Damages

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.

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 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.

What a pleasure to be drawn into a series by such intelligent writing and outstanding acting. I couldn't wait until the next episodes. I talked to several friends each week to prolong the pleasure. In a world fun of shamefully silly and dumb programming, my hat is off to FX.I hope this show returns. The ending left it wide open for answers. I can't wait until it comes back. Glenn Close was perfectly cast as the villain; the character you love to hate. I was surprised at the wonderful acting by so many actors I had not seen and the ensemble of the cast was perfect.Why can't there be more shows with the depth and suspense? Is there any way to let fans know if this series will continue?

In approaching this, the first thing you have to come to terms with is there are NO good guys, none, zero, zip, nada. This is a legal fantasy show set in a moral universe far closer to Tony Soprano's than Perry Mason's. Hewes and Associates isn't a real law firm: it's a professional practitioner of extortion and blackmail. Patty Hewes never goes to court because she'll do absolutely anything to destroy her opponents long before they can get her into one. We're supposed to give her a pass because she's taking on big-time corporate criminals and other easy-to-hate plutocrats. And we do...but there's this lingering bad taste you can't quite shake off and that's the real genius of the thing.

Damages may be the most morally bankrupt show on TV; it's also incredibly well-acted and despite a non-linear storytelling approach that I generally find tiring, superbly written and directed. Just don't go looking for any role models in this pit of vipers.