'Ray Donovan' season 3 episode 8 recap: 'Tulip' opens with Ray digging a grave

Actors Liev Schreiber (L) and Jon Voight of the show ''Ray Donovan'' listen to a question on stage during the Showtime panel presentation of the 2013 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California, January 12, 2013. Reuters/Bret Hartman

Showtime’s "Ray Donovan," Season 3, Episode 8, titled “Tulip,” started with Ray (Liev Schreiber) digging a grave for somebody and then recalling the previous events that happened earlier in the day. Several hours before, Ray was in bed with Paige (Katie Holmes). He seemed to be very tense as he contemplated on the possible problems that his current situation could result to.

Paige, however, appeared more relaxed. Later, Paige reminded Ray that they only have until the end of the day to finish the Napier deal, which means that they have to pay $90 million (AU$128 million) for the land. If things go according to plan, Paige will have her NFL team, with Ray getting a stake in it.

Ray’s plan involved framing Napier by filling his bag with heroin so that he gets arrested for trafficking before boarding an airplane. Ray aimed to help get him out of the predicament in exchange for reducing the price of the land. However, this did not pan out as initially planned because Helen (Stephanie Erb) had a change of heart.

In the meantime, Andrew Finney (Ian McShane) broke ties with ex-lover Varick Strauss (Jason Butler Harner). Varick was hurt and he confronted Andrew about it, which eventually led to an argument between them. Finney got a fire poker and hit Varick in the head, killing the latter.

Ray also thought about murder when Father Romero (Leland Orser) arrived at the Fite Club looking for him and then telling Bunchy (Dash Mihok) to call Ray. Romero then gave him a box full of evidence to implicate Bunchy in the death of his abuser. While Ray started to consider his options, he received a call from Andrew who was asking for his help. Finney needed to get rid of Varick’s body. Subsequently, Ray was shown to be with Avi (Steven Bauer) while digging the grave. The episode did not reveal the identity of the person who will be placed in the grave.

Mickey (Jon Voight) continued to go deep with the Armenians. Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) went after her teacher. Ray agreed to help out Finney with his predicament. He thought that he can exploit the situation by convincing Finney to pay Napier’s price which would also completing the deal with Paige. Together with Lena (Katherine Moennig) and Avi, the team reunited and worked together to clean up Finney’s mess. At the end of “Tulip,” Ray continued to think about Romero’s words regarding repentance.

Bunchy’s wedding will be up next on Episode 9 of “Ray Donovan” Season 3, titled “The Octopus.” This will air on Sept. 6 at Showtime.

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Ray Donovan | Next on Episode 9 | Season 3