Ray Donovan’s new sweetheart paramour Molly Sullivan should be a familiar face to Better Call Saul fans… As actress Kerry Condon plays none other than Stacey Ehrmantraut on the AMC series!
Ever have a hunch you’d seen someone before but couldn’t put your finger on it? Worry no more! AMC and Showtime’s respective universes have collided as Mike Ehrmantraut’s daughter-in-law is playing Ray Donovan’s Season 7 romantic interest. In a way, this is the second time actress Kerry Condon has portrayed the love interest of a figure whose best of intentions are subverted by their father’s corruption.
In Better Call Saul, Mike Ehrmantraut’s dabbling in ‘dirty money’ as an officer causes an avalanche worthy domino effect for his son. Akin to Mickey Donovan’s decision to go from ghost-status to actively searching for his 1977 betraying co-conspirators. In both cases, Kerry Condon’s Molly Sullivan and Stacey Ehrmantraut have been caught in the crossfire of family disputes. Except Molly Sullivan is not married to Ray… Yet.
Bridget Donovan directly advised Molly Sullivan ‘she wouldn’t get anywhere close to her family if she was her.’ Better Call Saul’s Stacey Ehrmantraut found out the hard way what it means to be part of a family with subtle criminal overtones… It cost Stacey the love of her life and made her a widow with a young child in tow.
On Showtime’s Ray Donovan, Molly is similarly hunting down a promise of emotional pain. A moth attracted to the flame, flying up to the ceiling light knowing it will eventually burn, piece by piece… But being unable to divert or choose a different, more rational path. While it’s unlikely Ray would ever have children again without Abby to raise them with him, the prospect of a deeper relationship is raised in front of Molly. A carrot dangling off a fishing hook at the end of a treadmill.
(L-R): Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan and Kerry Condon as Molly Sullivan in RAY DONOVAN, “The Transfer Agent”. Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME.
Thus, Molly will avoid all the warning signs of her predicament, the photos, mystery phone calls, and dirty dealings. She will keep a steady pace of chasing Ray, no matter how worn out her sneakers get day after day without rest. While Stacey Ehrmantraut only discovered the realities of her husband’s death post-mortem, here the ominous signs are laid out on the table. Perhaps, Molly intentionally ignoring her own father’s corrupt operations has led to her cognitive dissonance. As Ray and the Donovan family make no qualms about the type of people they are and always will be.
Better Call Saul’s Mike Ehrmantraut and Ray Donovan are both shown to be on the positive side of the moral compass quite often, leading to the question… What’s the threshold or line crossing in which a good person does enough bad to officially join the other side? Is it truly in the eye of the beholder, internal perception? A Freudian style Ego, ID, and Superego? Or always majority decision as voted by citizens of a society?
Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut – Better Call Saul _ Season 4, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Nicole Wilder/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Better Call Saul talents are no strangers to appearing on other major shows. In fact, Patrick Fabian (Howard Hamlin) made a memorable cameo on HBO’s Barry last season!
Be sure to check out more Ray Donovan coverage on The Natural Aristocrat’s Ray Donovan category section!
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