S04.E11: Chinese Algebra

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

As Ray devises an attempt to save Avi, Agent Barnes makes him an offer.

[Puddy]

Well, I saw the two spawns of Satan getting into a vehicle.  I hope they both go far, far away.

[paigow]

11 minutes ago, Puddy said:

Well, I saw the two spawns of Satan getting into a vehicle.  I hope they both go far, far away.

There is a brand new safe house in Primm....the last place Arlo would look....

[paigow]

Preview clips for tonight....

http://www.sho.com/video/50578/youre-not-going-anywhere

http://www.sho.com/video/50597/dead-man-walking

[yourmomiseasy]

I was so tense worried about Avi this entire episode.  I was worried the Russians had already killed him or if they hadn't then Mickey or Connor were going to cock things up.  Then at the exchange I was worried they were going to shoot Avi after giving him to Ray just as a big fuck you.  Then I was worried the cops were going to shoot him.  He looked really rough, I hope he pulls through.  There are so many other people on this show to kill. 

Edited September 12, 2016 by yourmomiseasy

[Puddy]

Avi looks just fine in the previews.  I was way too relieved. 

I loved Lena saying she was not leaving. 

[yourmomiseasy]

I thought that was him in the previews, but it didn't make sense to me that he'd look just fine unless it was a flashback or weeks/months in the future.  He looked broken.  

[Puddy]

His left hand was wrapped.  It looked like it was his hand that was putting a silencer on a gun because of the bracelets.  It also showed him walking into the gym but I think he was limping a little.

When I saw him all beaten and bloody, I was so upset that I shocked myself!  I swear to God, Avi, Lena and the dog are off limits.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I don't understand how Mickey keeps getting so lucky. He just happens to meet  stripper who, instead of telling the cab driver to just go so she can steal his $2 million in cash at Fat Ernie's, takes him to some trust fund douchebag so he can place his bet (and give her $10K for her trouble). Then when he beats said trust fund douchebag at ping pong, the douchebag is honorable enough to place Mickey's bet instead of throwing his ass out. I was sure that when TFDB took a selfie with Mickey, that was going to end up biting Mickey (and Ray) in the ass.

A person who doesn't hate Connor might think it's honorable of him to want to stay and help Ray, but all I could think was OMFG you whiny piece of shit, GTFO  already! And let's be real - how much of a help is Connor EVER? He would just end up getting himself shot or being taken hostage and then Ray would give himself up to save Connor. Ugh.

Since Ray made a big deal of telling Mickey he's not a rat, he's definitely going into witness protection, right?

Darryl needs to get over himself. He turned down a job that pays $750/week because he thinks he's too good for it. Sorry, Darryl, remind me again how much you are making from your non-existent job just hanging around the gym right now?

[Gobi]

It was entertaining, albeit contrived, how it was set up to look like Mickey was going to screw up placing the bet at any moment.

Can someone explain to me how the FBI always knows exactly where Ray is when they want him? Is there a tracking device in his car? His phone? Is there a mole?

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Gobi said:

Can someone explain to me how the FBI always knows exactly where Ray is when they want him?

Agents unqualified for X-Files duty are assigned to follow Ray 24/7...

 

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Then when he beats said trust fund douchebag at ping pong, the douchebag is honorable enough to place Mickey's bet instead of throwing his ass out.

Douchebags always help dipshits...douchebag can make big money if Hector stays on script.... 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Connor is such an idiot. I think it'd be great if a stray bullet caught him in the crossfire. Right through the eyes.

Something seems fishy about that weekend stripper Mickey met on the plane. Smells like a setup though at this point I'm not sure who would be behind it.

I cannot imagine the Donovans going into witness protection. Connor would blow their cover the first week bragging about what a gangster his dad used to be back when they lived in LA and their last name was Donovan.

"I'd do almost anything for $10,000." Oy vey, that's sad. Bet Mickey's gonna be returning to that well.

Hey, Ray draws the line at being a rat but he has no problem murdering people. He is certainly not a good Catholic boy, hah hah. Whatever, I think he should drop a bomb on those guys for what they did to Avi.

[Yakimaman]

Can anyone tell me how Mickey got on an airplane with a carry-on bag full of cash?  Can't imagine TSA not taking a look.

[yourmomiseasy]

I don't think it is illegal to take a carry-on full of money on a plane to Vegas.  You can't take more than $10k through customs without reporting it and all bank transactions over $10k must be reported by the bank, but there's no law against traveling within the US with large amounts of currency.  Law enforcement could decide it is suspicious and seize it, but I could see Mickey talking his way out of that and on to the Stripper Express.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Yakimaman said:

Can anyone tell me how Mickey got on an airplane with a carry-on bag full of cash?  Can't imagine TSA not taking a look.

He told them it was counterfeit for the feature movie he wrote....

[preeya]

In the finale preview Ray says "If I can't trust the Feds I have to turn to family."  He's a frigging murderer, why would he ever consider a trust with the Feds?

Edited September 12, 2016 by preeya

[Gobi]

Another unanswered question.

Can someone more knowledgeable about boxing than I am, please explain how Hector, after his big loss in his last fight, is the 30 to 1 favorite in the rematch?

[preeya]

43 minutes ago, Gobi said:

Another unanswered question.

Can someone more knowledgeable about boxing than I am, please explain how Hector, after his big loss in his last fight, is the 30 to 1 favorite in the rematch?

Actually what they were betting is called a proposition wager and doesn't necessarily mean Hector is a 30-1 favorite in the fight. The bookies were willing to give 30-1 that Whitaker (sp) wouldn't knock out Hector in the sixth round. A much different wager than just betting on who will win.

Of course if Hector takes the fall, Ray's "sure thing" is worth 60 million.

Edited September 12, 2016 by preeya

[Gobi]

6 minutes ago, preeya said:

Actually what they were betting is called a proposition wager and doesn't necessarily mean Hector is a 30-1 favorite in the fight. The bookies were willing to give 30-1 that Whitaker (sp) wouldn't knock out Hector in the sixth round. A much different wager than just betting on who will win.

Of course if Hector takes the fall, Ray's "sure thing" is worth 60 million.

Thanks for the explanation!

[Puddy]

I wanted Ray to stuff Conner in one of the lockers at the gym.

[Dobian]

I love how on this show the criminal underworld is just everywhere you look.  Every time you turn around you bump into a loan shark or a hooker or a drug dealer.  Yeah, walk on a plane to Vegas and it's full of strippers (I've flown to Vegas, I didn't notice any strippers...maybe they were dressed nice).  And of course you can board the plane with your bag of TWO MILLION CASH, no questions asked.  And the stripper happily takes you to see her super wealthy money launderer with his all-day porn star parties.   Who just meets these people randomly?  Like ever.  

[Gobi]

2 hours ago, Dobian said:

I love how on this show the criminal underworld is just everywhere you look.  Every time you turn around you bump into a loan shark or a hooker or a drug dealer.  Yeah, walk on a plane to Vegas and it's full of strippers (I've flown to Vegas, I didn't notice any strippers...maybe they were dressed nice).  And of course you can board the plane with your bag of TWO MILLION CASH, no questions asked.  And the stripper happily takes you to see her super wealthy money launderer with his all-day porn star parties.   Who just meets these people randomly?  Like ever.  

Plus, the FBI always knows exactly where you are, except when you're dumping a dead body into a lake.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Dobian said:

 And the stripper ...  

...has never heard of Lingerie Football

[Bannon]

6 hours ago, Dobian said:

I love how on this show the criminal underworld is just everywhere you look.  Every time you turn around you bump into a loan shark or a hooker or a drug dealer.  Yeah, walk on a plane to Vegas and it's full of strippers (I've flown to Vegas, I didn't notice any strippers...maybe they were dressed nice).  And of course you can board the plane with your bag of TWO MILLION CASH, no questions asked.  And the stripper happily takes you to see her super wealthy money launderer with his all-day porn star parties.   Who just meets these people randomly?  Like ever.  

Yeah, it's a little much. On the other hand, I did strike up a conversation with a guy in a Bangkok bar once who recruited me to play the role of the drunk young American, at a blackjack table in a Manila, PI, casino, pretending to not know his ethnic Chinese associates who were supposed to have the other spots at the table, as we scammed the casino, with the dealer's help. I was young, it sounded like fun, so I went along, until I began to think that the easiest way for these guys to dissolve our partnership, once the loot was grabbed, was for them to feed me to the sharks a few miles offshore. Waited for an opportunity, then got the hell out of the hotel suite where they were practicing the scam, and made a run to the bus station, a grabbed a ride to morthern Thailand to disappear for a few weeks. 

It's a strange world, even if it's a little too  frequently strange in Ray Donovan.

[yourmomiseasy]

11 hours ago, Dobian said:

I love how on this show the criminal underworld is just everywhere you look.  Every time you turn around you bump into a loan shark or a hooker or a drug dealer.  Yeah, walk on a plane to Vegas and it's full of strippers (I've flown to Vegas, I didn't notice any strippers...maybe they were dressed nice).  And of course you can board the plane with your bag of TWO MILLION CASH, no questions asked.  And the stripper happily takes you to see her super wealthy money launderer with his all-day porn star parties.   Who just meets these people randomly?  Like ever.  

It is a real thing that flights from the LA area to Las Vegas on Friday and return flights on Sunday have a lot of strippers on them.  Strippers look just like normal people when they aren't in their work clothes.  The weekend money in Vegas is pretty good.  I knew a girl that would go out 2 weekends a month and didn't have to work that much otherwise.  

[paigow]

16 hours ago, yourmomiseasy said:

It is a real thing that flights from the LA area to Las Vegas on Friday and return flights on Sunday have a lot of strippers on them.  

Ergo, LA strip clubs suck on the weekends because the good ones are in LV...

[missy jo]

I don't hate Connor as much as many do, because I think Ray and Abby are shit parents.

Despite his blather about family, Ray's never shown an interest in his son. And Abby shrugs off her breast cancer news once again. Being a mother is her main identity, but she doesn't care about sticking around for her kids. 

[Christina]

I just think they write Conor to be a whiny, know-it-all brat. Bridget, too, and along with Abby, the three are almost over-the-top annoying. Since Ray is a bad guy, they have to balance him out. Mickey is scummier than Ray, but no where near as effective. His brothers are much more innocent, unless Ray or Mickey pull them into a scam. His employees of Avi and Lena are loyal to him because he is loyal to them, except when he is -- let's say blackmailing Avi for a piece of evidence by bringing a hostage into his mother's home.  In the give and take of his family life, Ray has to be on top so that we forgive Ray for being a chip off Mickey's block.

[ethalfrida]

Ray's occupation doesn't go with the characters he's been given as a family. Writers for the Sopranos did it way better. A.J. was a creep but I didn't wish him off the screen. Same with Carmela and Meadow. For me, if they removed the wife, kids and brothers then the show would be way cooler. 

[Loandbehold]

Quote

For me, if they removed the wife, kids and brothers then the show would be way cooler. 

I don't mind Terry and Bunchy. They give us a look of Ray outside his work. But, removing Abs, Bridge, and Connah would allow more time for Lena and Avi. That would be a very good thing.