review of Ray Donovan 3.1 

Ray Donovan was back on Showtime Sunday night for its third season, in a show that was even more of a downer for Ray than usual.  Not that this is a bad or unappealing state for the narrative - indeed, the heart of Ray Donovan has always been occluded for one profound reason or another - but Season 3 three finds Ray on a new, lower plane.

Ezra\'s death - which made me unhappy, too - is certainly an apt occasion for Ray\'s darker mood.  But the background of that situation, which we saw come to a head at the end of the last season, is the deepest source of Ray\'s current view of his world.  Ezra wanted Kate killed, despite Ray\'s pleas and warnings.  Avi killed her, a betrayal in Ray\'s eyes in some ways even worse than Ezra\'s.  This one-two punch in the gut has left Ray without moorings.

Did he love Kate?  Possibly, probably not, but that\'s not the point.  He liked her enough to not want her killed, even though what she was doing was about to put him in serious danger of going to jail. The superficial explanation of why Ray didn\'t want Kate dead was that he cared for her so much that he was willing to risk his own freedom to keep her alive.  But I\'d say the truer reason is that Ray had confidence in his ability to ride out the storm, someway, whatever Kate did.

And, if that was true, then Ezra\'s and Avi\'s betrayals were not just a slap at this feelings for Kate, or a simple case of their not following his commands, but a rebuke and contempt on their part for Ray\'s capacity to always fix things, including for himself.  At the very core of Ray\'s being is his belief in his almost omnipotent ability to set things right.

So this a different Ray we see at the beginning of this third season.  It will be fun to see how he copes with his new client, and a potential new adversary - the Church itself.

And I\'ll be back here next week with a new review.

See also Ray Donovan 2.1: Back in Business ... Ray Donovan 2.4: The Bad Guy ... Ray Donovan 2.5: Wool Over Eyes ... Ray Donovan 2.7: The Party from Hell ... Ray Donovan 2.10: Scorching ... Ray Donovan 2.11: Out of Control ... Ray Donovan Season 2 Finale: Most Happy Ending

And see also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger ... Ray Donovan 1.8: Poetry and Death ... Ray Donovan Season 1 Finale: The Beginning of Redemption

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The Plot to Save Socrates on 10 Perfect Summer Reads Authored by NYU Alums

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Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.  His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003),  Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).  His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.  Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"  “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),  “Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

Chronicle of Higher Education puts Paul Levinson in Top 10 (#7) of Academic "High Flyers" on Twitter ... Online University Data puts PL in "Top 50 Online University Professors on Twitter Worth Following"...

Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren\'s fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom

President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 1998-2001

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"What begins as a seemingly innocent campaign against indecency … always segues in short order into political censorship."

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winner Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction Novel, 2000

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100 rare + unreleased tracks were on sale April 18-21, 2011. All proceeds went to help Japan! Thanks for your generosity! Tracks included Tori Amos, Sara Bareilles, Josh Ritter ... and Paul Levinson singing "Sunshine\'s Mine"!

Twice Upon a Rhyme reviewed in Jan-Feb 2011 Shindig Magazine

Paul Levinson appears on "The O\'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline" (ABC), the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "The Dylan Ratigan Show" (MSNBC) and frequently on NPR and all-news radio...