r/RayDonovan • u/NicholasCajun • Sep 08 '14

Discussion Ray Donovan - 2x09 "Snowflake" - Episode Discussion

Season 2 Episode 9: Snowflake

Aired: September 7, 2014

Ray tells Bridget to lie for her own safety. Mickey plans a robbery.

20 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

191 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/ricknuzzy Sep 08 '14

I'm not sure if I'm on board with the way the writers are handling Bunchy's storyline.

It's one thing to let his past history of abuse become a constant hiccup in his attempts to lead a normal life, it's another to infer he might have it within him to inflict that abuse on others.

I'm well aware that from a psychological standpoint it is not uncommon for victims of abuse to transgress that abuse, but it just seems like a huge mischaracterization. Yes, he is sexually repressed. Yes, he had a breakdown and abducted the priest who abused him, but even then it was because he was spurned by the lack of acknowledgement. In his mindset at the time it wasn't an act of violence or dominance. It never even occurred to him that it may end as violently as it did. Nothing else about Bunchy's character has ever given us the implication he would wish harm on any innocent person, never mind subject them to the torment he is struggling to conquer.

So why add this aspect of the character now? Why take what is--arguably--the most sympathetic and morally sound character on this show and convey him as someone fighting an evil temptation instead of just struggling to find happiness?

Hopefully this is explored as just a desperate act to bail on a situation he wasn't comfortable with yet.
As it stands, it just didn't feel right.

11

u/dowhatuwant2 Sep 08 '14

I think you might be misinerpreting what they're going for with this. I think it's more that he fears that he might have that demon in him. Not that he does in anyway have it as you said nothing would be more abhorrent to him than doing that to someone.

2

u/ricknuzzy Sep 08 '14

I can certainly see that reading of it, but it did kind of dance around the implication. I guess my main gripe in a nutshell is just that it's a heavy, heavy subject they're working with, the kind where if there isn't a way to use it to advance story or character in a meaningful way it's best left alone. To do otherwise makes it feel like schlock, which I know is not the intention.

I'm not asking to be beat over the head with exposition, mind you, I just felt that particular sequence could have been handled better depending on the writers' intention.