DAMAGES: The Complete Series - Blu-ray (Sony 2007-12) Mill Creek Entertainment

Was there ever a more perfect gargoyle than Patty Hewes, the ruthless New York litigator, revered and reviled for her unethical ‘win at all costs’ approach to the law? As portrayed by Glenn Close, Hewes is two-parts acid to one-part vinegar; the toxicity and venom of her very fiber, spilling over to poison even those she reports to, rather insincerely ‘care’ about. I have often wondered what makes a creature like Patty Hewes. Certainly, in Close’s illustrious acting career, she has played her share of psychos and sadists. And Close, who can give a stare to melt steel and freeze time, is in damn fine form in Damages (2007-2012), the show that follows Hewes on her degenerative revenge, using the law as her shield against an inner self-loathing that only becomes more apparent as time – and the series – wears on.  God help Hewes’ protégée, recent law school graduate, Ellen Parsons (played with uncanny clarity and ever-increasing cynicism by the ravishing Rose Byrne). Parsons is a brilliant mind, sorely wet behind the ears, and thoroughly unprepared for the quagmire that will soon envelope and destroy the happiness of her pending marriage to a young doctor, David Connor (Noah Bean) – destined to become the first of Patty’s many casualties. Damages is the brain child of a trio of writing and production geniuses: Daniel Zelman, Glenn Kessler, and Todd A. Kessler. Certainly, nothing like it had been seen on television before; the authorship, so riveting, the production values, so costly, practically guaranteeing the show’s struggle throughout its difficult 5-year run, with a change of venue between Seasons 3 and 4 from FX to DirecTV’s Audience Network.

Zelman and the Kesslers have crafted a show that is part thriller/part drama and all meat with no gristle, using the template of the prime time soap opera to buoy its ongoing narrative. Arguably, Damages’ best years were already behind it when Season 4 kicked off. Indeed, the first 3 seasons play as one thoroughly complex, and, as satisfying mystery ‘roller coaster’ ride through the labyrinth of our darkly-purposed Patty and her epic vendetta against one Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), whose miscalculation in deliberately sand-bagging his own company for pure profit has set this pit-bull on her revenge scenario to see all of Frobisher’s employees, screwed out of their livelihood and pensions, get a plum cash settlement. The first 3 years of Damages play like a damning modern-day Greek tragedy, as Patty cajoles fair-weather friends, connives the naïve and the desperate for answers, and contorts the law to get to Frobisher’s hidden assets. In the process, she enterprisingly sets up Ellen for a murder, and later, tries to have her killed to cover up ‘this’ cover-up.  Patty also willfully orchestrates her lead prosecutor, the bizarrely faithful, Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan) wreck and ruin. The list of casualties is so egregious, it is a wonder our Patty is still allowed to practice law by the end of Season 5. I have a sneaking suspicion that when poet, John Harington wrote, “Treason doth never prosper” he had someone like Patty Hewes expressly in mind.

Throughout its run, the focus of Damages morphed; the first two seasons squarely focused on the machinations afflicting Patty’s Manhattan firm - Hewes & Associates. In Season Three, thanks to the rude awakening Ellen received from Patty in Season One, the story lines have shifted to the acrimonious détente between these two women; also, Ellen’s chronic inability to thoroughly disentangle herself from this bitch in heels.  What can I tell you? Despite starting out as a ‘good egg’, Ellen is led into temptation by this devil’s advocate, thoroughly to drive, though never quench her own ambitions. With just a little coaxing, Ellen could become another Patty Hewes, and, in a lot less time than she thinks. Perhaps, this is where the very best moments in the series arise, from the frightening reality it doesn’t take much to tear asunder a morally good person and remake them into that which they outwardly despise. The Kesslers and Zelman are fascinating by this master/mate relationship – the warring of two driven and powerful women on a parallel, and frequently converging, course of self-destruction. Initially, the backdrop of ‘the law’ was not even in the plans. But Damages would be born of its creators’ experiences in the entertainment industry, and purposefully written as a parable about the definition of success; coming to the hard realization that effort alone is only a small percentage of defined achievement.  And Damages also differs from TV’s typical legal dramas; setting aside the usual 11^th hour Perry Mason-esque theatrics before a judge in favor of serving its own particular brand of justice out of court.

Despite the inherent flaws in our protagonists, Damages remains firmly anchored in that murky gray area situated somewhere between ‘good’ and ‘evil’; the Kesslers and Zelman, far more fascinated with the dynamics in this epic power struggle than in casting any moral judgement on right and wrong. Shifting the focus from Patty to Ellen after Season 3 was, I believe, the series undoing; the tail wagging the dog, as it were. Besides, Close is the powerhouse in this franchise, with the cache of a mega-watt star to carry the load with real bitch virtuosity. And Close gets her first real chance to chomp at this bit in Season 1, as Patty Hewes launches into an all-out assault, thinly masked as a class action lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a billionaire/former CEO who deliberately screwed his employees to make a fast buck. Season 1 gets off to a grim start, a thoroughly bloodied Ellen Parsons, emerging half-crazed from a fashionable Manhattan address. In the ensuing police investigation, we discover Ellen’s fiancé, David, has been bludgeoned to death, with Ellen the prime suspect in his murder.  

This kicks off the series non-linear narrative timeline. We regress to six months earlier.  Newly minted from law school, Ellen is being courted by some very prestigious firms. Turning down an offer to work for defense attorney, Hollis Nye (Philip Bosco), Ellen has her sights set on Hewes & Associates, the high-profile firm, fronted by the unscrupulous results-getter, Patty Hewes. Nye forewarns Ellen of Patty’s penchant for collecting the brightest, freshest, young legal minds, exploiting, then spitting them out in favor of the next best thing. But not even he, nor certainly Ellen, can foresee how desperate the situation will unravel in less than a year. At the preliminary interview with Patty’s associate, Tom Shayes tries to give this newcomer a softer forewarning about what the future entails. However, Ellen must interview with Patty on a Saturday – the same Saturday she is expected to be maid of honor at her sister, Carrie’s (Miriam Shor) wedding. It will be the last time Ellen chooses family over career; Patty, crashing the wedding to inform Ellen that despite her idiotic decision she is hired and starts Monday. Rather naïvely, Ellen becomes inveigled in Patty’s class action lawsuit, filed by Frobisher’s ex-employees to recoup their losses after his insider trading has deprived them of their retirement funds and benefits. Ellen is under the false assumption Patty has hired her for her, as yet unproven, legal skills. In fact, Patty has come to Ellen by way to ensnare David’s sister, Katie Connor (Anastasia Griffith); a notorious free-spirit who happened to be in Florida, at the wrong place at the wrong time, and may or may not know something about Frobisher’s illegal trade.

Using Ellen to get to Katie, the case soon focuses on one Gregory Malina (Peter Facinelli) – a drifter, instructed by Frobisher’s right-hand to be in Florida, but wound up seducing Katie for kicks. This inadvertently brought her into the nightmare. Frobisher’s first attempt, upon learning of Katie’s possible collusion with Patty as her star witness against him, is to pay Katie off by setting her up in her own New York restaurant. Frobisher’s attorney, Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) manages the transaction. But Katie is torn in her loyalties. After arriving home to find her beloved dog, Saffron stabbed to death in her kitchen, with an ominous note written in the animal’s blood, ordering her to remain silent, Katie elects to side with Patty against Frobisher, believing Frobisher’s henchmen are responsible for ‘the message’. We soon learn nothing could be further from the truth. Tom Shayes returns Katie’s dog collar to Patty. Perversely, Patty buys Katie a new pup. But Katie nervously leaves out details of her relationship with Gregory, affording Patti no wiggle room to pursue the matter further.  Meanwhile, Ellen struggles with Patty’s unethical behavior, quite unaware Patty’s Uncle Pete (Tom Aldredge) is shadowing her every move. As the case against Frobisher heats up, Ellen is forced to sacrifice her relationship with David. To smooth the rougher edges in their tension, Patti makes the young couple a present of a fashionable apartment. But this is only meant to keep closer eyes on Ellen’s movements, as the building’s superintendent and doorman are Patty’s informants. David doesn’t like Patty and for good reason. She is tearing Ellen away from him. But it’s something more sinister than that. Ellen is changing, and right before David’s eyes.

But Ellen has also begun to suspect her boss is playing her for the fool. To put Ellen off her suspicions, Patty feigns firing Tom for a minor infraction that almost results in the plaintiffs in the Frobisher case leaving Hewes and Associates for another firm; proof, Patty values blind loyalty to her causes above everything else. Meanwhile, at Ellen’s birthday party, Katie gifts a pair of tacky Statue of Liberty bookends to her never-to-be sister-in-law. To salvage the Frobisher case, Patty asks her clients to reject Arthur’s initial $100,000,000 settlement. Fiske puts the screws to Katie, who reluctantly signs a confidentiality agreement with Frobisher. Sometime later, Katie will turn to Patty for advice, confessing the pressure she is under. Toggling between the not-so-distant past and the present, the police discover one of the bookends was used in David’s homicide – the only fingerprints on the weapon of choice, Ellen’s! Things are not much rosier on Patty’s home front. Her second husband, trader, Phil Grey (Michael Nouri) is a non-entity, constantly away on business, while the couple’s teenage son, Michael (Zachary Booth) is rebellious and a chronic source of disappointment. A hand grenade sent to Patty’s offices by mail is mis-perceived as a death threat from Frobisher’s posse. But actually, Michael has sent it as a prank. Similarly, another benign grenade is discovered in the glove compartment of Phil’s Mercedes. Ellen skips out on her own engagement party to deliver Patty’s brief in person to the judge. Having had quite enough of her wayward son, Patty has Michael shipped off to a reform school after discovering he planted the grenades.

Katie perjures herself with second-hand misinformation provided to her by Gregory, who is also being threatened by Frobisher’s cronies. Believing he has won, Frobisher withdraws his settlement offer. Only now, Patty learns Gregory owned shares in Frobisher's company; shares he had the miraculous foresight to sell o the same day as Frobisher. Meanwhile, David is entreated with romantic overtures from one of his patient’s granddaughters, Lila DiMeo (Carmen Goodine) whom Ellen briefly suspects he is having an affair. Lila has ulterior motives, to be sure, stealing David’s set of keys to the apartment. But do they really have to do with love?  The Frobisher clients approach Tom – now a freelancer – to represent them, as they have lost faith in Patty’s ability to be objective. Tom uses the clients to negotiate a new partnership with Patty, bringing the clients back into the fold. Katie and Gregory are reunited. Patty is running out of options and patience. So, she subpoenas Gregory, only to have him vanish into thin air. Foul play? Not yet, as Gregory resurfaces at Katie’s home, confessing everything to get into her good graces. For a brief wrinkle, the two are united in their fear of Frobisher and general contempt for Patty. Regrettably, Fiske has found out Gregory’s whereabouts, ordering a hit and run to keep Patty’s star witness silent forever.

Realizing one of the litigants in the case is a double agent funneling intel back to Frobisher, Patty confronts Larry Popler (Victor Arnold) who is struggling to make ends meet since losing his livelihood, but has been promised untold riches by Frobisher for keeping his mouth shut, and, eyes and ears open. And while Larry sheepishly admits to this complicity, and thereafter agrees to be on Patty’s side, in reality he will continue to play both ends against the middle, much to his own detriment. Meanwhile, Tom and Ellen meet with SEC official, George Moore (Peter Riegert), who provides them with information about Frobisher's past criminal case in order to force Frobisher to settle the class action suit. Katie discovers a video tape Gregory left behind. In it, he explains fully his motives for framing her and also confesses to a sexual relationship with Ray Fiske that embroils Moore in Frobisher’s scandal. As time is running out, Ellen proposes to play Moore for more intel.  Patty forbids this, but Ellen follows through anyway and is fired by Patty for insubordination. Reconsidering her hastiness, Patty learns some bridges cannot be mended. Ellen declines to return to Hewes and Associates, but will continue to help in the Frobisher case.

Suspecting Ellen might be a loose end, Patty takes Uncle Pete’s advice. After David and Ellen split over yet another confrontation regarding her torn loyalties in their relationship, Patty offers Ellen the use of her penthouse while she is out of town. It is, of course, another ploy, as Pete has hired a man to murder Ellen. And while Ellen manages barely to escape her unknown attacker (Jeff Binder), seemingly to have mortally wounded him with a kitchen knife in the process – upon returning to the apartment with police investigators, Dan Williams (Casey Simaszko) and Rosario Ortiz (Laura Dias), Ellen finds Patty’s place as neat as a pin, having already been scrubbed down by Uncle Peter. Ellen now knows Patty tried to kill her. Meanwhile, Frobisher hires a pair of crooked cops on his payroll, one Rick Messer (David Costabile) and another unnamed accomplice (Todd A. Kessler) to break into Ellen and David’s apartment to gain access to Gregory’s taped confession. All does not go according to plan, as David – home at the time of invasion – is bludgeoned to death.  Mercifully, the cops do not find Gregory’s tape.  Patty next uses the tape to blackmail Fiske.  Unable to face the consequences of his actions, Fiske confronts Patty at her office. She offers him a chance at redemption. Instead, Fiske pulls out a revolver and commits suicide in front of Patty, leaving her shell-shocked.

As Season One winds to a close, Frobisher has seemingly managed to escape incarceration. Planning his next legitimate business venture, the wily billionaire is confronted by Larry Popler who, having been found out in his deceptions by both Frobisher and Patty, has been cut loose from receiving any sort of buy-out from either of them.  In an abandoned field, Larry shoot Frobisher twice in the stomach, leaving him for dead. Meanwhile, Ellen contemplates whether she and Patty went too far in their pursuit of justice. After attending David’s funeral, and being forgiven by Katie, Ellen is confronted by Hollis, who forces her into a car with two FBI agents, L.J. Werner (Glenn Kessler) and Randall Harrison (Mario Van Peebles). The boys offer Ellen a chance to get even by agreeing to continue to work for Patty. At first refusing, Ellen reconsiders what having the full resources of Patty’s firm might do for her case against Frobisher – to prove his men murdered David.

So, Patty and Ellen reach a détente, leading into Season 2. We are shown a brief glimpse of Ellen addressing an unknown character before pulling a revolver out of her purse and firing into the camera. Haunted by Fiske’s suicide, Patty concentrates all her efforts on a new charitable foundation. However, at a fundraiser, she is confronted by Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), a lover from her past, who also happens to be a chemical engineer, and, desperate for her protection against a big corporate think tank that has recently forged the results of his research to suit their own agenda. Patty fluffs Daniel off, but later is brought into the case when Purcell’s wife (Paige Turco) is found strangled in the kitchen of his home. Meanwhile, Ellen, who is attending grief counseling, meets a seemingly empathetic soul in Wes Krulik (Timothy Olyphant). As Frobisher has survived, Ellen now pretends to be his estranged wife, gaining access to him in the hospital while he sleeps, and, with plans to commit revenge murder. At the last possible moment, Ellen cannot go through with it.  

Taking pity on Purcell, Patty learns about his toxicity study for a chemical compound being used in West Virginia. Purcell’s findings revealed the compound is cancer-causing. But Purcell has been forced into silence by the corporation. Purcell suggests that Ultima National Resources’ CEO, Walter Kendrick (John Doman) is behind his wife’s murder. Kendrick, who is, in fact, planning to get rich off the merger of two spurious business dealings, is also having an affair with his corporate attorney, Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden). Maddox has a serious conflict of interest, as she is also sleeping with Purcell. Meanwhile, Agents Werner and Harrison encourage Ellen to get Patty interested in a fake infant-mortality case, hoping to frame Tom Shayes in a pay-off of one of the plaintiffs (also an FBI agent). All does not go according to plan as Shayes – after agreeing to the payout – instead, gets cold feet and is ordered by Patty to drop the case in favor of Purcell’s vendetta against Kendrick.  Meanwhile, Wes is revealed to be closely following the Frobisher case.  We later discover, he too is being blackmailed by Rick Messer.  

Concerned that their case has been compromised, Harrison and Werner try to get Ellen to back off. Instead, she further explores Purcell’s former relationship with Patty, discovering he served as an expert witness in two past trials and is, in fact, Michael’s real father. As Purcell has a history of domestic violence, Patty has him undergo a polygraph. It comes back with inconclusive results. Patty sends Tom Shayes and Ellen to West Virginia to do research on the chemical in Purcell’s report. They are led to various ‘disposal’ sites by an ambitious reporter, Josh Reston (Matthew Davis) who is later assaulted for his efforts by goons loyal to Kendrick. As Patty diligently works to clear Daniel Purcell of his wife’s murder, Ellen and Tom return with a vial of tainted water Josh gave them from one of Ultima National’s processing plants – proof positive the poisoning of the local water supply in West Virginia has continued, despite Kendrick’s protestations there is no truth to the rumor. While Purcell tests the sample and concurs with these results, he alters his testimony while under oath, leaving Patty with a lot of egg on her face and no proof to continue her prosecution of Kendrick.

Season 2 waffles a bit with some incidental and distracting private moments that are not pertinent to this pending litigation. Shayes celebrates his 10^th anniversary with Patty’s firm and is made a full partner. Patty confronts Michael with the truth about his father. And although Michael’s guarded attitude towards his mother is momentarily relaxed, he later incurs her wrath by writing about Purcell as part of his college admissions application. At approximately this same junction, Ellen runs into Patty’s husband, Phil in the lobby of a hotel, discovering he is having an affair with a London trader. Rather deceitfully, she makes Patty aware of Phil’s cheating. Patty kicks Phil out. As part of Ultima’s proposed merger, Patty realizes the company is deliberately over-pay for the acquisition. Meanwhile, Agents Harrison and Werner hatch yet another cockeyed plan to get Patty to regain her trust in Ellen. Meanwhile, Wes and Ellen become intimate. He teaches her how to shoot a gun. As yet, Ellen does not suspect any connection between Wes and Messer. Patty launches a media blitzkrieg against Kendrick. Believing she has the opportunity to overthrow her boss, Claire Maddox plots with Purcell to wreck Kendrick’s reputation and step into his shoes during a meeting of the Board of Directors. She is thwarted in this endeavor, shamed by a tip off from Kendrick’s advisor, Dave Pell (Clarke Peters), and sent packing.  

Unable to secure the necessary funds for her charitable foundation after rich benefactor, Sam Arsenault (James Naughton) backs out, and, aligning with Arthur Frobisher’s desire to purify his own reputation, Patty invites her one-time nemesis to join her organization as an equal – a decision that alienates Ellen and only encourages a redoubling of her efforts to bring both Frobisher and Patty down. Meanwhile, the FBI, having unearthed Uncle Pete’s spurious past, frame him for a petty crime that promises to put him in jail for at least a few years: long enough to miss the final months he could otherwise share with his dying wife. Pressing Pete into service, Agents Werner and Harrison are unaware of the depth of Pete’s loyalty to Patty. Instead of giving up the goods, Pete takes a lethal overdose of his wife’s medication, sending him into a coma at the hospital. Pete eventually dies, leaving Patty genuinely heartsore at his passing. Suspecting Ellen as the traitor in her midst, Patty goes on the offensive against the FBI. Their investigation of her takes a shocking twist when Harrison realizes Werner is actually working for Kendrick. Too late, Harrison is confronted by Kendrick’s goons, who inject him with a lethal amount of heroine, making his death look like the overdose of a closeted drug abuser. Wes is ordered by Messer to kill Ellen or else face exposure of a long-outstanding crime that could send him to jail for a very long time. Repeatedly, Wes delays the assassination. Indeed, he is in love with Ellen.

As Patty’s pressure on Kendrick begins to crumble his empire, Wes sneaks off to hide in the back of Messer’s SUV. Without provocation or delay, Wes kills his arch nemesis, leaving the body to be discovered later, but with no discernible traces he has been there. Patty discovers Kendrick has been funneling illegal monies from an offshore account, using a cocaine-addicted computer hacker, named Finn Garrity (Kevin Corrigan). Kendrick has Garrity’s favorite whore roughed up, a move that gets Garrity to set his sights on Patty. Meanwhile, Ellen learns Patty had a still-born child out of wedlock. She also confirms it was Patty who tried to have her killed in her apartment. Ellen convinces the FBI to rethink its strategy to get to Patty.  Purcell, who has spent much of his time waffling, comes to the realization his daughter will always be threatened by Kendrick unless he removes himself from the equation. So, Purcell confesses to the murder of his own wife. What Purcell does not know is that Christine was still alive after he left the house; one of Kendrick’s goons stepping in to finish the job.

Time has run out for Ellen. Patty unearths she is working for the FBI and plots to frame her for bribing a judge.  It would mean disbarment and Ellen’s ruin. Miraculously, this does not happen. Meanwhile, Patty confronts her son’s middle-aged girlfriend, Jill Burnham (Wendy Moniz-Grillo). Patty throws Michael out of the apartment, and he moves in with Jill to pursue a career as a painter. The reoccurring motif in Season 2 has Ellen confronting an unseen person in her apartment, pulling out a pistol and firing into the camera. With each replay of this moment, another little piece of the puzzle is revealed. We discover Ellen has coaxed Patty up to her apartment and is now, presumably, holding her hostage at gunpoint to force a confession. Indeed, in Season 2, the ghost of Ray Fiske haunts Patty, imploring to rid of herself of these past demons by telling Ellen the truth. Now, Patty does just that.

Ellen points her pistol in Patty’s direction, but shoots out the FBI’s hidden camera taping their conversation instead. Told to leave the apartment before Agent Werner arrives, Patty is confronted in the elevator by Finn Garrity. He repeatedly stabs Patty in the stomach before escaping, leaving her for dead. Tom Shayes, who previously found Ellen’s betrayal repugnant, now realizes Ellen was merely playing a percentage to bring about a successful resolution to their case. He sides with her, procuring his sister, Megan (Mackenzie Connolly) – who also happens to be a U.S. Attorney – to arrest both Garrity and Werner, thus releasing Ellen from federal custody for the supposed attempted murder of Patty Hewes. As Patty and Tom contemplate the future together, Ellen leaves the firm for good. Season 1 of Damages was such an epic ride, full of hairpin turns and grand tragedy, that all of these machinations in Season 2 seem pretty par for the course - even tame by comparison. In an effort to keep the momentum going, the writers have endeavored to lurch ahead with more convoluted storylines. But Season 2 suffers from too many devious types doing awful things to each other without any forward trajectory to keep the audience motivated.

Season 3 is an even more curious affair, 13 episodes set one full year in the future and involving a Bernie Madoff/Ponzi scheme. Rather ingeniously, the seemingly loose threads of this new season dovetail into the open-ended plot entanglements left unfinished in Seasons 1 and 2. This time, we focus on wealthy trader, Louis Tobin (Len Cariou). On the surface, Tobin has everything – fame, wealth and an adoring family. Wife, Marilyn (Lily Tomlin) is benefactress to a half dozen worth-while charities. Son, Joe (Campbell Scott) is heir apparent to his dad’s financial empire, while daughter, Carol (Ana Reeder) is the apple of Louis’ eye. And the family’s solicitor, Leonard Winstone (Martin Short) is a doting concierge, managing the family’s financial affairs. Behind closed doors, it is a far different story. Louis is having an affair with Joe’s ex-mistress, Danielle Marchetti (Mädchen Amick). Joe is a raging alcoholic and weak sister with a crumbling marriage. Carol is in and out of rehab for depression and anxiety. And Leonard is not as he appears. Indeed, his real name is Lester Wiggins, having stolen Leonard’s identity and credentials after the real Leonard Winstone died in a car accident.

Season 3 opens with a rapid succession of shockers. Patty Hewes’ automobile is struck broadside by a stolen car, the driver of the vehicle escaping on foot before Patty can identify him. Near the docks, Police Det. Victor Huntley (played with creepy aplomb by Tom Noonan) comes upon the grizzly find of Tom Shayes’ body, wrapped in a carpet and placed in a dumpster. Tom has been stabbed twice in the gut, but bizarrely died from drowning, rather than from the wounds inflicted on his abdomen. Meanwhile, an expensive purse – a gift from Patty to Ellen - is found with Tom’s blood smeared across it, suggesting Ellen murdered him. We regress six months, to Thanksgiving weekend. The Tobins, gathered around the dinner table, are in for a rude awakening as Louis confesses, he has embezzled money from his investors to fund their plush lifestyle. Meanwhile, having sworn off Patty Hewes, Ellen finds herself in close proximity to her former boss as both Patty and the U.S. District Attorney, for whom Ellen now works, are exploring two sides to the Tobin case. Patty wants restitution for Louis Tobin’s victims. Ellen’s boss, Curtis Gates (Ben Shenkman) merely wants to make an example of the Tobins.   

Meanwhile, Shayes discovers he was one of Tobin’s most unwitting investors. As more than half of his life savings, and virtually all of his parents’ and in-law’s money was wiped out in Tobin’s scheme, Shayes keeps the truth hidden from his wife, Deb (Jennifer Roszell) for a little while.  Only Ellen knows how desperate Shayes’ situation is.  At Hewes and Associates, it is a time of upheaval and changes. Tom is finally made a full partner. Patty also embarks on finding a replacement for Ellen; the short list beginning and ending with Brit-born law grad, Alex Benjamin (Tara Summers) to whom Ellen takes an immediate dislike. Shayes speculates about whether Ellen might be gunning for her old job. We learn that in the interim, Ellen and Wes broke up and Ellen has since become involved with Josh Reston, newly relocated to New York from West Virginia. Ellen suggests Josh write a puff piece on Alex – exactly the sort of fluff Patty hates; then, feigns to help Alex by suggesting she circumvent the fallout by going to Patty first and explaining how she was duped into partaking of the interview.

Meanwhile, Detective Huntley tracks the hit and run vehicle involved in Patty’s accident to a homeless guy, Barry (Michael Laurence) living near the docks where Shayes’ body is eventually discovered. In the man’s possession are some expensive oddities, including Ellen’s Chanel purse.  Regressing into the not-so-distant past, we find Louis Tobin suffering from a heart arrythmia, desperately calling his lover to return the pills he left at her apartment. As Joe knows nothing of his dad’s affair with Danielle, he decides to confront his ex-lover with the truth. Alas, Joe doesn’t know the half of things. Danielle’s daughter, Tessa (Vanessa Ray) is actually his – not his father’s love child. Louis has been using Tessa to funnel monies from his secret account in Antigua, monitoring her progress with Leonard’s complicity. Patty has Tom fly to the tropics to investigate. Meanwhile, Danielle is expected to leave the U.S. for parts unknown. She is prevented in this escape by Joe, who accidentally knocks her down with his car while backing out of her driveway. Getting a doctor to conduct a discrete examination, Joe learns Danielle has a subdural hematoma. If she flies it will kill her. It’s the perfect plan. Alas, Joe cannot execute even this basic and practically foolproof retreat. The police stop him en route to the airport because of a broken tail light and discover Danielle ailing in his backseat. Joe lies, he was taking Danielle to hospital.

Shayes returns from Antigua and informs his family of their financially precarious position. Using his own monies to sustain his in-laws and his parents, Shayes reasons he and Deb must liquidate all of their tangible assets, merely to stay afloat. Naturally, this does not sit well with Deb who, increasingly, comes to blame her husband for their predicament.  Meanwhile, on a routine visit to her parents, Ellen discovers her sister, Carrie left her husband and has since become a crystal-meth addict/seller. Patty convinces Gates to postpone Louis Tobin's sentencing so she can interview him about the fraud. Meanwhile, Joe becomes estranged from his father, despite Leonard’s urging to reconsider. Louis contacts his physician, an old friend, to supply him with a lethal dose of potassium chloride to commit suicide. Discovering the body, Joe hides the evidence, including an envelope Louis left for Patty Hewes, revealing in detail the whereabouts of his hidden money. But sometime later, Carol confronts Danielle, newly recovered and released from hospital, deliberately poisoning her with the same potassium chloride.

Marilyn Tobin meets with Patty, but lies to her – claiming Tessa is the love child of her late husband and Danielle Marchetti. Now, Joe is introduced by Leonard to the mysterious, Stuart Zedeck (Dominic Chianese), an old friend of Louis who is expected to act as courier for the funds hidden in Antigua. Meanwhile, Leonard is confronted by his past; his father, Albert Wiggins (Bill Raymond) – a real con – never informed him that his own mother died in a nursing home some five months earlier. Worse, Albert has not only continued to cash Leonard’s checks, he also threatens to expose his real identity to the Tobins, thus destroying his credibility with them forever. Learning Carol visited Danielle on the night she died, Patty begins to piece together the clues that will incriminate all of the Tobins in Louis’ fraud. In the future, Detective Huntley informs Ellen of the discovery of her bloody handbag with a partial fingerprint, belonging to a small-time criminal, named Lester Wiggins. Regressing by several months, Carol falls into a deep depression and vanishes without a trace. Tom introduces Ellen to Barry who promises to keep an eye out for Carol. Meanwhile, Arthur Frobisher resurfaces with a grand plan to restore his reputation; launching a ‘clean air initiative’ and getting popular actor, Terry Brooke (Craig Bierko) as his spokesperson. For his services, Brooke asks to be allowed to buy the rights to Frobisher’s biography, believing it will make a great movie.

In her private life, Patty tries to buy off Jill to leave Michael. Jill pretends to accept Patty’s generous offer, but then uses the half-million kiss off to put a down payment on an apartment and buy Michael a bright red Jaguar. Meanwhile, Barry comes through for Tom, informing him that he saw Leonard ditch Louis’ phone and boots in the dumpster on Thanksgiving. In the present, Det. Huntley infers Ellen and Tom were romantically involved; a myth dispelled when Ellen explains the two were planning to start their own law firm. Indeed, Tom had already resigned from Hewes-Shayes and Associates, citing a conflict of interest. Shayes had, in fact, procured a duffel full of cash from Leonard – or so it would appear. Actually, only the top bills are genuine. The stacks between are nothing but blank paper. Patty and Shayes intercept Carol at her therapy session and pump her for information. Patty is haunted by repeated dreams of strolling down a country road in her youth, encountering a farmer who, in the present, bears an uncanny resemblance to her interior decorator, Julian Decker (Keith Carradine) whom Patty has hired to redo her loft apartment.

As Season 3 nears its end, the timeline becomes even more discombobulated. In Patty’s dream we learn she was made pregnant at a very young age. Against her doctor’s direct orders, Patty undertook to deliberately suffer a miscarriage so she could go on and attend law school rather than become a mother. In the immediate past, we find Shayes visibly unwell, making a cryptic phone call to Deb. From a distance, an unknown person plummets over the side of the bridge into the east river. Ellen’s colleague, Nick Salinger (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) betrays her confidence to advance his own career. Gates suspends Ellen indefinitely after learning Ellen has been collaborating with Patty all this time. Meanwhile, Tessa Marchetti is told her mother's death is linked to the Tobins. Patty hires a bodyguard, Malcolm (Michael Pemberton) to shadow Tessa on her next trip to Antigua, hoping to gain tangible evidence of the money laundering from the paper trail left behind. Alas, Joe and Marilyn have tipped off the bank ahead of time. Its manager, loyal to the Tobins, hires a hitman (Adam Dannheisser) to murder Malcolm and Tessa in their hotel room.

Tom is observed buying the car that rammed into Patty. Meanwhile, Albert Wiggins is arrested for indiscretions with a prostitute. Leonard bails him out. But by now, Josh Reston has unearthed that the real Leonard Winstone died in a car accident, decades ago.  Ellen leaks this intel to Joe who confronts Leonard, then disowns him. Tom turns to Leonard to help him out of his financial quagmire, offering Leonard immunity from prosecution in exchange.  Patty learns from Terry Brooke how Frobisher paid to have David Connor murdered; the info passed on to Gates. Now, Ellen reveals to Patty that Shayes deliberately leaked his finances to free himself and make the deal with Leonard so he could destroy the Tobins. Patty tries to call off this arrangement, but Shayes and Ellen go through with it anyway and behind her back. Regrettably, their plan goes awry when Zedeck's assassin arrives at the drop off point, seemingly to choke Leonard to death before superficially stabbing Shayes repeatedly to make him reveal the particulars of their plan. Instead, Shayes defends himself, bludgeoning the assassin to death. Stumbling several blocks on foot to his brownstone, Shayes is confronted by Joe Tobin. In his weakened condition, Shayes cannot defend himself against Joe, who holds Tom’s head under water in the toilet until he drowns. Thereafter, he wraps the body in a carpet and places it in the dumpster.

Realizing their best laid plans are coming to a bitter and tragic end, Marilyn commits suicide by jumping off the bridge into the east river. Patty has Jill arrested for statutory rape. Flying into a rage, Michael steals the car Shayes bought, plowing it into his mother’s car in an attempt to kill her. In her bewildered state, Patty momentarily glimpses Michael fleeing the scene. Wes resurfaces and confides in Ellen. He killed Messer, the man responsible for David’s murder. Now, Wes confronts Frobisher, similarly pointing a loaded revolver at his head. Frobisher turns to jelly and openly weeps his confession. Wes turns him over to the police. Placed inside a cruiser, Frobisher nervously waxes to himself about how this is only a minor setback. He will come out on top. Only now, the specter of Ray Fiske materializes beside him, politely insisting Frobisher has indeed reached the end of the line. There is no easy way out this time.

In hindsight, the first three seasons of Damages are a perfectly encapsulated, mind-boggling and complex thriller. The series could have easily ended here, and, arguably, on a high note, despite sagging ratings that forced FX to cancel it shortly thereafter. Regrettably, DirecTV picked up the slack, believing the program still had some steam left. But the reboot that resulted in two more seasons – scaled down to ten episodes each – plays almost like an entirely different animal; the focus, inexplicably shifting from Patty to Ellen’s caseload. Worse, the loss of Tate Donovan’s empathetic Tom Shayes in Season 3 is a deficit from which the remaining series never entirely recovers. As if to even further distance itself from the previous franchise, Season 4 is set three years after the Tobin case; Ellen, employed by Nye, Everett & Polk, but taking an interest in Howard Erickson (John Goodman), the mogul of a privatized military offshoot, High Star Security for whom one of her old friends, Chris Sanchez (Chris Messina) worked, but has since left.  Erickson is in a bid with Congress to renew his company's government contracts with help from Jerry Boorman (Dylan Baker), a brutal legionnaire. Meanwhile, Patty is embroiled in a hellish lawsuit against a French pharmaceutical giant. Patty’s best advice to Ellen is to steer clear of High Star. They have a spurious reputation.

In Season 4’s alternate timeline, a young Afghan boy quietly observes two masked figures threaten a man’s life. Meanwhile, rejected in her pursuit of High Star, Ellen petitions Patty to use Hewes and Associates resources to try the case. Erickson and Boorman plot to smuggle Sanchez out of the country, bombing his therapist’s office in an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Ellen stages her own theatrics to convince Patty she should investigate High Star for corruption. Chris provides testimony from Afghanistan via video link, but after being threatened by Anthony Carter (Derek Webster) recants his testimony.  However, during his deposition, Chris sends Ellen a coded message that leads her to a friend of his, a vet who may know more than she thinks about the final High Star mission – alias, Dust Devil. Meanwhile, Boorman deals with a mysterious detainee in his safe house and Patty departs for Boston with Det. Huntley, who is presumably closing in on Michael’s whereabouts. This proves fruitless, although we later discover Michael was hiding out in Boston, becoming homeless for a short period before turning to a well-connected drug dealer, for whom he now works as part of the Boston nightclub scene. Meanwhile, Patty returns to New York, where Ellen confides she desperately needs Patty's personal help in the High Star case. Unbeknownst to anyone, Michael is stalking his mother. Only three days later, Nassim Marwat (Usman Ally), a Muslim man delivers a wrapped package to Hewes & Associates. The box contains Chris’ military medallion and cryptic clues about what happened in Afghanistan.

Through various Muslim-American contacts, Boorman unearths Marwat’s identity and uses it to pressure Erickson to order Carter to torture Chris for information. In New York, Patty and Ellen turn to Bill Herndon (Judd Hirsch), whose Washington contacts help piece together High Star's activities in the Middle East, including vetting terrorist suspects for the CIA. It now becomes clear, Nasim is in danger. Boorman, posing as a cab driver, intends to do Nasim and Ellen harm. Instead, Huntley and his security team pick them up.  Patty informs Ellen about Herndon’s latest discovery but infers that the CIA is likely bugging their phones for intel. Meanwhile, Erickson meets with Jack Shaw (David Pittu), suspecting Sanchez sent Nasim over from Afghanistan. As Patty and Ellen prep Nasim for his deposition, Shaw warns that the Dust Devil papers have been requested as part of the firm’s exculpatory evidence. Erickson meets with the DOD who instructs him to bury this information. Now, Boorman tries to blow up Ellen. Mercifully, the bomb is prematurely detected.  Only Boorman has planted Nasim’s hair and fibers at the scene. So, the F.B.I. arrest Nasim. But Herndon tells Patty and Ellen the C.I.A. must have helped frame Nasim.

On the home front, Michael’s daughter, Catherine (Kiley Liddel), whom Patty has custody of, falls ill. Michael reenters Patty’s life, demanding to see his child. Patty refuses, but promises Michael to consider the matter further.  Now, Ellen calls Patty from her old cell, knowing their conversation will be tapped. Boorman is unknowingly captured, though not identified, in these photos.  Reluctantly, Ellen agrees to speak with Times’ correspondent, Dean Gullickson (Griffin Dunne), asking for his help to track down Chris in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Michael sues Patty for custody of Catherine. Boorman tells Erickson, Nasim was deported but forces his hand to make a critical decision regarding Sanchez, either to keep him locked up or dispose of him for good. Meanwhile, Patty asks Herndon to use his CIA informant to identify Boorman from the photograph. Ellen goes to the cemetery to meet Herndon’s contact. But the man is killed just prior to their meeting. So, Patty meets with French billionaire, Alain Coupet (Michael Crane) and his lawyer, Jim Girotto (Bruce Altman), the pair hoping to settle their pharma lawsuit. Instead, Patty refuses and begins her depositions. Only a short while later, Patty informs Coupet she will accept his settlement, but only if he agrees to her terms: one billion, plus intel. Erickson and Sanchez argue, provoking a fight. Back home, Girotto finalizes the settlement on his client’s behalf, giving Patty a flash drive containing information on Boorman. Although the Dust Devil was shut down, Erickson and Boorman continued to conduct an unsanctioned rogue mission. Gullickson meets with a contact in Afghanistan and asks him to help him look for Sanchez.

Patty informs Ellen that Shaw has filed a motion to dismiss. Worried, Patty agrees to join Ellen at the hearing where she successfully persuades the judge to let the case go forward by deposing Erickson. Ellen handles the first round successfully. Meanwhile, Patty has met with Boorman’s girlfriend in secret.  She provides invaluable information on the ‘terror suspect’ – who is just a boy. The next day, Patty surprises Erickson with this knowledge, prompting Boorman to realize his gal pal has leaked the information. She is immediately killed. But then Boorman telephones Patty, offering to give up everything he has on Erickson. Meanwhile, Sanchez is moved to an undisclosed location. Boorman confides in Patty that the Dust Devil was shut down by the CIA well before its last mission, meaning Erickson is operating as a rogue element that is an embarrassment to the government now. He is more than content to let Patty expose the charade, provided the government remain out of it. As Patty is not ready to believe Boorman completely, she asks Huntley to kidnap the ‘terror suspect’ so she can interview him directly. Meanwhile, Gullickson informs Ellen that Sanchez has been taken into a danger zone. Ellen plays her hand, bartering Sanchez’s life in exchange for dropping the case against Erickson. Patty pleads with Ellen not to accept this deal. But Ellen’s only focus now is to save Chris. Begrudgingly, Patty signs an agreement not to pursue the case. So, Erickson instead kidnaps the boy before Huntley can get to him.

Boorman decides to go after the boy on his own. Erickson sends the boy with Carter while he meets with Shaw and Ellen. Patty confesses to Herndon she is not about to drop the case against Erickson.  Instead, she files a new lawsuit against High Star. Meanwhile, Carter finds that the boy has accidentally found Sanchez. Carter tells Sanchez that Ellen has secured his release. After all, the boy was the target all along, Boorman executing any man who refused to take him hostage. Regrettably, Patty’s new lawsuit has jeopardized Sanchez’ safety. Erickson orders his men to stop the killing of Sanchez, and hunt down Boorman instead. But Carter ignores this command, informing Ellen where she can find Sanchez. Ellen discovers Chris’ medallion next to a hooded and bound corpse.  But this is not Sanchez.  Instead, Sanchez killed Boorman and placed his body in the cell as a decoy. Boorman’s body is later discovered by Erickson. Back in the city, Ellen and Patty part company. Ellen cannot forgive her for almost sacrificing Chris’ life, simply to win her case. As Erickson prepares for his arrest by the FBI, Ellen informs Patty she wants nothing more to do with her. Patty takes full credit for the High Star case. But it is a hollow victory, as Michael arrives at the office with his ‘list’ of witnesses in the case against her to reclaim his daughter. Only one name appears – Ellen Parsons, leaving Patty terrified.

In Damages’ final season, Ellen launches her own firm. She has also agreed to testify against Patty on Michael’s behalf in his custody suit. Meanwhile, Naomi Walling (Jenna Elfman), a trader for the Princefield Investment Bank, approaches Channing McClaren (Ryan Phillippe), the founder of a website where confidential whistle-blowers can post information, intending to disclose illegal activity within her own firm. Anticipating legal repercussions, McClaren seeks Patty’s protection. Instead, she recommends Ellen, who agrees to meet McClaren. Promised anonymity, Walling is instead exposed. Her daughter Rachel (Alexandra Socha), seeks Patty’s help to sue McClaren for leaking the information. However, Naomi refuses to allow for this legal action. That evening, Naomi is murdered, the death staged as a suicide. Now, Patty files a wrongful death suit against McClaren. Patty plays a wild card to get Ellen’s testimony at Michael’s hearing delayed.  Publicly professing he did not intend to expose Naomi, McClaren becomes the focus of a media blitz as Patty and Ellen face each other in court. Afterward, Kate Franklin (Janet McTeer) approaches Ellen, offering to be her new associate. As Ellen learns Kate once worked for Patty, she sends Kate back to Patty as part of a loyalty test. Patty takes this bait and re-hires Kate. Working the situation from the inside, Kate confirms Ellen’s suspicions about the judge assigned to their case. He is favoring Patty. So, Ellen gets Kate to blackmail the judge into recusing himself from the case. Only, Ellen now learns Patty has orchestrated everything. The judge was prepared to rule in Ellen’s favor.

Ellen confronts McClaren regarding the timeline leading up to Naomi’s murder. And although McClaren admits to a meeting with the deceased – merely for conversation, and, shortly before her demise – he absolutely denies any wrong doing thereafter. Ellen deposes Rachel, who offers an alternate theory of events. McClaren met her mother twice – once, for sex, and then again, to rape her.  As proof, Rachel produces McClaren’s damaged cigarette case, thrown against the wall while threatening her mother. In private, Ellen questions Rachel about the final phone call she made to her mother. Rachel claims they waxed affectionately for some time. But the phone records indicate the call lasted less than two seconds. So, why is Rachel lying? Better question: how long has she been lying and is there any truth to her testimony against McClaren now?  Meanwhile, Patty meets an old friend, Roger Kastle (Michael Gaston), who informs her she is on the short list for appointment to the Supreme Court. After the SEC blocks Patty’s access to Princefield’s computer servers, she goes to the media with pure speculation, claiming McClaren sexually assaulted Naomi Walling. Disgusted by this behavior, Judge Gearheart (Michael Kostroff) issues a gag order on both women. Patty hires a new associate, Jake Stahl (Tim Guinee) whose specialty is in cyber law. A hacker (Bill Camp) contacts Patty and Ellen, offering them illegally obtained intel about Princefield. During the prearranged late-night drop, Patty gets to the Princefield information first. Ellen arrives late, and the hacker is murdered.

Patty fishes for info at Ellen’s office. But Ellen bluffs she already has bought the Princefield intel from the hacker. As neither knows the truth, this meeting goes nowhere. Discovering Princefield’s CEO is cooperating in the SEC’s investigation, Patty threatens to issue a press release, exposing their insider trading. Informed that her own father is dying, Patty visits him in the nursing home. He offers to put Patty in his will. She instead tells him never to contact her again. In separate interviews with Patty and Ellen, Thomas Weld (Ben Livingston), who had stayed in the room next to Naomi Walling, claims to have heard an argument on the night she died. Meanwhile, Rachel is threatened by her mother’s former boss. She also meets McClaren, who tells her his side of the story. He accepts responsibility and Rachel tells Patty to accept the settlement. Ellen is stunned by this revelation. But Kate tells Ellen she still has business with Patty as Weld admitted to hearing McClaren threaten Naomi. When Rachel learns of this, she rejects the settlement. Patty and Ellen travel to Maine to depose computer scientist, Dr. Lee Collins (Maury Ginsberg). Chris Sanchez, who now counsels military veterans, learns that the military routinely prescribes antidepressants to servicemen suffering from PTSD, sending them back into combat without a doctor’s clearance. Chris wants Ellen to give this story to McClaren.

Now, Rutger Simon (John Hannah) meets with a major funder of McClaren’s website, to explain how Princefield was conducting an investigation into Naomi Walling long before she began speaking to McClaren. As a result of their research, Princefield’s CEO Bennett Herreshoff (Victor Garber) made this intel available to the SEC. Meanwhile, Dr. Collins tells Patty and Ellen that Naomi's personal information was hacked, either by McClaren or the late Samurai Seven. McClaren meets Naomi’s old boss, Bruce Davies (David Gautreaux), revealing the particulars of the Princefield investigation. Davies tells how Herreshoff created Fund 23 – a hidden concern, exclusively used for insider trading. As nothing leads back to Herreshoff, he had no motive to kill Samurai Seven. Davies writes down the name of the man who gave him the stock tips that led to the insider trading; Helmut Torben (William Sadler), a wealthy donor Rutger has only just met. McClaren goes to Ellen with the information. Meanwhile, Ellen visits Uncle Pete’s widow (Lynn Cohen) in her search for the man Patty hired to murder her. Instead, the widow contacts the assassin to warn him. Ellen hands over a fragment of the blood-stained business card to detectives who worked David’s murder case, asking them to test it for DNA. In the penultimate moments of the season, Ellen finally identifies the man who tried to kill her - Patrick Scully, a petty criminal. Michael’s lawsuit behind her, and cleared of any wrong-doing – despite the facts – Patty accepts the nomination for the Supreme Court.

The last two seasons of Damages play like a prolonged, sad and sluggish dénouement to all the harrowing espionage played out during its first three seasons. Indeed, the series, begun with high expectations, and fairly impressive ratings, was barely registering as a blip in the Nielsen’s by the end of its third act, with less than a .2 share. The press release issued by DirecTV’s Derek Chang after picking up the series seems apropos. “We didn't say ‘Let's go rescue shows.’ We said, ‘Let's go find quality programming that's going to resonate with our audience.’” Yet, despite some timely topics, and, DirecTV bringing in the Kesslers and Zelman to maintain creative continuity, Seasons 4 and 5 are, in retrospect, a burnt offering of the show’s former self. What likely sank the franchise, even as early as the end of Season 2, was its chronic jigsaw puzzle assembly of the narrative timeline. An audience can only take so much - jumping from past to present, to future, back to past, and so on – before the ‘cleverness’ wears thin, becomes tedious, tiresome and, ironically, serves the opposite purpose for which it was intended; delaying, instead of prolonging the suspense, and, in the end, creating more narrative confusion than clarity.

So too is Glenn Close’s character problematic after Season 2. The Patty Hewes of the first season, who would think nothing to sign off on a death warrant for Ellen Parsons or hire someone to kill Katie’s dog, just to scare this changeable witness into partaking of her case, is not the utterly unscrupulous and dogmatic horror we find throughout the rest of the series. Indeed, by Season 4, the writers have seemingly tired of Patty Hewes – the devil incarnate, and gone for the more introspective, though no less enterprising harridan, who finds less pleasure in dangling the carrot of freedom before the condemned, and goes through this exercise of picking the wings off butterflies, simply, because she has found no other ‘hobby’ to successfully pass the time. Australian-born beauty, Rose Byrne starts out as a doe-eyed ingenue, caught in the headlamps of her star-struck admiration for Patty (or perhaps, simply feeding off her ego) gradually morphing into Patty’s most formidable foe. While the male defendants Patty faces off against are all variations of sincerely flawed figureheads, playing to the unbridled wickedness, presumably inherent in all men (there’s not a one in this bunch who does not lie, cheat, screw around, or murder someone to keep his deadly secrets – except Ellen’s ever-devoted David – who pays for this sincerity with his life) the women who come within inches of being eviscerated by Patty’s vicissitude are usually either too smart, too talented or too good to last.  

Due to its low ratings and high costs, Sony eventually pawned Damages off on DirecTV’s Audience Network, who prided themselves as purveyors of niche market entertainments geared toward the sophisticated, upper-middle-class demographic, an experiment begun with the network’s acquisition of NBC’s as ratings-beleaguered football drama, Friday Night Lights. The show’s unorthodox structure is certainly compelling, with its on-going legal harangue, borrowing from ‘ripped from the headlines’ corporate scandals and espionage. And yet, one could as easily argue that the criminal proceedings are secondary – or even, incidental – to the intriguing and flawed relationships cultivated, lamented and fractured, almost to the point of no return. The absence of typical courtroom maneuverings, leaves a lot of room for each character’s driving ambitions to clot and clog the wheels of justice to serve their own ends. That is part – if not all – of Damages ‘charm’ and, in the intervening years since the show went off the air, its reputation has only grown.  

Mill Creek’s Blu-ray of Damages: the complete series follows some years after Sony’s abandonment of any Blu-ray TV releases after Season 1. But the results leave much to be desired. Sony’s Season 1 spread its 13 episodes across three discs, employing a more generous bit rate with less compression issues. Squeezing 13 episodes onto two discs should not have been a compromise. And yet, in comparing Mill Creek’s Season 1 to Sony’s Season 1 we find a lot of macro-blocking issues, amplified grain, to the point where it occasionally looks quite unnatural, and instances where the image just looks marginally better than the DVD - soft and unprepossessing. Sony’s rendering of Season 1 has bolder colors too. Overall, Mill Creek’s release is not horrible – especially if one does not already own Sony’s Season 1 to draw a direct comparison. But the disparities between these two releases is quite apparent. While fine details can appear marginally pleasing in close-up throughout all five seasons, the overall visual characteristic is uninspiring to say the least.  Colors are flat, and black levels never truly saturate. The DTS 5.1 fairs far better, with a lot of ambient fill across all channels and directionalized dialogue that offers an immersive experience. The one unforgivable sin here is in the extras. This Mill Creek Blu-ray has NONE, despite the fact Sony’s Season 1 contained two audio commentaries, a pair of featurettes and an interactive supplement with deleted scenes. And Sony, who continued to distribute the remaining seasons of Damages on DVD only, continued to pack those sets with supplements too. Why none of the extras were part of this licensing agreement with Mill Creek remains the biggest mystery of all. Where is a Patty Hewes when you really need her?!? Bottom line: while Mill Creek’s Damages: the complete series won’t win any awards for quality this release is watchable with caveats. So, judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

Season 1 – 4.5

Season 2 – 3

Season 3 – 3.5

Season 4 – 2.5

Season 5 – 2.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3 overall

EXTRAS

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