By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Ray Donovan‘s Season 7 premiere on Sunday ended with a bang that possibly probably almost certainly resulted in the death of a pivotal character.
In the closing seconds of the David Hollander-penned episode, a prisoner transport vehicle carrying Donovan family patriarch Mickey (played by Jon Voight) collided with a tanker truck, setting off an explosion so massive that, by our estimation, no one within a mile of the blast perimeter could’ve survived.
But before we investigate Mickey’s maybe-meet cute with the Grim Reaper, let’s discuss the events that led up to the climactic fireball.
“Faith. Hope. Love. Luck.” picks up right where the series’ grisly Season 6 finale left off. Under the distrustful eye of Ray, fugitive Mickey turns himself in. We then jump ahead four months and see that Ray is making some headway in his weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Alan Alda. Yes, he’s still beating suspected bad guys to a pulp, but he now has the presence of mind to apologize to them afterwards. “I don’t think I handled that well,” he laments to a stalker post-pummeling, before urging him to “get some help.” Also, he’s getting his ever-present daddy issues under control, so much so that he visits Mickey in prison and forgives him for being the worst father this side of Darth Vader. Unfortunately, Mickey promptly snaps his son’s sorta-olive branch in two — “You forgive me?!” he hisses. “You should get down on your f–king knees and beg me to forgive you!” — but progress is progress is progress.
Meanwhile, Ray gets word that the sawed-off head belonging to one of the crooked cops he fatally shot to death last season has been reeled in by a fisherman, and detectives were able to determine the make and model of the gun used after performing a bulletectomy on the gnarly noggin. Ray decides to kill two birds with one stone and pin the murder on an already incarcerated Mickey. All he needs is a set of Mickey’s fingerprints to apply to the gun in question. [pmc_inline_gallery]
So, Ray makes a beeline to the upstate prison where Mick is being transferred and awaits his arrival. Only he’s never coming, and that’s because — as we noted above — the bus transporting him collided head-on with a tanker truck. (The explosion triggered a fireball the size of Staten Island.) Simultaneous to that, a doped-up Terry sees his dear old dad’s corpse in a vision, which seems to only confirm pop’s demise.
Of course, if the Donovans do one thing well it’s cheat death, so I suppose it’s entirely possible that in the span of a millisecond a handcuffed Mickey managed to escape the bus via the compromised rear exit door and clear the mile-wide blast zone on foot before the tanker made contact with the vehicle. [FYI: Official images from next week’s episode made their way online earlier this month, and they appear to spoil the outcome of the Mickey cliffhanger. TVLine had decided not to run these photos, and we kindly ask those readers who have seen the pics to exercise restrain in the comments section.]
Do you think Mickey will emerge from the fireball alive? Would you be OK if this was his last hurrah? Sounds off in the comments (and, while you’re at it, grade the episode in the poll below).
With all the “foreshadowing” regarding the back door of the prison bus (held closed by bungee cords), it’s not too far fetched that Micky saw what was coming, pushed open the door and was far enough away to escape the inferno. Without Micky, the show loses a big reason to watch.
If Mick is dead, I’m done. Love the show, but Mick is my favorite character. I agree with Belcher.
Agreed!
I agree, he is the main character that holds the shows interest. LOVE MICKEY
Us too.
Mickey is the one thing the other shows do not have.
Well said, and I concur
John Voight’s “Mickey Donovan” steals more scenes than the total sum of banks he robbed back in his Southie days…..Closing in on Bonanza’s “Little Joe” for casual killings. He has to remain to take the crown.
If Mick goes, I go!! I’m still angry that they killed Abby off… Not Mick too!!
Yeah, I’m still real bitter about Abby. Losing Mick will be a deal breaker!
Otherwise why make a big deal about two crappy bungee cords and the resigned look on the guard’s face of “Well, let’s hope that’ll holder ‘er.”
But that’s just stretching credulity for us to think a mortal would make it out of the vehicle that actually collided with the fuel truck. I’ll be taking off a lot of credits for plausible direction if Mickey walks.
And the only way I will believe Mickey is dead, never to show up again, is if his head ends up on a morgue table too.
Voight is listed on IMDB as being on the show into 2020…Mick survived
Mickey bores me to death. He’s one note and disinteresting. Kill him off.
Mic drop
Right?! Mickey doesn’t do anything but screw thongs up! He’s way more trouble then he’s worth and I personally find Jon Voight to be a bit irritating with his mannerisms and always trying to weasel money from anyone in the family and he’s screwed over every one of his kids so please write him off Showtime!! Ray Donovan sont need Mickey to be a hit still!
I agree, I’m not a big fan of JV character Mick. If he is truly gone from the show I can’t say I’d miss him. The many different personalities of Ray are more than enough to keep me watching.
When a character dies in tv shows, your articles dont start with a question. You guys are so presible and you think readers are stupid. I saw this happen several times over the years.
I think Jon voight should stay because he’s an interesting character and unpredictable. A great long time actor who helps boost ratings.
Nope. Mickey made it out alive. Repeated 4 leaf clovers, but within Mickey’s view and sometimes only in our (the viewers’) view. So that’s a big hint. Another hint: the broken rear door on the bus. 95% of TV shows never have throw-away action in any of their episodes. There’s a reason for that broken door and I can only think of one – a place for Mickey to escape.
So there goes Ray’s plan to pin the cop murders on him. What to do, what to do….
Do you remember the sequence of ‘visions’ that lead up to Mickey’s big at the track?
The 4-Leaf Clovers are essentially the same mechanism.
Mickey lives to fake his own death.
Is Ray in on it, or does he believe Mick is dead?
Feels like we will see Mick again…with an ultimate twist.
But Ray still has to get Mickey’s fingerprints, otherwise they’re all going to jail. So Mickey can’t be dead.
He escaped and will eventually seek out Ray. He knows Ray isn’t mad at him anymore because he took the fall for Bunchy. Plus Ray already said he forgave him. That’s when Mickey gives Ray the fingerprints (Since he has to live it as a fugitive anyway.)
I hope John Voight is gone forever, can’t stand him and what he stands for. He is a true stain on the show and in real life.
And I’m sure plenty of people feel the same way about you so shut up.
Agree 100%. Suzy is not long for this world.
Hahahaha
you mean standing up for democracy, capitalism, and decency? yeah… those are horrible things!! LOL
I agree with you completely, but Mickey will be back. Jon Voight is an excellent actor, but I hate what he has become. I remember seeing Jon Voight in 1978 when he was hosting a “Bring Abbie (Hoffman) Back” event at the former Felt Forum next to Madison Square Garden. I don’t want to see him now that he’s gone full Trumpster.
Thank you for probably the lamest comment I’ve ever heard
Agree..it’s time for him to go. Ever since I learned of his love for 45 I’m done with him. No wonder his daughter and he don’t get along!
That’s ridiculous, who cares what an actors political beliefs are. I don’t agree with Robert De Niro on politics but I still watch him because he’s a great actor. We watch these shows and movies to escape reality , to forget for a little while about all the BS that’s going on in and around our lives. It’s Ray Donovan it not real life .
You don’t have tds
Yes yes yes you are going to go far….. it’s not real life and who cares what they believe in what ever it may be religious politics what ever
Your grandpa called and said go back to to Poland you trump hating liberal!
wholeheartedly agreed. What a waste of a career and privilege.
Hes not dead, hes been filming all season long. And ray punches him in the promo for upcoming episodes
I tend to agree with you however just because he’s been on set filming doesn’t automatically mean he wasn’t killed off. Ray Donovan has a history of a lot of flashback scenes. Also there’s a lot of scenes where Ray is dreaming of the past and also scenes where he imagines seeing someone from the past. Abbey died in season 5 but appeared a number of times in season 6 where Ray keeps seeing her in his mind.
Oh he is not dead, who is going to piss off Ray? He’s got more lives than a cat ….
Probably faked his death to get out of jail. Will be back later when Ray finds out. Curious to see what happens this season.
Mickey will not die and I love him! The best actor of all time. I’m so happy this season has started!
Too risky to lose the best character on the show… at least I hope so!
Ummm…. did anyone including Michael Ausiello (who wrote this article) read the upcoming plot summary for eps 3 airing on 12/1/19 titled “Family Pictures”? Eps summary says: “Ray sends MICKEY off to the Maldives in an attempt to keep him from putting the family in danger; Bunchy tries to leverage his heroism for a pay raise; Bridget gets closer with her boss; Terry goes on a trip with his new spiritual guide”. Just sayin.
No. We didn’t. So thanks a bunch for spoiling the upcoming episodes. That’s ignorant. Just sayin.
Ahem. Well Yeah, there’s that.
Poor Ray beat up and mangled body not a good thing to look at, and same for brother Terry. If Mickey is gone not much to look at
I love Jon voight so I hope he’s not gone!
In the Season 7 full trailer, it is very obvious Mickey is still alive throughout the season, he is in countless scenes. No cliffhanger here, folks.!
He isn’t dead, though it is funny seeing all those with TDS celebrating his potential on-show death just cause the actor supports the president
Definitely alive. That was his lucky break, in more ways than one.
Mickey should be gone – so irritating. Storyline is so overdone. Let’s see the other characters now. There are enough of them. Voight is so irritating. Kick his as off.
Guessing Mick isn’t dead! He got thrown clear, his plastic cuffs were melted off & his body was misidentified as one of the other inmates. You just can’t kill the Mick!
I think Mick is alive. He seen the tanker truck rolling backwards, jump out the back door onto the hood of a passing car (opp direction) then drives away.
Or he cut open a fellow convicts body and climbed in to protect him from the blast, like Leonardo DiCaprio did in the movie The Revenant.
Mick isn’t dead ;)
Mickey has always been like a cat with 9 lives AND they made such a big deal with (foreshadowing) the four leaf clover that he found on the street/tattoo/tanker logo, so luck may have it that he escaped and is still alive. Chances are though, that he was probably killed off because he is a Trump supporter. That’s too bad because he is such a phenomenal actor.
No, I don’t think it was Mickey’s last hurrah! And yes, it would distyrb me greatly if his character dies.
I generally do not watch television to get immersed in reality…as for the Mickey Donovan character – Four Leaf baby!
Even if Mick dies we’ll always have the image of him dancing to Heavy D’s “Now That We Found Love”