“It’s going to be a shitty day.” – Patti Hewes upon discovering a grenade in her mail
Hopefully that doesn’t hold true for fans of the show Damages. While there’s still a few months to wait for season 3, season 2 of Damages will be available on DVD on August 31. I for one will be picking it up. And I’ll watch it intently…again. And spend the months until season 3 trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Damages is one of the best shows on TV in a long, long time.
If you haven’t been watching, and you should be…here’s how season 1 started…first scene….newly-minted lawyer Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is hired on to a law firm “Hewes and Associates”, run by Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). The next scene…Ellen, partially dressed, is running down a Manhattan street, covered in blood, having left her fiancé dead in their bathtub. The next 12 episodes cover how she got from point A to point B….or do they? Sometimes the show asks more questions than it answers…and there’s a twist in every episode that you will not see coming…no, you won’t. They will so seriously fuck with your head that you won’t know what to expect.
I’m not a huge Glenn Close fan, but she is fantastic as Patty Hewes, the ‘take no prisoners, I want it my way and I will stomp on you to get it, and watch out, because I might have you killed’ head of the firm. Rose Byrne is also great. Ellen is not the stereotypical newbie…she’s as (or almost) devious as Patty. The acting is terrific across the board. Tate Donovan, Ted Danson, Zeljko Ivanek, Mario Van Peebles, William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden are just some of the cast members. If you’re a fan of the erstwhile show The Wire, keep an eye out as some of the actors from that show make appearances. Flight of the Conchords fan will notice a couple of familiar faces as well.
Everyone in the show plays their character with just enough ambiguity to make it impossible to tell if they’re good or bad. And, just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they throw a curve ball. Not once have I seen one of them coming. The writers do a great job of keeping the viewers off balance with their twists and turns. Some lead somewhere, some don’t. And some ends don’t get tied up. I don’t know yet whether Damages will be like The Wire; which told it’s story over 5 seasons and then ended, or if it even has a complete story to tell. It’s hard to judge at this point, but that’s part of what keeps me watching. I just never know what’s coming next.
I’m even starting to wonder if I’ve got the characters backwards…is Patti good and Ellen just wants us to believe she’s bad to cover the fact that Ellen is bad? It keeps me so off balance, anything could happen. And probably will.
I can’t tell you any more than that, except that the end of season 1 sets up season 2….so if you haven’t watched season 1, pick it up and watch it before you start season 2. Then hunker down for the wait until January 2010 for season 3.
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I live in western Canada.
My favourite shows are Damages and Dexter.
I believe John Hodgman may be the funniest person alive.
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