rant · moment 4 of 13

Vault 7 Fallout and the Ray Donovan Deep Dive Begins

from Ray Kump Donovan · #35

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

7 min

Tim riffs on the CIA's hacking capabilities revealed in Vault 7 and how blase everyone is about it, then launches into an extended dissection of Ray Donovan's plot, characters, and absurdity, comparing it to Michael Clayton and other prestige shows.

In this bit12 moments
  • 10:48CIA software can penetrate systems and frame another country by leaving their fingerprints on the hack.
  • 10:59Leaking things we already know proves them; leaking new shit is actually valuable.
  • 11:18They've been looking into hijacking cars—we know all this, but mainstream media ignores it.
  • 11:50Tim wonders what else Vault 7 contains, speculating they could clone DNA into bizarre forms.
  • 12:13Tim and Ray disagree about Ray Donovan: Ray thinks it's garbage, Tim is defending it.
  • 12:35The premise feels like a studio pitch: four Boston brothers all abused by priests, one becomes an LA fixer with no explained background.
  • 13:03Liev Schreiber's acting style—low-key and nebbish—works for a while then becomes repetitive.
  • 13:44Tim's Long Island DJ boss loved Ray Donovan and insisted it gets better by season four.
  • 14:31The show's plot and acting are bad but it works as background viewing between better series.
  • 16:14Ray Donovan is anti-Semitic: the protagonist serves an evil Jewish billionaire named Ezra Goldman.
  • 16:46Elliot Gould plays Ezra Goldman and does great character work despite the stereotype.
  • 17:10Ray sleeps with a reporter to prevent her from exposing the FBI corruption story he's part of.
Mentioned here

Ray DonovanThe AmericansOliver PlattElliot GouldLiev SchreiberThe West WingMichael Hays

All 13 moments in this episode →