and how she used to bite the buttons off her clothes. Sam tore a button off the dress, then said she wanted Ray to work for her from now on, adding that whatever his fee was, she would pay it.

As he drove home, Ray got an angry call from Doug Landry, who knew that Natalie James was at Ray’s place. Doug said he was coming over. Ray found Natalie watching entertainment news about her walk-off. He told her that Landry was on his way and offered to get her out of there before he showed up. Natalie said she wanted to see Doug. “It’s your call,” Ray said. “Everything’s my call,” Natalie responded. My, my! Doug apologized to Natalie who demanded that she leave his wife. Doug pointed out that it’s not that easy. He has young children. Natalie said she would not make the film and she’s having the baby. Doug grabbed her and Ray threatened to break his arm if he didn’t let her go. Doug said “You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” to Ray, we think, and left. Natalie wanted Ray to watch TV with her and to make some pasta but Ray got a call from Lena and had to leave.

Lena found Tom Minor dead, suspended from an electrical cord in a motel room that he was not really staying in. There was no trace of the $2 million blackmail money or the Oscar that Ray gave Tom and none of Tom’s clothes were there, except the ones he had on. Ray went to see Sam Winslow about this new turn of events. She thanked him for the info. Ray brought up the Landry/James dilemma. Sam seemed amused at the thought that Ray sees Natalie as “just a kid.” She nonetheless agreed to keep Landry off the set, a bit too readily, if you ask us. As Ray left, he noticed that the Oscar he had given Tom was now back on the shelf in Sam’s office.

Mickey on a Mission

Mickey dropped little Maria off to daycare and told Carmen he might be late. Carmen said they close at 6, and told Maria to say “hasta luego” to “El Capitan.” Mickey got back in his car and fished a gun out of the back. He went off to the jail to tell Bunchy that he was working on getting him out of there by the next day, which meant he had capitulated. He was going to kill Avi per Frank Barnes’ demand. Bunchy was pissed off big-time, especially since he suspected that Mickey knew he was going to get arrested all along. Although Frank Barnes had threatened to haul Bunchy in if Mickey didn’t kill AVi, Mickey didn’t think he would really do it so, in that sense, he didn’t know. Bunchy had two words for Mickey.

Mickey followed Avi, watching him pick up a bag out of a locker at Union Station, then it was off to a garment factory. Avi is not as oblivious as Mickey thought. He came out from behind a rack of clothes and clocked Mickey and threw him in the trunk of his car. When Mickey came to, they were some place far from the factory and Avi was selling 4 kilos to some Spanish guys. The DEA showed up and a shoot out took place, with a bullet penetrating the trunk Mickey was in! A DEA agent was shot. Avi managed to vamoose into the woods and one of the buyers grabbed the drugs and drove off with Avi’s car.

Terry and Bridget in the Big Apple

Bridget was waiting at the gym where Damon was going to train. She took Terry to Sloan-Kettering to meet Smitty. They smoked weed in his hospital room and joked around. Out in the visiting room, a woman named Emily Chu recognized Smitty from the experimental surgery program. She assumed that he had the surgery. She had it and as Terry put it, she’s as healthy as an effing horse. Terry walked away when he heard that and Bridget followed. “What did we do?” Terry asked his niece. He said they should tell Ray but Bridget begged him not to because she wants Ray to help Smitty.

Leaving, Bridget and Terry gaily sang “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” as they walked down the street. When Terry realized they were passing by a cathedral, he had to go inside. Bridget did not want to pray with him. He said that he killed Abby because she would have lived if she had the surgery. Then he went into the confessional.

Ray returned to his apartment and poured himself a stiff drink. He told Natalie that she could finish her movie now because Sam had agreed to keep Landry off the set. “See?” Natalie said, “I always win.” Yep, from what we know about her so far, she’s a real winner. (sarcasm off).

The best part of the episode was saved for last. As Carmen tried to reach Bunchy because no one had picked up baby Maria, who should stroll by Bunchy’s cell escorted by a guard? One of the guys who stole his settlement money! Bunchy naturally recognized him, but did he recognize Bunchy?

The Flashbacks:

As the story of Abby’s final days unwind, quite a different ending to Abby’s life has been suggested. In this episode, we saw Abby telling Ray that she wants no more cancer treatment. Understandably, she felt that life was dealing her a bad hand when Ray leads a far more dangerous life than she, and by all rights, she’s the one who ought to live to old age. Suffering with accepting her mortality while treatment is making her feel weaker and weaker is just too overwhelming for Abby. Conor became quite angry that she was unwilling to fight the cancer. From what transpired between Terry and Bridget in the present day, Bridget either accepted or came around to accepting her mother’s decision. She and Terry must have helped Abby die.

SUPPORTING CAST OF “SHELLEY DUVALL”