Damages: Im Netz der Macht

I took notice of this show once it was Emmy nominated in 2008. I have regretted that decision. This is by far one of the best dramatic shows I have ever would definitely say one of if not the best on right now.

IMDb remarks that this and Mad Men were the first series nominated from cable for best drama. Personally Mad Men doesn't compare to this show if you ask me. The writing is intricate, complicated, and very intelligent. The acting is top notch (evidenced by several emmy and golden globe nominations over the years). And of course the production and direction are impeccable as well.

All of that being said if you want a show where you literally have to watch every episode to keep up with whats going on and will challenge you with every episode this is the show for you. One of the best and most intelligent shows around, hands down.

Glenn Close is superb as the fierce attorney Patty Hewes, a woman who takes on the big boys for big bucks. Over the five years of this series she takes on corrupt billionaires, the US Army, corporate America, computer hackers, Wall Street, and anyone who gets in the way of her ambitions.

Into this maelstrom comes a brilliant but naive young lawyer named Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). She's hired to help take on a nutty billionaire (Ted Danson) who has stolen his employees' retirement fund. She soon learns that in Patty's world there is no line between private and business lives, and she's soon sucked in. But it's a dangerous world full of treachery and murder and revenge.

Tate Donovan co-starred in the first three seasons as Tom Shayes, Patty's right-hand man and law partner. He's excellent. Others who play important roles over the course of this series include William Hurt, Judd Hirsch, Janet McTeer, John Goodman, Ryan Phillippe, Campbell Scott, Marcia Gay Harden, John Hannah, Martin Short, Lily Tomlin, Chris Messina, Dylan Baker, and Keith Carradine.

Only season 4 was a little disappointing with its endless war scenes from Afghanistan. Usually, the plots closely follow Close and Byrne as they maneuver to control the other. The series is full of surprises and superb acting.

One of the best dramas ever to grace a TV screen.

I just finished watching the finale of season one of Damages. All I can say is bring on season two! I missed the show when it originally aired and read about it later. I was fortunate enough to download the complete season although it took some doing.

Truthfully the reason I was uninterested in the show originally was because I've never been able to warm up to Glen Close since Fatal Attraction. Not an unusual reaction I guess. But I am so glad I finally got over my aversion to her which was based only on a character she played.

She is in fact a terrific actor, as is Rose Byrne who plays Ellen Parsons.

I cannot compliment this show enough. It was a real surprise to me. I have always enjoyed legal dramas but this is so much more. It is a thriller really and different from other legal ensemble shows which concentrate on courtroom drama. This one never enters the courtroom.

Starting at the end and working back in flashbacks it is so interesting. Like a giant puzzle which you put together piece by piece. By the end most of the pieces are in place. Enough to make you feel very satisfied.

However, there are still enough little pieces left out to start a new puzzle for season 2. So as I said "bring on season 2 asap".

One last thing. Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher was great as well. Played with understated evil I found this to be his best role ever.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a show which requires thinking and concentration.

Congratulations to the producers, writers, cast and crew. Excellent.

I expected it to be great, but not this perfect. It takes 'riveting' to a whole new level. The show manages to have so much going on but always kept me involved and wondering what these people were hiding, how they are connected, what twist was coming my way and most importantly, how the events we were seeing happen in the present were going to lead to the ominous and frightening glimpses we get to see of the not so distant future. There's a lot happening and a lot of mystery around every corner, but it never feels like it's wandering too far into an unknown direction or getting too far ahead of the viewer. It's clear that every scene has a purpose and the writers now exactly where they're going and how they're getting there. So whenever something happens that's a little bit over the viewer's head at that moment, you know that it's going to be explained all the way soon. Everything that happens comes together in the final picture. And the journey to that final picture is one of the most compelling I've ever taken. Each of the thirteen episodes brings a remarkable amount of believable character development that looking back to the first episode after finishing the finale, it seems like I began by watching completely different people. There is so much information, so much mystery, so many twists and turns that are so comfortably displayed with such raw intensity throughout. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time, and every episode just had me aching for the next one. Genius stuff.

The acting more than deserved all of the immense praise that it received. Glenn Close gives a shatteringly intense performance that is frighteningly commanding. Rose Byrne is perfect as the one character who makes a huge change throughout the first season. She plays this transition from the gullible, naive new attorney to a hardened, revenge-driven women as if she were born to do it. I've loved her as an actress since I first laid eyes on her, but she still managed to impress me in a way I couldn't have imagined. She's never had a role this dark, this adult...gone through so many different levels of maturity and emotion without hesitating for a second. She holds her own against Close, and that is no easy task. We see her go from being a tool in Patty Hewes (Close's character) end game to being an almost mirror image of Hewes herself. Zeljko Ivanek is the cast member who surprised me the most, though. I've seen him in shows before (24, Oz) but he was never given the room to really display his immense talent like he was given in this one. He has a quiet intelligence to him that always drew my attention towards him on screen, and his character probably faces the most tragic journey throughout the first season. And he makes the southern drawl his character has seem as if it's been his voice since the day he came out of the womb. He deserved that Emmy and then some. Ted Danson, Noah Bean and Tate Donovan round out the main cast of this perfectly acted thriller.

Wow, this series deserves an 11 because 10 just does not give it justice. I put this series on the same pedestal as Sopranos and Deadwood. Fabulous, intriguing, more addictive than crack cocaine (and better for you). I just cannot praise this series enough. The acting was just superb. What i find amazing is how the performances in this series and for instance Deadwood were so much better than any acting performance in any movie for the last decade. They should be giving Oscars to these series because they are far higher quality than Hollywood films.

Glenn Close is utterly brilliant, and so is everyone else really. Each and every character is so well casted it is hard to find anything to criticise. I suppose some might say its a little gory but I don't think so.

Actually the only complaint i have is at the BBC who aired the series in the UK. They put it on at the most stupid time at night when it was clearly the best piece of television they have on the BBC. This series left everything else behind it in a cloud of dust.

Watch it and watch it again. TV this good is very rare.