Ray Donovan: The 10 Best Episodes, According To IMDb

American crime drama series, Ray Donovan, aired its final episode in January of 2020, with the announcement of the series’ cancellation following shortly after, in February of 2020. The season seven finale left off on a major cliffhanger, expecting to be resolved in the eighth season, but with the cancellation of the series, the story of Ray Donovan was left unanswered. In February 2021, Showtime announced Ray Donovan: The Movie, which made its debut on January 14, 2022, serving as the wrap-up to the story.

There are many engaging and action-packed episodes in the seven seasons of Ray Donovan, following Ray as he takes on numerous high stakes jobs, navigates his family life with his wife and two kids, and sorts through his complicated past with his father. While all 82 episodes received relatively high ratings from fans, there are certain episodes that ranked higher than others.

10 “Horses” (8.9)

Ray’s wife, Abby, receives a devastating call that she has not been selected for a trial surgery that could save her life, leading Ray to take matters into his own hands in a dark and twisted way. While Ray is in New York on his mission, Abby makes decisions of her own.

This episode is the highest-ranked in season five due to its raw and overwhelming emotion. It deals with real-life issues and hits home for many people, making the elicited response a genuine one. With the episodes preceding it being slow-paced and jam-packed with exposition, the heart-wrenching emotion and the exceptional acting by Liev Schreiber pushed this episode to the top of the ranks for season five.

9 “Come And Knock On Our Door” (9.0)

When Ray discovers his brother Terry’s life is in danger after unintentionally killing another inmate, Ray works with his father, Mickey, to get Terry out of prison before it’s too late. Meanwhile, Abby struggles with not being able to help Ray and reaches a breaking point with her family.

While not the highest-ranked in season 3, this episode was overall very well received. It showed just how far Ray would go for his family. The juxtaposition of a seemingly dark and ruthless character and the love he has for his family is enticing and creates even more depth to Ray’s character, and Liev Schreiber portrays both sides of Ray Donovan flawlessly.

8 “Sunny” (9.0)

When one of Ray’s clients — Cookie– confronts Ray’s boss, demanding the rights to Marvin Gaye Washington’s music, Ray is forced to intervene and makes the deal for his boss, but his boss goes back on the deal, leading Cookie to take action. Meanwhile, the journalist, who is determined to take down Ray Donovan, reopens the investigation she previously closed.

This episode brings a seemingly unimportant subplot to the spotlight in an incredibly heartbreaking and unexpected way. The tension, the high-stakes emotion, and the dark plot twist “Sunny” takes is the reason this episode is ranked as one of the best, while still only being the third highest ranked in season two.

7 “Baby” (9.1)

After a daring escape from the Stanton Island Police, Ray is confronted by his toxic father, Mickey, who demands money Ray no longer has. The police officers pursuing Ray make a shocking move to get to him, kidnapping his daughter, which sends Ray into a rage and unites Ray and Mickey to a common goal.

This episode further explores the lengths to which Ray will go to protect his family. The previous episodes in season six build up to the events of this episode, letting the tension finally spill over and create the intensity that leads it to be one of the highest-ranked episodes in the sixth season. The acting in the episode is all-around excellent, conveying the love, betrayal, and anger it explores.

6 “Never Gonna Give You Up” (9.1)

Ray continues his hunt for his daughter, who is now being held by a Stanton Island police officer, Mac, but now Ray has the whole Donovan family on his side, creating a war between the city’s police officers and his family. With his actions catching up to him, Mac has a decision to make.

This episode continues the war between Ray and the police officers, carrying the intensity of the previous episode into this one. With stakes continuing to grow as the season six finale approaches, the episode ends with a somewhat ironic but chilling twist, leaving the aftermath to be discovered in the next one.

5 “The Dead” (9.1)

The season six finale follows Ray as he works with the rest of the Donovans to clean up the aftermath of their war with the Stanton Island Police, as well as take care of some final grievances. Ray’s daughter gets married at the city hall and her husband is met with the realization of what it is like to be in the Donovan family.

This episode acts as an emotional and somewhat uplifting finale to season six and is highly ranked because of this. Ray Donovan’s character continues to develop and the episode ends with the hope of Ray’s continued improvement. This episode explores the Donovan family dynamic more and ultimately brings them back together after Ray tries to distance himself from them in previous episodes.

4 “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (9.1)

The Donovans face the past and Ray discovers the truth of his sister’s death, which is a topic that can be seen haunting Ray in previous seasons. The truth about his sister’s death leads to a final face-off between the Donovans and the Sullivans, a family they have a long-time grudge against.

This episode is the unintentional series finale for Ray Donovan, which left some unanswered questions and unfinished business, but as a season finale, it was well-received, ranking higher than any other season seven episode. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is intense and emotional, answering the long-term question of what happened to Ray’s sister and why her death stuck with Ray all these years.

3 “The Captain” (9.1)

Abby struggles to choose between Ray and a detective named Jim, who is almost the antithesis of Ray. Mickey shifts his focus to horse races for a new plan to make money after a previous attempt left him with less money than he intended.

This episode was a fast-paced season finale that not only closed out the storylines opened at the beginning of the season but also continued to raise the stakes for Ray Donovan, leaving questions about how the next season will proceed with Ray’s story. It was well-received due to its fast pace and the way in which it closed out the storyline in a satisfying way while leaving it open-ended enough to lead into another season.

2 “Exsuscito” (9.3)

With the theme of fatherhood at the forefront of the episode, Abby and Terry share the truth about what is going on with Ray’s daughter with him. The entire Donovan family faces danger following Mickey’s confrontation with The Minassians.

This episode was the highest-ranked in season three due to the mix of high-stakes tension and family-driven emotion. Liev Schreiber’s exceptional portrayal of Ray Donovan was, once again, a driving factor in its high rating.

1 “Walk This Way” (9.4)

The entire Donovan family is forced under one roof when Ray’s son, Conor, requests that Mickey and both Ray’s brothers attend his birthday party. Ray’s daughter gets wrapped up with Cookie and Marvin Gaye Washington, despite Ray’s warning her they are dangerous.

This episode explores the idea that Ray, the man that gets paid to fix others’ problems, can’t seem to fix his own. It was highly ranked due to the continuing complexity of Ray’s character, the portrayal of that character by Liev Schreiber, and the hilarity the episode includes, as the dysfunctional Donovan family tries to stay civil when forced together.

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