For fans who love a TV show likeReacher, the appeal is obvious - stoic masculinity, brooding heroes, and justice served with a clenched jaw and clenched fists.Reacher, based on Lee Child’s novels and led by Alan Ritchson’s physically imposing performance, delivers the kind of straightforward action storytelling that speaks to dads everywhere. It’s a gritty, self-assured series packed with hand-to-hand combat, small-town corruption, and a hero you’d never bet against in a bar fight. The Amazon Prime Video hit has carved out its niche in the Dad Show Hall of Fame by leaning into old-school thrills and no-nonsense problem-solving.
Here’s the thing, though:Reacherdidn’t invent this genre, and it didn’t perfect it either. A full decade before Jack Reacher punched his way through dirty sheriffs and drug-dealing kingpins, another show gave viewers a similar high. Not only that, but it did it with more emotional complexity, more layered storytelling, and a main character who could crack skullsandcrack under the weight of his past. The best Dad Show of all time aired on Showtime beginning in 2013, and its name wasRay Donovan.
The Showtime Series Delivered The Same Brooding Masculinity As Reacher But With More Emotional Depth
Before there wasReacher,there wasRay Donovan, which ran for seven seasons on Showtime starting in 2013. Set against the glitzy but toxic backdrop of Los Angeles (and later New York), the series starred Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan, a Hollywood fixer who handled the messes of the rich and powerful - everything from bribes and blackmail to body disposal. Ray was the kind of guy who could threaten a studio executive with one hand while cradling his traumatized child with the other. That blend of hardened violence and damaged vulnerability made him a different kind of action hero: one that wasn’t just built for bar fights, but built to carry the weight of generations.
Much likeReacher,Ray Donovanis a TV show tailor-made for fans of strong, silent protagonists. Ray rarely raised his voice, but when he did, people listened, and when he didn’t, they often got punched in the face. Yet what madeRay Donovaneven more compelling than something likeReacherwas its emotional scope. Ray wasn’t a drifter solving other people’s problems, he was a deeply flawed man constantly at war with his own history.Ray Donovanused its titular character’s issues to delve into themes of family dysfunction, trauma, Catholic guilt, and the curse of loyalty, and it worked perfectly.
Thehighly quotable Showtime thrilleralso featured a powerhouse supporting cast, including Jon Voight as Mickey Donovan, Ray’s ex-con father, whose chaotic return to the family’s life in episode one (“The Bag or the Bat”) kicks off the series. Paula Malcomson played Abby, Ray’s tough but tragic wife, while Eddie Marsan and Dash Mihok portrayed his equally damaged brothers. Every family dinner was a landmine of pain and secrets, the kind of quiet drama that could explode at any moment - and frequently did.
Ray doesn’t want to be the way he is, but he doesn’t know how else to be.
What makesRay Donovanfeel like the ultimate Dad Show is howit blends brute strength with emotional repression.It’s a show where punching a wall is a valid form of therapy and forgiveness is a foreign language. Yet through all its violence and tragedy, it maintains a kind of bruised nobility. Ray doesn’t want to be the way he is, but he doesn’t know how else to be. That internal conflict gave the series more weight than a typical action-driven procedural.
So while aTV show likeReacheroffers visceral thrills and satisfying takedowns,Ray Donovangave dads everywhere something even more relatable: the feeling of being relied on by everyone, understood by no one, and haunted by the past - all while trying to keep it together.
Ray Donovan Is Not As Action-Packed As Reacher, But It’s A Very Engaging Show
Reacher’s Fight Scenes Are Swapped For Psychological Tension And Family Drama
There’s no denying thatReacherthrives on adrenaline. Its bone-crunching fight scenes and muscular pacing are part of what makes the Amazon Prime show so rewatchable. In contrast,Ray Donovanoften simmers whereReacherexplodes. However, just becauseRay Donovanhas fewer physical altercations doesn’t mean it’s any less intense - it just channels its tension differently. For fans looking for a TV show likeReacher,Ray Donovanoffers a more character-driven form of drama, with payoffs that hit just as hard emotionally.
This isn’t to sayReacherlacks emotion, butRay Donovanjust goes deeper
Theaction inRay Donovanis more strategic and less frequent, but when it happens, it matters. It’s not just fists flying for entertainment’s sake, it’s fists flying because years of buried trauma are finally boiling over. When Ray hits someone, it’s not just to take them down; it’s because something inside him is breaking, again. This isn’t to sayReacherlacks emotion, butRay Donovanjust goes deeper, pulling viewers into a world where every choice feels like it comes with a cost.
The pacing ofRay Donovanalso sets it apart. WhereasReachermoves like a freight trainfrom one beatdown to the next,Ray Donovantakes its time. The show is more comfortable letting storylines unravel slowly, building toward emotional crescendos rather than action climaxes. That slower pace might not be for everyone, but for those invested in character and consequence, it makes for gripping television.
Another key difference is setting.Reacherthrives in small towns full of secrets, whileRay Donovanlurks behind the Hollywood curtain - a world of agents, athletes, and aging movie stars with skeletons in their closets. Ray’s job is to make those skeletons disappear, and watching him manipulate, intimidate, and occasionally beat the truth out of people is its own kind of thrill. Moreover, once the show moves to New York in season six, the stakes somehow get even higher, as do the emotional costs.
For any fan of a TV show likeReacher,Ray Donovanoffers a more introspective alternative, still centered on a tough protagonist with a dark past (one that’splayed to perfection by Liev Schreiber), but with a much richer story. You might come for the grit, but you’ll stay for the family dynamics, the expertly written drama, and the moments that don’t just raise your pulse - they break your heart.
Reacher
Cast
Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a former military police investigator, as he navigates civilian life. Without a phone and carrying minimal belongings, Reacher drifts across the country, experiencing the nation he once served, and encounters intriguing challenges along the way.
Ray Donovan
Ray Donovan is a Showtime original crime series starring Liev Schreiber as a Los Angeles “fixer.” Donovan can make the rich’s problems disappear, but the same can’t be said for his family’s criminal activities. Ray Donovan lasted for seven seasons and was followed up by a TV movie in 2022.
