Damages

Unlike the first season of Damages, where the show began with Ellen Parsons running into the streets of New York soaked in somebody's blood, the second season premiere was more timid and unfolded a bit slower, but don't take this to mean it was boring. Damages is a show incapable of being boring, even in it's set-up. Here, we're presented with a jaded Ellen talking to somebody off camera, clearly upset with them. As she raises a gun, we jump ahead six months earlier, where the celebration from the Frobisher case is still ongoing, and what ensues is a series of compelling scenes that prepare us for what's to come next.



Upon hearing William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden and Timothy Olyphant were guest-starring in the show during the second season, I grew very excited. Hurt is easily one of the best supporting actors in Hollywood right now, and Harden and Olyphant are both good actors in their own respect. Purcell's plot seems the most interesting so far, and hopefully we learn more about the tension between him and Hewes. I'm assuming Marcia Gay Harden will be playing the plantiff for the infant mortality case, and Olyphant was good as a man from Ellen's grief counseling. However, there's clearly more to him than meets the eye.



The thing about Damages that attracts me the most is the way some episodes will move simultaneously slow and fast at the same time. How is this possible, you might ask? Damages is a season-long show, so during some episodes, it may feel as if the pace is unbearably slow. However, every little detail ends up becoming important as a result. I was impressed with how the premiere was able to effortlessly jump from Purcell to Frobisher to Parsons to Hewes without missing a beat. They put all the pieces in place and now the game begins.



William Hurt is a great actor and he's already proven he can act with Glenn Close and not be phased whatsoever. I'm interested in how Marcia Gay Harden will mesh with the cast, but so far, the acting is top-notch as usual. I'm usually not interested in Ellen's character, but her grief makes for more interesting plots for her.



Hopefully this season can keep up the intensity as good as the first season.

Following the Frobisher settlement Patty is concentrating on establishing a charitable foundation when an old boy friend contacts her and Patty is entangled in a new case involving corporate fraud and greed. Ellen continues working with the FBI to destroy Patty.



This show just went by off my radar I totally missed the fisrt season but I have heard now its a good show a good drama so I gave it a go with this episode. It got me up to date with the prevously stuff and I have to say this show is really great, there are so many good actors in it and the story is intresting. cant wait to watch the next episode.

This year, the Ellen Parsons Project is to destroy Patty Hewes.



Having lost her fiance to Frobie's goons, and survived the attempt Patty made on her life, this callow law school grad grew up fast. And leveraging her position for Patty's destruction is only part of it.



In Season One, we only got the sketchiest insights into Patty's motivations, and who she is and why she does what she does, and where her strength comes from. The Season Two opener spend more time inside her head than I think we had all last season.



It made Patty a little more sympathetic, and a little more human. Which means that as the season progresses, we might actually care whether Ellen destroys her or not.



The tantalizing hints at what's coming -- what the FBI plans to do with the infant mortality case, and what Purcell's work entails (great work by William Hurt, btw), and Ellen tracking Frobisher to his sickbed -- along with the gun that horrifies her then and which she's completely comfortable with now -- are heightened by the fact that so far, the only person we know survives the next six months is, in fact, Ellen.



Production was flawless. Makeup, character work and every aspect of what happened in this episode was pure art.



There are a couple of notes. If the FBI guys are going to be such as can bring down Patty Hewes, we're going to have to get to know them, and they'll have to be as dark and twisty as everyone else, so there's some development potential there.



But some love for the storyline with Patty establishing her foundation. Two birds, one stone, a couple of dead birds. When they introduced Arsenault's daughter I got such a "Dangerous Liaisons" vibe of Mme. de Mertuiel meeting Cecile de Volanges, and the word I thought of was "leverage." The cocaine bust was a little clumsy and obvious (for the viewers at home, perhaps, if not Arsenault himself) but it did establish Patty for this season as the same Machiavellian manipulator she's always been.



So she'll almost certainly find out Ellen's meeting with the FBI.



And that will almost certainly be what Ellen's planning all along.



The writing and acting in this show is so deeply involved and convoluted. Everything ties in with everything else and it's all so freeqin' wonderful, I can't wait to see what happens next. I loved Zeljko Ivanek's stunning cameo, I loved Ellen's new support group stalker, I just ... wow. Everything was as perfect as it could be.



P.S. -- When that package arrived in Patty's office .. anyone expect it to maybe be a dog collar .. ? ;)

AND I love that WITH all the AND great actors AND fantastic scenes AND the ensemble cast!



wtf I hear you say?



Honestly, how many 'And' credits can one show have? It bugs me. Irrationally so.



The credits may as well be like this:



"Damages"

Starring

Glenn Close

with Rose Byrne

and Tate Donavan

with the help of Anastasia Griffith who loves to bake cakes

with Marcia Gay Harden

and Timothy Olyphant sounds like a Lord of the Rings creature

and a pretty beat up Ted Danson

and William Hurt is cool, oh

and Remember Zeljko Ivanek?



/end ridiculous rant.



Sorry people, return to your regular program.



And I need a few extra words... there we go.

Fresh off her legal victory over billionaire CEO Arthur Frobisher, Patty is taking a break from the law and pouring her energies into her new charitable foundation. But when Patty receives a call from Daniel Purcell (played by William Hurt), a man from her past, she finds herself entangled in his case, she's becomes embroiled in his murder case



- Man those detectives are intensely boring, just really really boring.



- Any guesses on who Ellen shot 6 months later? Frobisher is the obvious choice, but I doubt it's him



- What's Olyphant's role other than weird stalker?



- It was great to see Fisk (Ivan Zeljko) again (even it was in delusion form)



- The theme song for this show is so good, anyone know who it's by?



Bottom Line: It was definitely a slow setup in this episode, but this years' storyline looks promising!!



More at www.theplurp.com

It was October 23, 2007 when the final episode of Damage's introductory season aired. For 14 months fans have waited for this hour of television. So, did it live up to the hype? Was it worth the delay?



In short, yes. The show hooks you from the opening minutes and plays with time in a way that makes Lost look like Sesame Street. The viewer immediately notices the mainstream recognition Damages as gotten as Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa are among the first faces we see. In a scene reminiscent of Kramer going on Regis and Kathy Lee to promote his coffee table book on coffee tables, Patty Hewes is on the show to share a few laughs about destroying the life of Arthur Frobisher. While not as humorous as the classic sitcom's moment, Damages instantly has you hooked under its spell.



The show pays amazing attention to detail and great camerawork gives you a movie theater feel while watching. But that's just part of how electric this show is. Besides Glenn Close and Ted Danson's incredible acting, the addition of William Hurt is already paying huge dividends for the FX series. We had a scene with a man breaking into Daniel Purcell's home that ended with a staredown that was as intense as a WWE Wrestlemania main event.



Reading reviews prior to this show's airing critics pointed out how Ellen's character has become one-dimensional. While that might be true Rose Byrne's performance is even better this season than last as we have an original character as opposed to the overused "girl fresh out of law school" concept.



It is now January 7, 2009 and the last 14 months have been worth the wait because Damages is back and as good as ever.