Forget 'Tulsa King,' This 7-Season Crime Series Deserves Another Look
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.
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Paramount+ owes much of its subscriber base to Taylor Sheridan. Starting with Yellowstone, Sheridan built a massive library of television shows, including The Mayor of Kingstown and Landman. The odd duck out might be Tulsa King, though it has less to do with Sylvester Stallone playing a hardened gangster and more with the series' reception. Over four seasons, Tulsa King has drawn mixed reviews and seen creative turnover, yet it continues on; it's even getting a spin-off later this year with Samuel L. Jackson's Frisco King. Another Paramount+ series is a near-perfect crime thriller that will hook fans and non-fans of Tulsa King alike.
We're talking, of course, about Ray Donovan. It premiered on Showtime in 2013 and stars Liev Schreiber in the title role. Ray Donovan is an extremely skilled "fixer" who uses any means necessary to keep the rich and powerful out of trouble. Yet his life is overturned when his estranged father, Mickey (Jon Voight), is released from prison. Mickey eventually slips back into his criminal ways, drawing the FBI's attention; as a result, Ray struggles to balance his career and family life while staying one step ahead of the law. The result is a gripping thriller that rivals The Sopranos or Breaking Bad instorytelling.
'Ray Donovan' Crafted One of Television's Best Antiheroes
While Ray Donovan debuted in an era when television embraced antiheroes, its titular character stood out because of his dedication to his family. Ray looked after his three brothers, struggled to keep his marriageintact, and wanted to make surehis kids were raised right. At the same time, he was utterly ruthless when it came to his job, keeping people in line via threats of blackmail or violence. Even when one of his bosses threatens to fire him, Ray coldly responds, "I'm not the kind of guy you fire." While Breaking Bad slowly dragged Walter White into darkness,and Mad Men had Don Draper struggle with his vices, Ray Donovan found a perfect balance for Ray's development.
This balance drew a dedicated audience: Ray Donovan became one of Showtime's highest-rated shows at its premiere and ran for seven seasons. The series was suddenly canceled in 2020, leaving fans shocked — as well as Liev Schrieber and showrunner David Hollander. The duo had plans for an eighth and final season that would finally see Ray and Mickey resolve their bitter family feud, and they would eventually get to tell that story, though not in the way they expected. Showtime would greenlight a Ray Donovan movie meant to wrap up the series, with Hollander telling Vulture that fans rallying online made the movie possible.
"It’s become clear to me that the living organism that is Ray Donovan is not just a collaboration between those of us who make the show, but a collaboration, a shared ownership, with our audience."
Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh
Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.
🍷Lecter
🃏Joker
♟️Moriarty
🪙Chigurh
01
What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.
02
How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.
03
What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.
04
What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.
05
They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.
06
What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.
07
What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.
08
How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.
The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…
Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours. Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from the encounter.
Hannibal Lecter
Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the conversation is.
- Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
- You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve is exactly the door he would knock on.
- The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence. It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
- He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.
The Joker
Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.
- The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
- He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool you would normally reach for.
- His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend the rest of your life proving him wrong.
- He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Moriarty
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.
- Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from: a mind the equal of the hero's, pointed the wrong way.
- You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he has already built the room.
- This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs the game to be worth playing.
- It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.
Anton Chigurh
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.
- Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
- You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no interest in how capable you are.
- No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
- Call it. He will wait.
A Paramount+ Hit Owes Its Existence to 'Ray Donovan'
Ray Donovan's legacy lives on in an unexpected way, as it gave birth to one of Paramount+'s hottest series. Plans were made for Guy Ritchie to direct a spinoff series titled The Donovans, which would focus on Ray's family members carrying out the fixer buisness overseas. Eventually, the series was reworked into MobLand, though much of Ray Donovan's DNA remains. Like Ray Donovan, Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy) is a grizzled fixer dedicated to his job and his family. The major twist is that his "family" is the Carringtons, a criminal dynasty struggling to hold on to the empire they've created. MobLand also follows in Ray Donovan's footsteps by becoming a massive streaming hit, and it's certain to keep going now that a third season's in the works.
While Ray Donovan might have come to an unexpected end, it still remains one of the best modern crime thrillers. Liev Schrieber crafted a compelling character who stands apart from other antiheroes, while still retaining the necessary edge. Tulsa King's crew should watch this series and take notes.
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