Ray Donovan

But after five episodes, Ray Donovan is still some good performances in search of a show. It feels made up of pieces of other antihero dramas--a little Sopranos here, a little Brotherhood there, even a little Entourage around the edges. Ray is so far too much a cipher to be an engaging focal character, and his flaws and failings are those of so many middle-aged cable ass-kickers in the past decade.

[Biderman’s writing and Schreiber’s acting are] a one-two punch that haven’t scored a knockout in the first round, but there’s still time.

There's enough strong raw material on hand that Ray Donovan could eventually be built into something great. Right now, though, it's raw material in search of a series.

There's something both frustrating and fascinating about the way Showtime's classy but surprisingly dull new drama Ray Donovan aspires to greatness.

Biderman’s work here is inexplicably lazy: South Boston natives are haunted or broken; L.A. natives are narcissistic airheads. Voight doesn’t so much chew the scenery as gnaw it.

The dreary, often predictable family story begins to suffocate the show as it gains ground over the first four episodes.... Ray Donovan benefits from strategic use of character actors in supporting roles.

The series exists within its own ugly system, mining the by now tired convention of the thoughtful thug--the same idea that was so brilliantly subverted by more ambitious series, such as “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad.”