The titular character of Ray Donovan (played by Liev Schreiber) works as a "fixer" for Lee Drexler (Peter Jacobson) and Ezra Goldman (Elliott Gould), cleaning up serious situations for elite Hollywood players.
Donovan is aided by his team of Avi (Steven Bauer) and Lena (Katherine Moennig), and works to balance his demanding job schedule with his family life.
His wife, Abby (Paula Malcomson) is aware of her husband's profession, as are their children Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) and Connor (Devon Bagby).
Ray's brothers Terry (Eddie Marsan) and Bunchy (Dash Mihok) run a local gym, using their skills as past boxers to make a living.
The series begins when Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight) is unexpectedly released from prison 5 years early and is anxious to reunite with his family.
In California, Mickey's son Ray works as a fixer for the high-powered Los Angeles law firm of Goldman & Drexler.
Ray and his associate Avi are summoned to a hotel room, where Deonte Frasier has woken up next to a dead girl after a night of partying.
Ray's employer, Lee Drexler, sends him to rectify a situation involving Tommy Wheeler, a young movie star and closeted homosexual who is rumored to have picked up a transvestite hooker.
Bunchy gets a call from Ray after attending a support group for victims of molestation by priests, and is eventually tracked down by Terry.
He stays at his apartment, where he breaks down after flipping through old family photos and seeing a picture of his sister, Bridget, who committed suicide while intoxicated.
That starts with Ray himself, Liev Schreiber, who’s long been among the most mesmerizing thing onscreen in any of his films and repeats that performance here, in a role that has enough confidence in its leading man to let him be silent often.