Television

[Orema]

I am hooked on the crime series Ray Donovan shown on Showtime.

• Jon Voight (whose acting I avoid like the plague these days) is damn good in this series. I’m surprised at how good he is because I forgot how good he could be (i.e., Midnight Cowboy, Runaway Train). All of the actors are good in this series, but I think Voight is the glue that holds this show together.
  
• Most of the women are bad asses. And not in a gun-toting, kick-ass way. But, unlike the women on the Sopranos or most crime dramas, these women know who they are and how they fit into the world they live in. There is no pretense nor self pity with them. They know how the world sees them and there is no shame in how they see the world.
  
• This show is more honest about race and sexuality than most shows. In some ways it reminds me of The Americans in this regard. The similarity with The Americans is that both of these series removed the rose-colored glasses often used in love and romantic scenes.
  
• It’s also an indictment of the Catholic Church and how the church looked the other way while priests abuse children (sometimes all of the children in one family!). I often think of the film Spotlight when I watch this series.
  
• Alan Alda joined the cast this season as a psychiatrist. Alda has Parkinson’s disease in real life and it’s not hidden nor highlighted (at least not yet) on the show. I LOVE THAT. We see Alda shaking and the camera doesn’t shy away nor linger.
  
• It’s violent, racist, brutally honest, sexually open, funny and the best thing since the series The Wire as far as I’m concerned.