Show 101: Damages

Patty Hewes will eat your children and then take herself out for ice cream.

SHOW: Damages

NOW SHOWING: Season 3 premieres Monday, January 25 at 10pm

AIRS: Mondays at 10 pm on FX

WHY YOU MIGHT LOVE IT: Legal thrillers don't get much more cutthroat than Damages. Unique, fractured storytelling, cool audio and editing tricks, and the best ensemble cast on TV make Damages one of the best shows on any network. White-knuckle television with plenty of "ooohs" and "aaahs" included.

WHY YOU MIGHT HATE IT: Looking for the big courtroom showdown with gasps from the jury, lawyers screaming "Objection!" and a judge pounding a gavel like he's making chicken-fried steak? You won't find it here. Also, Damages definitely falls into the category of 'shows that are best watched from the beginning'—new viewers may find themselves scratching their heads. The show demands your undivided attention because so much happens, and it's not for the faint of mind.

THE PREMISE: Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is fresh out of law school and possesses a legal mind that's as sharp as Johnny Cochran's rhymes. The whiz kid's promise attracts the attention of high-stakes litigation lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), known as much for her reputation as a nasty capital-B as she is for her ability to squeeze every cent out of corporate fat cats. But Ellen's dreams of being a hotshot lawyer are shattered when her fiance is murdered, and she believes Patty had something to do with it. Full of twists, turns, loop-de-loops, more cat-and-mouse games than a Tom & Jerry cartoon, and murder and broken trust around every corner, Damages is the celluloid equivalent of a John Grisham page-turner, only much, much better.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The producers of Damages absolutely LOVE to tease their viewers, and if you don't mind having your limbs pulled in every single direction, it's a fantastic ride. Season 1 opened with Ellen wearing a trenchcoat and covered in blood. Season 2 opened with Ellen talking to an unknown person and brandishing a gun; two shots were fired. The remaining 12 episodes of each season work backwards and sideways to answer those questions through flashbacks and teeny-tiny reveals.

In Season 1, Hewes and Associates tackled a case of a CEO, Arthur Fobrisher (Ted Danson), accused of insider trading. Season 2 saw Patty go after an energy company—the evil-sounding Ultima National Resources—accused of dumping toxins into the environment. Patty did her thing and ultimately slam dunked both cases, becoming a national celebrity. These cases, as entertaining as they are, serve as a backdrop to Patty and Ellen's relationship, which has gotten to the point of attempted murder. Not exactly a healthy working environment. With Ellen having found out that Patty did set her up to be murdered at the conclusion of Season 2, Ellen (who's now almost as ruthless as Patty) thinks it's best she works for another company.

Season 3—premiering tonight—involves a case reminiscent of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, in which a man siphons millions of dollars from gullible investors using loopholes in the legal system. The new cast members include Campbell Scott as the son of the schemer (and possible beneficiary of the stolen cash), Lily Tomlin as the matriarch of the clan in question, and Martin Short (who is great in the role) as the family's lawyer with the unenviable task of tangling horns with Patty. Ellen has moved on to work at the D.A.'s office, and wouldn't you know it, all things will tie in together eventually. Tom Schayes (Tate Donovan), Patty's second-in-command, finally gets a bigger role in the series this season as well.