Thursday, January 28, 2010

Totally Re-Hooked on Damages


Well, we can add Damages to the list of shows I really shouldn't delay watching. At the very least, I should never ever read Entertainment Weekly's spoiler column unless I am 100% caught-up on every single show I watch. You'd think I'd learn by now. But just because the final twist was somewhat spoiled for me (and I'll delay discussing it until later in case you missed this SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN THE DAMAGES SEASON 3 PREMIERE) doesn't mean I wasn't able to enjoy an exciting premiere that got me immediately as hooked as I was in season 1.

In fact, there was a lot about the premiere that harked back to the original pilot. There was a Patty and Ellen face-off in a public bathroom. There was a successful attempt to get a witness to cooperate by harming what they love pretending to be the other side (thankfully this time the target was a motorcycle instead of a dog). And, of course, an ending revealing something not so nice 6 months in the future.

But unlike in Damages' first season, Arthur Frobisher was nowhere to be seen, as a whole new case is beginning. And unlike last year, where it took the writers awhile to get the case going, this week's episode put us right into it. Louis Tobin (Len Cariou) is a Bernie Madoff-like figure who screwed over a whole bunch of people in a Ponzi scheme. His family - wife Marilyn (Lily Tomlin), son Joe (Campbell Scott), and daughter-in-law Rachel (Reiko Aylesworth) - seem to be left with nothing, but Patty's not so sure. And this year she's pitted against Martin Short's Lenny, a Tom Hagen-like lawyer who's known the family forever.

A plot based on Bernie Madoff seems more like something for Law & Order than Damages (and L&O has already done it), but even one episode in it's clear this is just a starting point. In fact, Louis has the least screen time of all of the Tobins, as it's the question of how much the rest of the family knew that drives the season. So far, Joe seems legitimately clean. The good husband and father, trying to do the right thing. Which is how William Hurt seemed this time last season too. This is Damages; you know he's gonna turn out to be bad. We don't have to wait too long to see how, as by episode's end Louis reveals the hidden money exists. Think Joe will turn over the info to Patty? Not a chance.

Damages is known for its against-type casting - Ted Danson as a bad guy, Darrell Hammond doing drama - but this season goes a lot further by putting Tomlin and Short in dramatic roles. How are they doing? Too soon to tell. Neither is yet entirely convincing in their parts, but we don't know much about them yet. Short's been able to show some menace in his taking down of the reporter, so Lenny may very well be Patty's most formidable foe since Ray Fiske. And if Marilyn thinks Patty's "not too sharp," well, she's bound to be disappointed. As for Scott, he seems to be underplaying his part a la William Hurt last season. It didn't work out too well for him, but I think Scott will pull it off. And I'm always happy to see 24's Michelle Dessler back onscreen.

It's strange that I've gone this far and have barely mentioned Ellen, the clear main character for the first 2 seasons. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the "6 months later" flashforwards are for the first time all about Patty, not Ellen. This year Rose Byrne may actually belong in the supporting actress category she is continually nominated in, because Patty has emerged as the protagonist this year. Having left Hewes & Associates (now Hewes Shayes Associates) to work in the DA's office (for Angels in America's Ben Shenkman), Ellen's a bit out of the action so far. We know it won't last.

Lots of other intriguing developments. Keith Carradine pops up (following roles on Dexter and Dollhouse) as a potential romantic interest for Patty, but again, this is Damages, so he's got to be up to something shifty. The phone number Louis called on that fateful Thanksgiving night belonged a homeless man...who also appears in the flashforward....with the purse Patty gave Ellen.....what?

Finally, the ending, which perfectly mirrored the pilot in revealing the death of a major character, in this case Tom Shayes. I know this should seem like a shocking and daring decision, but it just feels like 24 syndrome to me. Ever since 24 killed Terri Bauer, seasonal character deaths have become almost mandatory for suspense shows. And as happened to 24 after it killed off its entire supporting cast in season 5, I worry it could hurt this show later on. Damages only has three continuous characters, with the rest of the cast changing every year. So without Tom, we're really just down to Patty and Ellen providing the show with any continuity.

On the other hand, this is an even bigger deal than David's death, and raises the stakes for the season all the higher. Knowing the case will ultimately take Tom's life (and apparently turn him into Howard Hughes?) makes this more than just a Wall Street thing, but the kind of high-suspense, high-risk case that Damages does best. And Tom finally has a big story and, presumably, more screentime for it. Last year the show took too long to get the case going and got bogged down in way too many characters and plot lines. This year there's a single main storyline and the stakes have already been made abundantly clear. All signs point to an addictive and unmissable season ahead.

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