The original post: /r/television by /u/The_Lone_Apple on 2024-06-02 11:56:14.

Spent my Saturday finishing up Season 2 and all of 3 in one sitting - yes, I get focused. There are few times in life when I think a show is utterly perfect from beginning to end - both the writing and the acting. Pretty much everything presented on the screen just perfect. The half-hour episodes were just plain tight. No room for anything that doesn’t belong yet filled with everything you need. Amazing writing, direction and acting.

Some quick things:

  1. Scott Ryan is a superb actor. Ray commanded every scene he was in yet never chewed up the scenery. Ryan’s portrayal was as tightly coiled as the character. You just see him quivering under the surface until he explodes.
  2. I compare it to The Sopranos with it’s mix of crime and mundane, humor and drama. Except that I think this show did it better. The wild swings from humor and violence were like a coin-flip yet never out of place. Genuinely funny moments mixed with the horrors.
  3. The tender moments were some of the most heart-wrenching I’ve experienced in a show like this. Nicholas Cassim’s portrayal of Bruce was just awe-inspiring. I didn’t think I’d have a moment like the welling-tears I had when Bruce said goodbye to Britt for the last time. I hope Cassim won accolades for his performance because the way he portrayed Bruce’s suffering was so human, so humane, so real, that I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done that well before.
  4. I thought Ryan did a good job with the growth of Ray as a character from beginning to end. It’s something I thought the Sopranos could’ve done better with Tony, although I think the point Chase was trying to make was that nothing really changes. As we saw at the end, Ray is still an extremely dangerous person, but he’s been changed by everything he’s been through (especially with Zoe who really puts him over the top).
  5. Maybe I’m not seeing it right, but I enjoyed the ending very much with Ray as a taxi driver (or should I write it Taxi Driver). If meant, a good gag. Other favorite moment was the confrontation with the bully’s mother. How Ray goes from trying to be nice to his real self with a simple, “OK,” after she says, “Don’t call me love.”

I could write more but this is enough. Great show. I’ll remember it forever.

Addendum: I now desperately want to eat dimmies.