The intriguing, engaging conclusion to Damages Season 4

Damages Season 4 does manage to tie up all its loose ends - I'm always impressed with how well the producers and writers manage these complex plots with the unusual use of time: all four seasons begin with a dramatic event (in season 4, an apparent ritual beheading by a terrorist group) and then flash back six months or so, and in each episode, give us a few more pieces of the approaching denouement so that we gradually begin to understand the culmination of the plot, even as we're watching the plot unfold - and then all the pieces cohere in the final episode, as, for the first time, we see that final (and initial) dramatic scene in full. In other words, the season begins with its ending and gradually fills in the pieces, keeping you constantly guessing and always engaged. I think the plotting of Season 4 was the best and most coherent of any of the seasons - not that the plots are entirely believable, there are always improbabilities and absurdities, but at least they make dramatic sense: Season 1 was probably too complex, I never could figure out who killed whom or why; season 2 relied too much on a sudden surprise appearance of a marginal character; season 3 was a good conclusion but one of the key "clues" from the opening scene turned out to be a red herring - unfair! Season 4 plot involves the CIA and illegal extradition of suspects from Afghanistan for interrogation who knows where - the CIA agent a very strong a intriguing character. So it's a really good series - carried very much by Glenn Close (though I did tire by the end of her clench-jawed mannerisms) and the ever-improving Rose Byrne. A weakness, however, is the very ordinary writing - as if all the writers' attention goes into plot, and much less into dialogue; way too many dead spots and long pauses where supposedly meaning develops but it doesn't always. Examples: Close's final session with her psychiatrist, not even close in drama and revealing content to scenes in The Sopranos, or the final Close-Byrne confrontation, in which Ellen/Byrne ultimately walks off saying nothing more than: Good-bye, Patti (Close). She could have, should have, really let her have it! Anyway, lots of entertainments and very admirable series for its willingness and ability to take big risks with dramatic form and structure.

Casting against type - in Damages

Damages is known, or at least known to me, for casting against type - in most roles except for the main one, protagonist legal sharpie Patti Hewes (Glenn Close), and in Season 4 these casting decisions are for me some of the highlights of the show: John Goodman makes a terrific evil corporate pseudo-patriot fake-religio thug - he's the CEO of a company that provides private security forces for the U.S. war zones, and despite his religious, family-values mumbo-jumbo he's willing to beat or kill - or, more accurately, have killed - American citizens to protect his corporate welfare. Damages similarly cast Ted Danson as an evil corporate giant in earlier seasons, and made a soft-spoken bearded plainclothes detective who looked like a philosophy grad student the cold-blooded executioner of Season 1. Alongside Goodman in Season 4 is a CIA agent played by someone not known to me - but he seems more like a down and out country musician than our image of a pro spy. Season 4 is maybe moving a little more slowly that the first season or two - in my view, too many long scenes that dwell on moments, that allow Close too many speech mannerisms, and that don't move the plot along rapidly enough - compare with The Wire, the gold standard, about which daughter J points out there is not a single moment that you can cut or live without. Not true in Damages - but still, it's a taut plot that keeps you thinking and guessing and has a few surprises along the way. Rose Byrnes has really matured in this season, and for the first time you can accept that she actually may rise to be Patti's heir apparent - or rival.

The many strengths of Damages

Season 4 of "Damages" on F/X much like the other seasons has a really complex plot right from the start with two separate timelines that, over the course of the first few episodes, gradually and slowly converge - we hope toward a sharp and clear conclusion, but, if experience is s guide, enjoy the pleasure of this series episode by episode - it always has an improvisatory sense, as if the writers and producers start off with a lot of mysterious elements and they're not clear themselves how everything will resolve - and it doesn't always do so. That said, each season is truly exciting, provocative, and engaging - all that we hope for from a quasi-legal thriller - and more, in that Glenn Close is awesome as the ruthless anti-corporate lawyer we love and hate, Rose Byrne as protegee Ellen has gotten better season by season: as her character matures, we have also watched her mature as an actress (in contrast with this serious dramatic role, she did a great comic turn in Bridesmaides). Each season has a main guest star so to speak, and with Season 4 it's John Goodman, excellent as the CEO of a company that does military ops in Afghanistan on a contract basis: Ellen (and maybe Close/Patty) building a wrongful death suit against the company. Goodman is a devout patriot and trying to be a good man - one excellent aspect of all seasons of Damages is the refusal to make the "bad guys" into cardboard props - they're complicated characters, just like Close/Patty, just like everyone.

Questions left unanswered at the end of Season 3 of Damages

Season 3 of "Damages" does keep you watching and totally intent right up to the last moment but then, ultimately, is it a great series? For entertainment, certainly; for acting, Glenn Close is a force of nature, powerful and dominating, and Rose Byrne is maturing as an actor season by season; and many of the secondary characters - notably Lillie Tomlin, Ted Danson, and Martin Short - each primarily known as comic actors, give some of the best dramatic performances of their lives. And yet - by the end I still feel that not all the questions of the extremely complex plot were answered, not all the answers were really credible, and there are far too many loose ends, false leads, and red herrings - it definitely has the sense of something that the writing crew was building as it ran along the tracks. The 3rd season takes on a family obviously modeled on the Madoffs, but in this case the son, instead of being a hapless suicide, takes over the family enterprise and tries to access the money that dad had sheltered. In opposition, Patti Hewes (Close) tires to access the money as well to make whole those who'd lost their fortunes in the Ponzi scheme. Where this season becomes a little weaker than the first two is in that Patti plays a less central role, we don't see her wiles, smarts, and ruthlessness at work in service of her clients - most of the dirty work is done by Ellen (Byrne) and Tom (Tate Donovan). Patti's animus isn't so much against the malefactors as against the older woman who's ensnared her son, and these scenes are not too well developed and they end kind of abruptly. Lots of scenes in which Patti tries to recollect a memory of her youth regarding her first pregnancy - mysterious in a way, but a bit distracting from the main line of the plot. Lots of business about a stolen purse and a car crash in which the driver takes off - all answered, more or less, at the end. But who was this architect stalking Patti? And who was the British assistant that she fired - and why did she do so? And why is Ted Danson even in this season? And, and ... Well, overall, it's a totally fun series, especially if you can forgive a few ragged threads at the end - this is a patchwork quilt of a series, not a Swiss watch.

Surprise: 9 episodes into Season 3 of Damages, and more questions keep arising

Nine episodes into the terrific if highly challenging Season 3 of "Damages," the plot is starting to clarify, as the two time layers - the present moving forward the gap narrowing between the present narrattive and the end of the story, with Tom dead, Patti in a car crash, Ellen being interrogated (as in the earlier seasons), which we have seen in pieces since the first episode. Patti/Glenn Close remains a force of nature, and I think Ellen/Rose Byrne has matured as an actor throughout the whole series. At end of episode 9, we at last understand how Tom came to find boots and a phone in the possession of a homeless man. We see a side of Patti we rarely see as she totally loses control, angered by her son's relation with an older woman - which seems to have some echo from Patti's earlier life (a weird reference the son makes to his father's being in prison is left unexplained, for now). As is so typical of Damages, questions still raised by late-season episodes - usually the late-season episodes resolve puzzles rather than add to them. What's the deal with Martin Short's estranged father, and why is it so important to him that nobody know that his parents lived in poverty upstate? What is Arthur Frobisher/Ted Danson, industrialist who now claims to see the light and supports the environmennt, introduced again as a major character, and why does Patti intentionally provoke his anger? What's with the strange Statue of Liberty icon, where some key evidence was hidden back in Season One, and now reappaears in the car that struck Patti? Is the interrogating cop as dumb as he seems, or is it his strategy? And why is that architect pushing Patti to tear down the walls of her apartment and remodel - what will she find behind the walls? What did her ex-husband leave there?

Damages: A really smart series, with great acting from Glenn Close

I know I'm a year behind, but Season 3 of "Damages," at least from first 5 episodes, is every bit as interesting and challenging as the first two seasons. With this series, it's virtually impossible (a year after watching it) to recall the intricacies of the plot, the many twists and turns and double-crosses, but what remains is the excitement and the provocation - in part because of the odd use of time, narrrations in all three seasons told in jumbled time sequence, with cues - 6 months later, or 6 months earlier - and because we always see, right from the start, how things ended up - the various dead bodies, etc. - it's not so much that we follow a story but, detective like, we see the outcome and are trying to figure out the clues. Though it's suspenseful, it's not about suspense but about engagement. At times, I feel as if the writers themselves are trying to figure out the plot as it goes along, setting themselves a premise and figuring out how to get there, but most of the time we're in sure hands. And of course Glenn Close as Patti Hewes is a force of nature - every bit as great in Season 3 as in the earlier seasons, this time a bit more vulnerable as her husband's gone and her son is more or less out of her life. Patti, becoming increasingly isolated, is all the more ruthless - and if there's a problem in the series it's that she has no real counterpart, nobody can stand up to her. Ellen (Rose Byrne) is a stronger character in Season 3 than ever before, now working in the DA's office as they investigate a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme and as Patti fights to claim the assets for the victims - you'd think they'd be working in partnership, but there's a lot of opposition and jealousy, that for some reason - we don't yet know why or how - lead to the murder of Patti's partner, the hapless Tom Shayes. A really smart series with great acting from Glenn Close.

Damages - can anyone explain it all?

The final episode of "Damages" Season II was a bit disappointing - it had to be, you knew it would. You could see this story careening toward its ending, with far to many strands to tie together, even in an "extended" episode. Yes, I admit, I was totally glued and captivated by every word, and couldn't get enough of Close on screen. But the way it unfolded finally, sting upon sting, just strained credibility, as well as straining the brain (mine) trying to make sense of it all: Ellen working for FBI trying to "sting" Patti (catching her asking Ellen to bribe a judge), but oddly she warns Patti that they're under surveillance, shoots (at) Patti so as to draw the FBI guy to the scene he's watching, then Ellen goes off to bribe the judge, FBI shows up to arrest not Patti but Ellen, then Tom miraculously appears, with his sister (a U.S. atty) and arrests the FBI guy - he'd been undercover, too, in some manner. Patti off free, for now, but stabbed by the crooked trader, who also goes off (season 3?), but most other principals caught, arrested. Phil story still not resolved. And most of all what about Ellen? She knows Patti tried to kill her, but how will she deal with this in Season 3? Her boyfriend Wes now seeming OK, but he obviously has a troubled past history. Anyway, so much going on here, but the series saved by some great acting, really provocative story editing to keep you engaged, and if some things don't quite make sense at the end, it's hard to complain - it's been a great ride. But there's too much here for any single mind to contain, let alone explain, it all! (I felt that way about Ulysses, too, for different reasons.)

Nobody messes with Patti

Next-to-last episode (12) of "Damages" season 2, we learn more crucial info and have some terrific scenes. Now we learn that Purcell actually killed his wife (or thinks he did) and calls Kendrick to help him out of the jam - but it happens that she's still alive and Kendrick's guy finished her off. That could prove relevant - episode ends with Purcell turning himself in, for a crime that we know he did not actually commit (tho he did strangle her). Turning himself in leaves his daughter very vulnerable - seems odd. Wes is about to shoot Ellen (on orders from the crooked detective), but backs off. Now it becomes clear, as Marge observed, that he is taking guns to Ellen's apartment to protect her, not to shoot her - as the earlier flash-forwards led us to believe. Tom, pressured into bribing a judge in the UNR case, refuses to go along, and Patti fires him. What's with this? Why would she want to make Tom her enemy? There has to be a reason. We know from earlier flash-forwards that Tom provides Ellen with a gun - with which Ellen will shoot Patti? Most exciting in this episode is the screaming match between Patti and Phil. Patti realizes that Phil has been betting against her, buying stock in UNR. She makes him see that the UNR people put him up as energy secretary just to derail Patti's case. He seems contrite for a moment - he's a fool, he obviously did not know he was being played - and then he explodes, and then Patti/Close lets him have it. A great scene! She throws a coffee cup and orders him out. He says he's fight her in a divorce suit, and she raises her hand and says: Good luck! Nobody messes with Patti. He is completely overmatched.

Damages, Andy Wolk directs - best episode yet?

Episode 11 of "Damages" season 2 - directed by Andy Wolk. Go, Andy! Is it the best episode of "Damages" yet? Could be - though at that point we're really racing toward the finish line, and hoping somebody's at the wheel. Hard to believe that all of this can be wrapped in two more (40-minutes) episodes. And just to make matters more confusing, a new character is introduced (Ellen hires a detective), a new plot line opens up (Phil's affair becomes important - Ellen sends secret pix to Patti. How does Patti know Ellen sent them?). Extremely confusing about Patti's son's relation with the older woman (why did they bother to show him with a young artist more his age?). And everyone's confused about who's watching the surveillance videos, both of the "present time" confrontation between Ellen and Patti (the FBI guy is watching) and the hotel room where Clair and what's his name, William Hurt, have a liaison. There's just too much, really. We see more of the "present tense" all the time - now it appears that Ellen (or at least someone) has shot Patti, and Ellen is arrested (as in season 1). But maybe that whole shooting is a setup of some sort - who and why? The crooked detective with the beard is involved, as is Wes (Ellen's duplicitous boyfriend). No series has a more complex plot (maybe Lost does, I don't know), and few are more compelling. Most of it's Patti/Close. I want to see more scenes with her, there are never enough. Walter Kendrick, played by the guy from The Wire, seems a very evil character, but the script does not use him well enough. He pushes Claire/Harden out of the picture in his struggle to maintain control of the board of UNR, but he doesn't by this point in the series seem a threat to anyone we care about, and Patti's lawsuit against him has faded from view. A lot of elements to take up in final two episodes, to say the least.

A crooked agent, a dead agent, and somebody's watching

As expected, something's amiss about the two FBI agents, we could see it way back, but now we're getting more facts. You can't say it's clear, nothing's clear in "Damages," but as we near the end of season 2 (episode 10), as we get closer in time to the "shooting" scene that opened the season (now "6 weeks later" - the structure of "Damages" tells the whole season in flashback from the opening sequence, gradually moving closer to that moment in time) we see for sure that one of the agents (the white guy, does he even have a name?) is in touch with some outside forces - perhaps Frobisher? or Patti? - and when found out has his partner killed (and the killers make it look like a drug OD). We also see the agent monitoring the "shooting scene," as Ellen threatens and maybe shoots Patti. And we see him monitor (video surveillance) a hotel liaison between Purcell and Claire, so what's going on there? What is the FBI really interested in, if in fact he is working for the FBI? Meanwhile, Patti's son apparently involved with a very counterculture tatttooed girl whom he doesn't want to introduce to Patti; instead, get an older woman to pose as his girlfriend - not sure the motive there. Hey, it's "Damages." Do the writers even know at this point? Let's hope they're in control, that someone's in control, because we're getting close to the wrap, and I'm not sure anyone can tie together all these strands in 3 remaining episodes. As Marge points out, every character is evil or potentially evil in some way - with exceptions of Ellen and Katie.

Ellen goes for Wes - But what's his motive?

More information in episode 9 season 2 of Damages, as the crooked detective orders Wes, Ellen's new love interest, to kill her and make it look like an accident. I suspect that Wes is actually working against the unnamed detective - either for a government agency or more likely out of some need for revenge against Frobisher: he encouraged Ellen to kill Frobisher, early on. On the lawsuit strand, Patti's husband being considered by Secretary of Energy, but we know he has skeletons, including his investment in UNR, his ties to insider trading, his affair, and of course his link to Patti. David Pell, he UNR link to the insider trader, Finn, confronts Finn. Patti learning more about Finn, as she gets closer to figuring out what's going on with UNR stock. But overall, the story line is drifting away from Patti/Close, too bad because she's the stick that stirs this drink. Ellen will have to confront her. And what's with junior partner, Tom? Patti tells him she is under FBI investigation, and his reaction is to be made she hasn't told him before; he doesn't even ask why she's under investigation or what they have to fear. Maybe there's more to him than we thought - in one of the flash forwards, we see that Patti fires him and that he, too, wants revenge (and provides Ellen with a gun). My guess is that Wes never tries to kill Ellen, he comes to her for help, and she does confront Patti (that's pretty obvious). Tom may be total wimp, or he may be an FBI informant as well. There's still something off about the FBI agents and the investigation, with its disappearing file, but not sure what.

Thugs who look like Yuppies

Okay, I jumped the gun on Uncle Pete, should have learned, in this show above all others, a character's not dead until you see him laid into the ground and maybe not then. Pete turns out to be comatose in the hospital, which helps move the plot a little farther and clarifies a bit more, as Patti talks to him, tears in her eyes, and memories of her childhood with an alcoholic father and Pete, though a ne'er do well, taking caare of her. More important, a new character (Mike?) shows up, beats up one of Pete's collectors, learns Pete's in the hospital and - now I'm pretty sure - kills him by messing with his IV. New character apparently was involved in the botched attack on Ellen, and worries Pete will talk. FBI, with Ellen, has bugged the hospital room, so they know something's up, but Ellen can't make the guy and he leaves the hospital without anyone's seeing him. Meanwhile, Frobisher forced out of the case, threatened by the bookish-looking rogue detective he'd paid to kill Ellen's fiance, David. Hm. Posted yesterday that Marge thinks the detective too cute to be a killer, but to me that makes him scarier. Strikes me that never in any show have I ever seen such wimpy-looking bad guys. The thug who just killed Peter, for example - looks like a gust of wind could blow him away. Pete, too - he makes Tony's uncle (The Sopranos) look like an NFL tackle. And especially the killers going after Ellen and Katy, every one of them looks like a boarding-school kid. Good idea to have one thug look wimpish (e.g., Brother what's his name on the Wire). But when they all do, you have to wonder who does the casting for these shows?

When you don't know what to do with a character - kill him

Poor Uncle Pete - he's dead. We knew it would happen to you, not because you deserved it (most of the characters in Damages deserve an evil fate) but because even the highly skilled writers of this very entertaining series just plain didn't know what to do with you. We've come to learn now that you did all of Patti's dirty work, that you were somehow involved in the attack on Ellen and its cover-up. But who are you and why would you do these things and how come you're a genius at covering up a crime scene but you push around the dry-cleaning racks at a law firm? Now, no need to explain, you're gone, poor guy. That still leaves plenty of characters to root against! We see the bearded detective, whom Marge thinks is too cute for the part but I disagree - he's even more frightening in his cold-bloodedness because he looks like a history grad student - was totally working for Frobisher, was obviously involved in killing Ellen's fiance, has shot another dirty cop in the back, and now is threatening Frobisher. Well, there could yet be another twist there - but he's got his hands pretty damn dirty. Kendrick becomes ever more loathsome, and now we have a new element, illegal stock trading with a cokehead commodities trader with a weakness for escort-service hookers. We're nearly halfway through the 2nd season and nothing's looking like it's wrapping up, everything just gets more complex. Will be interesting to see how Ellen manages to deal with Frobisher as a client - Patti tells her she brought Frobisher in as a client to learn more about him, for Ellen, but Patti will tell Ellen anything. Still unclear whether the FBI guys are on the up and up as well. Wes, Ellen's apparent love interest from her therapy group, continues to meet with the killer-detective, but we have no idea of his motive in getting to Ellen.

Damages - a note - episode 6

The craziness continues but maybe the fog lifts on a few issues: yes, Frobisher is working with Patti, probably to get some money, also for some reason because of an animus toward Kendrick of UNR. The corruption in the police department deeper than we'd thought, as Ellen's sister realizes a cop had been following her, and we see that this cop was one of the men who'd killed Ellen's fiance (along with the detective whom we see in many scenes). The detective kills the other cop. And Kendrick seems to be plotting to kill someone else, as well. There's a complicated class-action suit developing against Kendrick and UNR, with Frobisher as the lead (secrety) plantiff. Hm. What further twists? Patti's "Uncle Pete" being set up as the worst of the bad guys, the true mastermind who for some reason tried to kill Ellen (for Patti) and now wants Patti to fire Ellen. There has to be another twist here - perhaps he, too, is an FBI plant, trying to nail Patti? The FBI guys continue to back off from Ellen, for some reason. And, Ellen goes back to the old apartment, the murder scene, and a neighbor delivers a package supposedly from her late finace. Oddly, she doesn't open the gift. It must be signficant, but we don't know why. Do the writers?

Ellen holds her ground - Damages

5th episode of Damages, season 2. As Marge points out, everyone and everything is suspicious. We see for certain in this episode that someone that Uncle Pete (Patti's henchman) hired tried to kill Ellen; Pete gives they guy getaway money. We see that Pete does not trust Ellen and is trying to convince Patti not to. We see that the guy from group (Wes) who has been interested in Ellen is following her around, with another guy, and reporting somehow back to Patti. We see that Daniel Purcell (Hurt) is taking money from Ultima Resources (energy company), but seems to want to stop. Ultima Resources able to influence government regulators, obviously. Their ceo, played by the deputy chief from the Wire, is a nasty thug. Patti's husband having an affair. All that is on the surface - but what's beneath the surface? In keeping with the style and spirit of damages, only about half of these observations will prove to be accurate by the end of the season. Maybe Uncle Pete is really working for the FBI. Maybe Daniel Purcell is really a spy for the EPA. Maybe Patti's really working for the ACLU. Maybe my television set is really recording my innnermost thoughts. Anything's possible. The mind truly cannot hold in one place at one time all the plot elements of this series - and yet, and yet, it's so compelling and smart, the acting the writing the visual style, that you have to keep watching. Particularly strong scenes in my view are those with just Ellen and Patti, as Patti pushes and tests to see if Ellen is spying (she is), and Ellen shrewdly protects herself with terrific alibis and retorts. You'd think she'd fold and wilt before the unflappable Pattie Hewes, but she holds her ground, so far.

Who's your daddy? - Damages

The melodrama taking upper hand in the 4th episode, as Patti (Close) tells her son that Purcell (Hurt) is his father, and the two meet and speak for the first time. As is always the case with damages, a ton more plot elements crashing about here - still always fascinating, and hard to follow but impossible not to watch. Ellen and Tom head to West Virginia to learn more about the corporate malfeasance of UNR (energy firm). Despite rather cliched threats from smalltown cops and rednecks, they get out unscathed, and with a water sample, no less. Oddly, Patti asks Purcell (he's a scientist) to test the water. Why would she do that?, Marge wondered. Seems like a stupid thing to do, as we learn, when we see him dump the sample and then, during a show-cause hearing, testify that UNR has done nothing wrong and has not falsified his lb reports (which we know that they have done). This astonishes Patti, she leaves the court in a fury. But we've learned that she's always a step ahead of us, and maybe she know Purcell would shaft her. Bigger question is, why did he let it go so far? Why did he agree to test the water and to begin the proceedings against UNR? (Maybe to get it thrown out at an early stage?) We learn two crucial facts about Purcell: he was complicit in the murder of his wife, and in setting it up to look like a junkie did it. And, he's being secretly paid (off) by UNR and/or his own consulting firm. It's just unclear at this point why he has anything to do with Patti at all - it can't be good for him.

A touch of melodrama in Damages

The 3rd episode of season 2, Damages, introduces a melodramatic element, which most viewers could see coming across the horizon - William Hurt character (what's his name?) turns out to be the father of Patti's son. That kind of plot twist seems out of keeping with the harsh and sinister mood of the series, but so be it - it does explain why Patti was willing to come to his aid (though not why she had never told her son about his paternity). We continue to be suspicious of the FBI guys, who ask Ellen to lie low on her sting operation against Patti. It's becoming increasingly a whodunit, as we really don't know who killed Hurt's wife - probably not him, probably not the mysterious intruder who'd threatened him, possibly (Marge's suggestion) someone Hurt hired to do the job (we do see that someone is pawning his wife's ring). Why Hurt would tell the cops about the ring remains mysterious. As does why he would try to flee the country. Again, you have to wonder whether the writers even knew the answers, although they presumably had the larger arc of the story sketched out? New element introduced of an investigative reporter checking out environmental damage in w.va. that multinational energy company (Hurt's client?) may be causing. Who put him on the case? Still a great series and you literally can't drift off for a second while you're watching it, but it's almost impossible to hold all the plot strands in mind at any one time! Rose Byrne, actress playing Ellen, looks incredibly haggard - maybe appropriate for the part (grieving, stressed, in a vise) but painful to look at her at times.

Damages is always a step ahead of you

Because just when you think Patti has made a mistake - in this case, episode 2 of season 2 - giving the purloined scientific reports to a scientist friend who, we shortly see, has ratted Patti out to the head of the evil corporation that's trying to kill William Hurt (don't even ask), we see that Patti (Glenn Close) gave out the documents because she knew he would rat her out and she wanted her opponent, some huge energy consortium, as it turns out, to come out into the open. Kinda cool to see Glenn Close and William Hurt acting together, as they did alomst their first work together in The Big Chill a million years ago. Oddly, I kept thinking I'd seen Glenn Close first in Secaucus 7, but she wasn't in that, it turns out. We continue, in episode 2, to jump around in time and to find multiple reasons to hold every single character in suspicion. Anyone could be lying or double-crossing, a set-up or a spy. It's now obvious, however, that the guy from the grief group who's interested in Ellen has some kind of ulterior motive - perhaps he, too, wants revenge against the Frobisher corp., which killed Ellen's fiance (apparently). But maybe that's not it at all. He keeps guns and news clips about Frobisher, and he certainly encourages Ellen to act out her revenge fantasy and kill Frobisher (which she doesn't do). But why? Also, it's more obvious that one of the two FBI guys working with Ellen (to get to Patti) is suspicious. Tom, Patti's assistant, has always been a weasel - one of the less credible aspects of the story is why Patti would have kept him on so long and how he rose so high in her firm (though she never lets him lead a case, understandably).

Can't stop watching Damages

Damages (Season 2) remains one of the most watchable, addictive shows on TV. Though Glenn Close gets all the attention (deservedly, she's amazing) and you can't take your eyes of her, she owns every scene she's in, there's more to the series. First of all,there's probably nothing on TV that has such a complex and constantly surprising plot (excepting obvious stunt series like Lost, which I don't watch). It's amazing how many elements are included in each episode, and it takes a ton of concentration just to follow what's going on and try to keep it all in your head. You can't, really, and I'm not sure the writers can, either - I sometimes have the uncomfortable feeling they're winging it. Nobody wants to believe that! We want to believe that the guys who write this show, this kind of show, are totally in control all the time and know exactly where they're heading, that we're in good hands, but it's not always true, often not true (think Mulholland Drive for example - clearly had no idea what would happen from scene to scene). The season one recap took more than 15 minutes! But we wouldn't pay such close attention if it weren't so exciting and interesting - watching Close's devious mind at work: she's a tort attorney, class actions, who goes after the bad guys but will stop at nothing, literally, to win her case. Even at end of season one we're not sure how culpable she might be - in a murder, and one attempted murder - though we know she drove one man to suicide through blackmail threats, and may have ruined other innocent lives as well. Season 2 opens w a very funny stunt cast with Regis and Kelly Ripa. After first episode, I'm back in the mode - suspicious of everything and everyone.