Damages: The Complete First Season

The show that makes every other show on TV look pathetic....

If you're reading this you may already be leaning toward buying this show, if you are, BUY THIS SHOW! If you're still on the fence, BUY THIS SHOW! If you have no interest in legal thrillers whatsoever I still say, BUY THIS SHOW!!! I'm serious. DAMAGES show blows all the other shows on TV now (cable or network) out of the water. I was a huge fan of THE WIRE, THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, BATTLESTAR, and this is like those others is top shelf calibre entertainment.
The writing is sharp, agressive and the dialogue is performed with power rarely found in TV. And I have to say it's nice to finally have a show that seems to play with the viewer's expectations in the same loving way that the Sopranos did - it will keep you guessing constantly. You have no idea who is a good guy or bad guy, or who is in control or not. A show like this takes a lot of planning and doesn't come off as fly-by storytelling. The structure is so tight and emotional that I think this is not only the best "legal thriller" TV show but it's the best legal thriller ever made.
....and it NEVER TAKES PLACE IN A COURTROOM!!!! Amazing.

The blu-ray version is well worth the investment. The image and sound are miraculous! Watching this show on blu-ray makes me want to run out and buy every Blu-ray TV show available...but I have to control myself because I'm sure the Sarah Conner Chronicals doesn't even come close.

Glen Close's face pops off the screen and cuts you deep. I mean, to be this up-"close" and personal to such a genius at work is an honor - she earned that Emmy three times over. Ted Danson also is utterly watchable the way he was when he was back on CHEERS - and watching DAMAGES I would smile and remember, "That's right! I remember, Ted Danson is cool!"

Rose Byrne is a hot new talent. Gorgeous as she is brilliant. And Zeljko Ivanek deserves his Emmy too.

My only gripe was that the first season had to end (even though it's cliffhanger made me stand up on my couch and WHOOP with glee!) In contrast, PRISON BREAK'S season 1 was captivating but gets messy and long-winded, this first season is shorter (13 episodes) sleeker, and it's quality after all not quantity that matters. Some of the other supporting performances are weaker than the ENORMOUS Emmy performances you'll get on the show, but, hey...it's all good.

November 22, 2008

Damages Keeps Us On The Edge Of Our Seats

We can't wait for the new season of Damages. It has plenty of plot twists and turns to keep you guessing. The acting is excellent. Everything about it is first class. November 18, 2008

Damages

Great to see all of them at once to prepare for the new season in January. November 18, 2008

Excellent Buy!

Prompt delivery. Perfect packaging. All DVDs were in excellent (new) condition. I recommend that everyone purchasing Damages via Amazon. You will not be disappointed. November 9, 2008

Four Stars for Zeljko Ivanek

I don't think this show has enough of a soul to win five stars. The acting is very good, but the characters are wildly overdrawn. A world this corrupt would not be like this. It would be armed militias of young men, riding around in trucks with torches. I guess this is a vision of America if it were as corrupt as parts of Africa, if it could maintain 4% GDP growth.

I think the standout role is Zeljko Ivanek. This is the most tortured lawyer I have run across. He is working for the bad guy, for starters, not that there are any good guys in this litigation. Ted Danson plays a man who is in the Enron mold. The company was all accounting tricks, and Frobisher, the baddy, cashed his stock moments before the collapse. The other employees had money in the stock, lost it all, and Glenn Close as Karen Hewes is trying to get it back.

On the surface the Close character is the knight in shining armor. Well, that lasts about 20 minutes into the first episode. From this first revelation the question becomes "how bad is she". Even at the end it is not crystal clear.

There are two many layers of corruption in the scripts. The Ivanek character, southern lawyer Ray Fiske, sort of shines for his glimmers of humanity. But this is layered on top of buried sexual issues, a culture of murder, and twists that aren't entirely plausible. Watch what happens to the main hit man. Really, is that plausible.

There were great noir actors like Robert Ryan, Mitchum. Even Bogart. They all had a grim quality. Mitchum used to get paid to let people beat him up in boxing matches. The Fiske character comes off as apart, unable to share in the corruption. Beyond that, Ivanek can create a character who is deeply troubled, sad, or, relating to the title, damaged. And, in the end, he is not able to cope.

There's no redemption, in this series. The semi-heroic character is, in the end, left with what? Grudges? The Close character is interesting, even if it suggests that gender equality is a race to the bottom of morality.

I guess it's a little sad that the story underneath this, of corporate corruption, is lost in the mix.

So, it's interesting, but a little light on credibility. Don't take it too seriously, it's fine, if dark, television. October 22, 2008

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