review of Ray Donovan Season 4 Finale 

Ray Donovan was the most satisfying and enjoyable of all the season finales of this series, so far, because--  [spoilers follow]

Well, it was a happy ending.   Just about everything broke good for Ray.  Abby says her cancer is receding.   Ray has killed all the bad Russians.   The Feds are happy to get credit for busting the Russian drug ring.   Campos won the fight, which makes Terry happy, which makes Ray happy (at least at about Terry being happy).  Terry\'s also happy because he\'s finding the love of a good woman. Avi is ok and back in action.

Indeed, this ending is so happy that it\'s surprising, making this season\'s finale not only satisfying but unexpected, which is rare combination for season\'s finale on television.

The fly in the ointment for Ray is that he\'s not happy about his family being turned into, if not killers, outright, into his supportive gang.  It\'s ok, even redeeming, for Ray that Mickie does some of the killing.   But not Bunchy.  And he can\'t be completely happy with Abby stepping up to be his partner in everything, including his crime.   And the truth is, and notwithstanding his profession, Ray doesn\'t like people who kill people.   That\'s why he killed that nasty Russian earlier in the season with such zest.

Meanwhile, about Abby, the one part of the happy ending that came out of the blue was her cancer going away. I\'d love to see it gone for good, but there\'s always the danger that it could  come back again next or in some future season.  I hope not.

But it\'s nice to close the book on this season in such an everything\'s-coming-up roses way.  Ray deserves it after all the travail.  And I\'m looking forward to what new trouble he has to get him and his family and clients out of next year.

See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In ... Ray Donovan 4.4: Bob Seger ... Ray Donovan 4.7: Easybeats ... Ray Donovan 4.9: The Ultimate Fix

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

w/time-travel stories about Orson Welles, John Lennon, David Bowie

The Chronology Protection Case movie, with new extended ending

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

my Internet Science Fiction Data Base bibliography

This blog quoted in New York Times & Los Angeles Times & Boston Globe & The Atlantic!

TWICE UPON A RHYME on iTunes and Amazon ... SPUN DREAMS on iTunes and Amazon ...

ICYMI: recent interviews with Paul Levinson in Barren Island Books ... The Morton Report ... SpecMuse ... The Cult of Me ... Patrick Satters blog ... Hungry Writer ... Kathleen Valentine\'s blog ... Take the Plunge ... Writer\'s Bloc ... Noahkmullette-gillman blog ... Book Goodies ... johnmac Radio Show ... It\'s Psychedelic Baby!" .... Chris and Carl\'s Film Box ... Michael Ventrella\'s blog

Digital McLuhan #16 on Robert Anton Wilson\'s recommended book list ...

Sopranos Conference at Fordham Universty, May 22-25, 2008

Enjoy Levinson\'s Field Guide to Republican Tics

EllisLanding ... wide variety of books in excellent condition at low prices

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

I’m proud to be on the May 8 page of this calendar, with the following quote:

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

YouTube one-on-one with Bill O\'Reilly, Patrick Buchanan, Jesse Ventura, James Cameron, more

Educated Tastes food, drink, restaurants, recipes, groceries

Reverbnation Twice Upon a Rhyme and Spun Dreams albums

Stephen King's 11.22.63 on Hulu: Three-Part Drama ...

Tyrant Season 3 Finale: A Sarcastic "Good Morning,...

Winner of Portable Story Time-Travel Writing Conte...

"the only people who have proof of their sanity are those who have been discharged from mental institutions"— Marshall McLuhan

The Factor about the private lives of news anchors

winner Locus Award for Best 1st Science Fiction Novel, 2000

"Forensic detective Phil D’Amato one of my favorite characters" -Connie Willis

"superb & often amusing account of one of greatest revolutions in human history" -Arthur C. Clarke

James Harris covers my "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)"

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

radio stations that have played tracks from

Twice Upon a Rhyme ... JackMix.FM ... RockOn365 ... Garage Lombus ... Way Off the Grid Radio ... BeautyRadio.com ... mjc Radio ... Progulus Radio ... fatBuzz ... The Rock Doctor ... Radio BGC ... Swan Fungus ... Gratitude Radio ... Travelling Underground ... Real Hit Radio ... More than Music and Memories ... Boston Internet Radio ... Memory Lane Radio with BIG BOB ... Outside the Dial ... Family Dog Radio ... Golden String Radio ... Positively Charged ... R@dio Dimension ... My Retro Radio ... Plastic Tales from the Marshmallow Dimension, WNYU, 89.1 FM, New York City ... Pete Fornatale\'s Mixed Bag, WFUV, 90.7 FM, New York City ...

Science Fiction Magazines and Bound Galleys for Sale

science fiction magazines for sale: Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Locus

Bound Galleys for Sale: Science Fiction and Fanta...

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...