Ray Donovan season 7 finale: Is Smitty dead? What’s next

Tonight’s Ray Donovan season 7 finale was not necessarily meant to be the final episode, but there were some elements of a series-ender in here. We wouldn’t say that there were enormous cliffhangers from start to finish here; instead, there was some closure. Take, for example, Ray figuring out everything when it comes to what happened to his sister Bridget, which then led to him taking out Jim Sullivan. We had a ghostly visit from the older Bridget at the end of the episode, which was an opportunity for us to get an element of closure.

Was this a creepy conclusion to the season? We’d say so, and Ray has an opportunity now to actually breathe a little easier … though not for long. He’s still carrying a tremendous burden on his shoulders.

If there is a big cliffhanger-of-sorts right now, it pertains to whether or not Smitty is really dead. Signs point to that being the case based on what we saw tonight, but can you really say anything for sure with this show? We’d mostly assume that he’s gone because there are only so many times that you can do a fake-out an audience. You’ve already done it once this season with Mickey; do you really want to do it at another point? Smitty’s a fascinating character, but we’re not going to pretend like he’s anywhere on the level of Mickey in terms of his long-term presence on the series.

So what could be next for the show? We have a hard time imagining that the writers are going to let Mickey get off the hook after being burned again by many of his family. We need to see some more big, bold moves but then also some movement that makes us think that Ray can find happiness. If we get a season 8, it’ll likely be the final one. We already have to think about that on some level.

What did you think about the Ray Donovan season 7 finale?

Did you see some of these twists coming? Be sure to share right now in the comments, and also stick around for some other news when it comes to the show.