‘Ray Donovan’ season 4 finale reaction: Series boss on tying up loose ends

Going into Sunday night’s finale for “Ray Donovan,” we were expecting an episode that had some sort of crazy / explosive cliffhanger. Why is that? Well, this is the sort of show that loves that! If we weren’t going to have these sort of endings, we’d wonder what show this was.

Well, we’re now wondering … but in some ways, isn’t that kind of brilliant? The show gave us tonight an ending that tied together many loose ends, and also brought Ray closer to his religious history. There was a quiet about it in some ways.

As for whether or not this was always the plan, it doesn’t quite seem so. Just take a look at what executive producer David Hollander had to say to TVLine on the subject:

“I never really know exactly what the feeling is going to be at the end of a season. I knew that when the season began the momentum from how we ended Season 3 needed to be investigated. There was no way to ignore the end of Season 3. It was a complex emotional and spiritual situation that Ray was in; there was a lot on the line. And I knew Season 4 would be about Ray’s exploration of his faith and God and family. And himself. It felt like it was time to answer, “Who is Ray Donovan?” to Ray Donovan. Ultimately, it felt like where the story wanted to go is Ray and his family being in a new [more close-knit] place. So, as we move forward, the [series’] dynamic is about a strong, complicated, dangerous, loving, slightly criminal family from Boston living in Los Angeles, who are now working more closely together.”

Ultimately, we’re very much intrigued as to where this story is going to pick up, and also what many of these characters are going to be doing moving forward. We’re hoping for an exciting season 5 where we can take potentially a jump forward, and seeing whether or not the emotional productivity we saw tonight sticks around.

If you do want to get some other news right now when it comes to “Ray Donovan,” be sure to head over here to take another look at the future of the series! Also, sign up over here to secure some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Showtime.)