A father playing favorites leads to Ray Donovan tragedy: Brother vs Brother

When a father plays favorites with his sons, turbulence can turn into a straight nosedive… Mickey’s favoring of Daryll has turned him against his trusted co-pilot after a lifetime of flying together on Ray Donovan.

This article contains spoilers for Ray Donovan Season 8 Episode 6 (“Inside Guy”).

In Season 7 of Ray Donovan, Mickey lassoed in son Bunchy back into his world of well-meaning criminal debachury. Now, its gravitational pull is eyeing Daryll, weighing him down underwater with ten ton iron-plated boots of being an accessory to a murder. Just as Terry Donovan told Smitty last episode, “You married into this family for life the moment you buried those bodies in the backyard.” The elder, silver-tongued Donovan patriarch has always had a way with words but this time, brother vs. brother is more insidious than a casual, proxy middleman. This is no hostage negotiator ala Bunch and Jay White situation.

On this occasion, Daryll is shattering a Whiskey bottle on the back of half-brother Ray Donovan’s head and their line in the sand is not just cut across two different moms… But two different shades. Whether Ray’s poor choice of wording on last night’s Ray Donovan episode was intentional or not on his part, the damage has been done. To Daryll, the perceived mask of tolerance on the part of his Donovan brothers has been lifting gradually throughout the season.

(L-R): Pooch Hall as Daryll Donovan, Jon Voight as Mickey Donovan and Sandy Martin as Sandy Patrick in RAY DONOVAN, “Inside Guy”. Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME.

First, it was Terry Donovan’s ice cold response when Daryll asked for a photo of the family together… ‘All my old photos are from before my father shacked up with your mom.’ Then Bunchy commenting, he doesn’t understand why Daryll ‘even wants to be like them’ insinuating Daryll wasn’t a Donovan already. Mickey Donovan has been the only one to treat Daryll like family on ‘Ray Donovan’, promising him the riches and life he always deserved. It appeared to Daryll that when Mickey was thought to have passed on, his half-brothers had nothing holding them back from abandoning him at his mother’s doorstep.

Pooch Hall as Daryll Donovan in RAY DONOVAN, “Inside Guy”. Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME.

Ray’s words sang to Daryll’s ears like a hummingbird poking at his eardrums… And the ringing won’t stop, it’s tinnitus. Whether lyrics of truth or not, they will loop tirelessly in Daryll’s head. Yet, when Ray broke into Daryll’s apartment and was filmed as a supposed cop… A full minute passed before Ray worked out why the notion he was Daryll’s brother was even questionable. Nevertheless, the Pandora’s Box has been pried open.

They’ve shared the same stage but sharing the same father has always placed their hits on borrowed time. One verse is all it took to send this band’s career of touring together out of stadiums and into the rubble.

Be sure to read ‘Terry Donovan: Is there Life without Health?‘ and an exclusive interview with Sandy Martin on Sandy Patrick! Check out more Ray Donovan coverage in The Natural Aristocrat’s Ray Donovan category section.