And with Ray, he refused to face reality, instead kept telling himself he could save her. And it resulted in him being away from the family, from her, at the end; he missed the goodbyes. But on top of that he actually pulled it off, by hook and by crook getting her a place in that trial that may have saved her, relieved and happy, only to return and find that she'd ended it, it was all for nothing and what he'd refused to face was now his reality. IRL that would destroy a person. And that's what he's been dealing with the whole season, we just didn't fully know. When I talk about character-driven vs. plot-driven, that **** was character-driven.
Abby was the ONE person that Ray could not control... And she owned that episode. And the reactions by all were plausible and I concur with your character vs plot assessment.
Sent from Q's S8+