Warning: Spoiler Alert
Boston Globe reporter Kate McPherson’s back in Los Angeles, armed with enough information to sink the career of Los Angeles FBI Bureau Director James Cochrane and put Ray Donovan and his associates behind bars for an extended stay, in the tenth episode of the second season of the Showtime Original Series “Ray Donovan.” Donovan’s unaware of the impending danger when he wakes up on the couch of his client Steve Knight, after an evening of heavy drinking. Ray’s tongue loosened by the alcohol, told Knight about the death of his daughter Bridget’s boyfriend Marvin and that his wife Abby was sleeping with another man.
Hearing Knight repeat his words back to him, embarrasses Donovan, who says he drank way too much. The motivational speaker and author tells Ray not to retreat into his shell, that it’s healthy for men to share their problems with other men. Knight’s girlfriend Ashley, wishes their guest a good morning, then kisses her boyfriend before leaving their beach house. Just after she leaves, Steve spies Ashley’s stalker Bob on the beach below, jumps off his deck and runs after him.
Bob’s an easy catch as he has a badly damaged leg and Knight tackles him and starts wailing on his face. Ray arrives seconds later and pulls his client off the stalker, telling him to leave. Bob tells Ray that Steve beats Ashley and he’s trying to protect her. Donovan screams at him to leave and then Knight commends him for his mercy. Ray asks if what Bob said was true and his client responded what goes on sexually between Ashley and he’s not Bob’s business. Donovan responds that if Knight ever beats Ashley again, he’ll kill him and Steve tries to brush off the threat by imploring Ray to swim with him, but he refuses.
Back at the Donovan house, Abby’s asleep on the living room couch, as we see Cookie Brown entering the house walking past Abby, goes upstairs and she hears a gunshot. She jumps up from the couch, running upstairs and screaming for Bridget, who’s sound asleep in her own bed, Cookie entering the house just a nightmare. She apologizes to her daughter and leaves the room.
Ray’s in the car driving to Ezra and Lee’s law firm when he gets a call from Kate, telling him he’s a liar and then swearing at him. He asks where she is and she swears again and hangs up the phone. Donovan calls Avi, tells her McPherson’s in town and to track her down. Avi advises his boss to stay away from the reporter, but Donovan basically tells him to do what he’s told.
Although Ray and Avi can’t find Kate, we soon do as she arrives at Micky’s apartment building to ask him questions. The elder Donovan doesn’t cooperate, but he starts to slip up as he starts to tell him Ray paid Sully two million dollars to kill him, but stops at Ray paid Sully. She tries to find out what his son paid Sully for, but he tells her to talk to Ray.
Donovan arrives at the law firm and Ezra, Lee and Cookie are there, Ezra tells Ray they just gave him the rights to Rekon’s catalog and Marvin’s sessions and he’s now a client. Cookie asks if he’s now entitled to use Ray’s services and when informed he is, asks for a moment alone with Donovan. After the attorneys depart, Cookie tells Donovan, that there are rumors on the street there’s video footage of the murder of Rekon and Marvin and he wants Ray to find the tape. The fixer tells Cookie it will cost a lot to acquire if it exists and Brown responds he’s willing to pay any price to find out who killed Marvin and for the killer to receive punishment. Ray, well aware that Cookie shot both Rekon and Marvin looks confused and Brown asks him if all’s cool between them. Donovan quickly recovers and says he’ll start the search.
Abby goes to the station house of her lover Detective Jim Halloran and the two go out back of the station to kiss and talk. She tells Halloran she needs his help, she wants him to hurt Cookie, to keep him from killing Bridget. The detective’s shocked by her request and tells her if she wants Cookie punished to have Bridget report what she saw. Abby tells Jim that if he refuses her, their relationship’s over, he thinks a few seconds then walks away. She chastises him telling him to man-up, that stops him for a second, before walking off in disgust.
Cochrane gets a phone call from the President asking him to take over as new National Director of the FBI. He and his wife are ecstatic, his lifetime goal of becoming Bureau Director now within sight. He heads to the office and swamped with congratulatory presents and cards. His assistant director Tom Volcheck goes to his office and Cochrane’s secretary tries to intercept him but he walks right past her into the director’s office. Another agent’s talking with Cochrane, but he tells Volcheck the agent’s about to leave.
When they are alone Tom asks him if he plan’s to bring him to Washington and Cochrane tells him that’s not in his plans. He then asks if he could appoint him as his replacement in Los Angeles and the director turns nasty, asking him why he believes he’s qualified to assume the post. Volcheck stammers out that Cochrane’s his mentor and mentions how close both couples are (referring to their wife-swapping escapades.) Cochrane asks his assistant if he’s attempting to blackmail him and Volcheck answers no, then leaves the office.
Micky and his pal Shorty are planning to rob the safe at the local marijuana dispensary, as it’s a cash only business and the dispensary can’t get a bank to allow them to deposit their funds in. For that he’ll need his Parole Officer Ronald Keith’s cooperation, to turn his anklet that tracks his whereabouts for the night. He asks Keith what it would take to cooperate and offers him five grand. Keith asks him where he can get that kind of money and Donovan responds he’d pay him the day after he turned it off. The Parole Officer says he should send him back to jail, but Micky asks if he could give him the money upfront would he cooperate. Keith glares at Donovan but doesn’t respond, which Micky interprets as a yes.
Shorty and Micky head to Terry’s gym and after introducing his friend to his son, asks if he can borrow five grand and Terry refuses. He then talks to his son Daryl first asking for a loan then offering to include him in on the heist and he could walk away with 100 grand. Daryl tells his father he’s crazy and leaves the gym. Mickey and Shorty are about to leave as well, when Terry says he can get the money but he wants in on the heist so he can buy a business in Ireland, then he and Frances can become citizens there.
Ray’s phone rings and Cochrane’s on the other end telling him to get to his office immediately. Ray responds he’s in the process of tracking down Kate, but the director says he won’t talk about it on the phone. When Donovan arrives Cochrane plays a recording of a phone call with her editor at the Globe. She tells him she’s about to expose the President’s choice for FBI Director and may even solve the Sean Walker murder. Cochrane shuts off the recording and tells Ray he’s going to eliminate her. Donovan responds he can’t let him do that and Cochrane asks if he has a death wish, because if necessary he’ll kill Donovan as well. He then says that he’s about to undergo a vetting process by the Senate Judiciary Committee and McPherson will screw everything up. Ray tells him he’s wrong, pulls out his cellphone and shows the director the footage of the Cochranes and Volchecks wife swapping. He then tells the director if anything happens to him or Kate, the video will go viral.
Keith returns to Micky’s apartment and the old man gives him $2500, saying he’ll get he second half the day after he turns it off. Keith asks him what he’s planning and Donovan tells him no questions. The Parole Officer then asks what he can do to earn more than five grand and Micky’s gang’s set, Shorty, their friend the local hooker, Terry and Keith.
Cochrane bursts into Volcheck’s office and tells him he’s being transferred to Bismarck, North Dakota for betraying him and that Tom’s beautiful wife will never follow him up there. Cochrane leaves and Volcheck falls apart at his desk.
Abby’s back at the house and is about to take her pistol out of its safety case when she hears Ray’s in the house, she puts the gun away before he walks into their bedroom. She tells her husband they have to leave, to move back to Boston to protect Bridget from Cookie Brown. Donovan tells her she’s ridiculous and he’d never allow her or their kids to get harmed. His phone rings and Avi tells him that he’s located Kate.
Of all the people in his life, there’s nobody more protective and more concerned about Ray’s well-being than Avi. Born in Israel and most likely a former Mossad agent, he thinks of Donovan more as his younger brother than his boss. When Donovan arrives he tells his boss that he should stay away from McPherson, that he’s obsessed with her and it’s bringing him down. He’s so off his game that Abby’s sleeping with Halloran and Ray explodes and pops Avi in the mouth. As he tries to keep his composure and ride out the pain, Donovan tells him he doesn’t realize that if McPherson publishes her story they’ll all soon be in prison.
Abby’s in the living room when she receives a text from Halloran asking if she’s okay, she responds she is and he replies he’s right outside. For some reason she grabs her pistol and tucks into her waistband at her back. She opens the door and Halloran tells her he’ll grant he request. The two end up making it in his car in her driveway, like a couple of teenagers.
Kate comes back to her motel room from a burger run and finds Ray standing outside her door. She opens the door, leaves it open and he follows her in. She asks if he’s there to kill her, and he responds she’s got to drop her story or her life’s in danger from Cochrane. She asks him questions which he bats away at first, but then decides to tell her the truth. Sean Walker was high on Micky’s dope and playing with Micky’s gun when he accidentally shot Ray’s and Sully’s girlfriend Coleen. Ray framed his father because he believed he was responsible for giving Sean the dope and the gun.
She then reveals she knows that the family priest molested Bunchy and asks if Terry got molested as well and Donovan tells her to leave Terry out of it. She then asks Ray if he got molested and Donovan starts kissing her passionately and shortly their having some pretty passionate sex. As they both start getting excited, she asks him again if he got molested and he tells her to shut up. She asks him again and Ray starts strangling her and looking like he’s going to kill her. Her screams finally break the spell and she gets up sobbing and runs out of the room. Ray sits there with his head in his hands, realizing he might have just sealed his fate.
The Cochranes are having dinner with a young couple at a restaurant, when Volcheck walks up to their table and points a pistol at James’ head. Cochrane’s wife pleads with Volcheck not to shoot him and a second later shoots himself in the temple, taking his life and probably any chance of Cochrane’s confirmation.
Ray drives to Steve and Ashley’s beach house and looks out at the ocean in the darkness. He then strips naked and jumps into the ocean swimming as hard as he can. Soon we hear Knight’s voice applauding his actions.
The story will pick up again next Sunday night on Showtime.
