review of Ray Donovan 4.4 

Singing has played an important role in this 4th season of

Ray Donovan, but never better than tonight\'s episode 4.4, in which Ray does a standout karaoke of Bob Seeger\'s "We\'ve Got Tonight" - or at least a few lines of the song really sung by Liev Schreiber - and a splendidly touching reprise of the song capping off the episode by Ray and Abby.

Ray and Abby harken back at that moment to Kenny Rogers\' and Sheena Easton\'s great reprise of the Seger song - though it also reminded me a bit of Kenny Rogers\' and Dolly Parton\'s version a few years later, when Dolly comes on stage and sings "Who needs Sheena Easton" instead of "Who needs tomorrow" (see below for videos of the two performances - decide for yourself which is better).

I could talk about this song all night, but back to Ray Donovan, it\'s also worthy of note that Ray karaokes the song at the insistence of Ed Cochran, now singing karaoke himself after Ray nearly got him killed and did indeed kill his illustrious career with the FBI.   All of this part of a plan to reach into prison, with another part of this same classic, Rube-Goldberg-Ray-Donovan scheme getting Ray involved, against all odds, with Mickey.

Mickey has a signally good night himself, evoking the best line of evening, which comes from the old dame who drives him back to LA.  Her price?  "It\'s not gonna lick itself".   I better quit on that line while I\'m ahead.

And Abby has a good night, enjoying the kiss she got from a woman - a former lover of Lena, though for all I know they did more.   Anyway, Ray Donovan is off to its most enjoyable season so far, and here are the two Kenny Rogers\'s videos of which I spoke.

See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In

And see also Ray Donovan 3.1: New, Cloudy Ray ... Ray Donovan 3.2: Beat-downs ... Ray Donovan 3.7: Excommunication!

And 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

Labels: Bob Seger, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Ray Donovan, Sheena Easton, television

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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.

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