Damages – Season 1
Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10)
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See you in court!
The Lowdown: Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) is one of America’s most respected/feared litigators. Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is one her ambitious new protégés. Together they become embroiled in a bitter lawsuit against one of the wealthiest, most corrupt CEOs in the country, on behalf of his wronged employees.
Review: Damages rumbles into life in arresting fashion, as a blood-soaked Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) stumbles out of a building and starts running panicked through the streets of New York, where she is promptly arrested. Six months earlier we see newly minted lawyer Ellen snapped up by ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes to work for her prestigious firm. So how did this bright, determined young lady end up disorientated and splattered in blood? That, as you might expect, is the crux of the matter. Despite her notoriety in legal circles, Patty Hewes is working on the biggest case of her career. She is hell-bent on destroying Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), the self-made billionaire who ripped off his employees, lying to them about the state of his company while simultaneously unloading his stock. This move bankrupted 5000 of Frobisher’s loyal employees. The CEO and his duplicitous Southern lawyer, Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek), are adversaries to be reckoned with, but Patty loves a challenge and has more than enough dirty tricks up her sleeves. However, the battle quickly spills out of the courtroom and into the personal lives of everyone involved…
Whereas too many legal dramas prove to be dull, unimaginative affairs, Damages injects new life into the genre by fusing the courtroom procedural with a baffling whodunit-style murder mystery. This potentially clumsy blend is handled with aplomb by the assorted directors, who include, strangely enough, Mario Van Peebles. Naturally, Glenn Close is magnificent as the hard-nosed litigator who will stop at nothing to vanquish her courtroom nemesis. Rose Byrne is similarly impressive as the talented but naïve newcomer, and Ted Danson and Zelijko Ivanek both deliver the goods as the guilty party. The phrase ‘guilty party’ only tells half of the truth however, as Patty herself is more than happy to employ underhand tactics if it means securing victory. Morality is a grey area and comes firmly in second place where power is concerned.
The impressively constructed events unfold on a dual time-line (the past and the present), before events converge in the revelatory finale. This technique pays dividends and leaves you on entertainingly unpredictable footing.
Despite rave reviews in the US, the show could only muster relatively small audiences. In contrast, on BBC1 the show began strongly, actually managing to increase its audience share in subsequent weeks. Nevertheless, despite its American woes, the show has already been confirmed for an unprecedented further two series, largely due to the magnetic presence of Glenn Close.
The package is solidified by a respectable selection of special features, including deleted scenes, featurettes and audio commentaries. All in all, Damages is a hugely satisfying thriller that contains more than enough twists and turns to keep courtroom-wary viewers hooked.
FILM: 8 EXTRAS: 6
DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Glenn Close, Ted Danson, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan
Directed By: Various, 2007
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 581mins
Price: £34.99
Special Features:
Episode Selection
Deleted Scenes
‘Wilful Acts: The Making of Damages’ Featurette
‘Trust No One: Insight From The Creators’ Featurette
‘Understanding Class Action’ 3-Part Interactive Guide
Audio Commentary on ‘Pilot’ with Creators/Writers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, Director Allen Coulter and Glenn Close
Audio Commentary on ‘I Hate These People’ with Creators/Writers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman and Actor Zeljko Ivanek
‘The Shield’ Final Season Teaser
