Damages: Case closed?

I've explained in the past why I'm not a big fan of "Damages," but with the show wrapping up its third season last night - and with it looking like a fourth season won't be economically-viable - I was curious how people felt about the finale. Were you satisfied with it, either as a capper to the season, or to the series? Click here to read the full post

Why I don't write about 'Damages'

Because new readers come to this blog all the time, I often have to deal with repeated questions like "Why didn't you ever write about 'The Wire' season 3?" or, even more common, "Why don't you write about my favorite show?" With the season three premiere of "Damages" beginning tonight, I thought I'd head off any queries about that at the pass with a link to this column from the start of season two, in which I explain why the show just isn't for me. I haven't watched the season three episodes FX sent for review, and I'm not going to be doing any future blogging on it, so click through and you'll know why. Click here to read the full post

Getting caught up with Damages

I did an open thread for the "Damages" season two premiere, and in all the hubbub of press tour, never got around to doing that (or a longer review) for episode two. With last night's episode, "I Knew Your Pig," we're caught up on the episodes I saw in advance, and which informed the complaints I made in my column a few weeks back. I don't really have the time or energy to add to that right now, but I suspect I'll give the season another episode or two before deciding for sure that the series simply isn't for me.

In the meantime, how's it working out for the rest of you? Click here to read the full post

Damages, "I Lied, Too": Open thread

Since I'm tied up with press tour, I don't have time to do a full episode review for the "Damages" season premiere. You can re-read my column if you want -- and keep in mind that I rather liked the premiere before getting frustrated later -- and fire away with your own thoughts. Click here to read the full post

Sepinwall on TV: 'Damages' season two review

In today's column, I review the new season of "Damages":

It took nearly two hours into the new season of FX's "Damages" for me to remember why I don't like it.

The show, like its main character -- amoral lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) -- can be intoxicating at times, all shiny surfaces and steely control. The cast, led by Emmy winner Close, is, for the most part, top notch. Few TV shows filmed in New York have ever made the city look like such an architectural marvel. And the series' mystery format and interlocking timelines makes it easy to simply sit on the edge of the couch and wait for what happens next.

But just as working for Patty is ultimately a bad career move because she's going to turn on you in the end, "Damages" is a show that inevitably reveals itself to be less fulfilling than it seems at first glance.

To read the full thing, click here.

Not sure yet how much episode-specific commentary I'm going to be doing, but at the least I can do open threads for the first three episodes, which I've seen. Click here to read the full post

Welcome to *^&*@ing 'Damages,' Tim Olyphant!

Still more "Damages" news: Timothy Olyphant, best known as Seth Bullock from "Deadwood," is joining the cast for season two. Quoth the press release:

Olyphant’s character will become tangled in the life of Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) as she deals with both her recent personal loss and the escalating conflict with her boss Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) when the firm takes a new client (William Hurt).

Season two's still slated to debut in early '09. Click here to read the full post

William Hurt joins the cast of 'Damages'

Hot off the press releases:

LOS ANGELES, June 16, 2008 – Academy Award winning actor William Hurt will join the cast of FX’s Golden Globe award winning series Damages for its second season, which is scheduled to return to the network in early 2009, announced Nick Grad, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, FX Networks.

Production of season two starts on June 24th in New York. Damages is produced by Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and FX Productions.

Hurt joins Damages for a season-long arc as a new client of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Details of Hurt's character are being kept under wraps, but insiders have intimated that Hurt's character will not only share a professional past with Hewes, but a personal one as well.

The release later, in a passage discussing all the actors from season one, says "(Glenn) Close, (Rose) Byrne and (Tate) Donovan all return for season two."

I wasn't a fan of "Damages" season one, as I didn't like Byrne's character and felt the show tried too hard to keep pulling the rug out from under the audience at the expense of solid characterization and storytelling, but I know a lot of other people liked it, and Hurt is a good get for them. Click here to read the full post

Get (back) into the groove

So I returned to the office today to find two overflowing USPS bins full of mail waiting for me. Several hours of unpacking and viewing later (interrupted briefly so I could write up my interview with "Jekyll" writer Steven Moffat for tomorrow's paper), I... well, I still have a whole lot to catch up on, not to mention treats that I would love to watch (the complete "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" box set) if I ever had the time.

But I'll comment on a few shows I got a chance to look at that have already aired. Spoilers for, in order, "Big Love," "The Kill Point" and "The Bronx Is Burning" (plus a question about "Damages") coming right up...

I have a very ambivalent relationship with "Big Love." I admire it, at times even really enjoy it, but as I've mentioned in the past, I always feel held at a distance from it. (This led to much marital friction in the ramp-up to press tour, as my "Big Love"-loving wife complained that I never got into that show and yet was zipping through my screeners of "Tell Me You Love Me," which she hated.) I would be happy if I never had to see another Juniper Creek scene again, as I find all those characters far too broad and thin for a show with such high ambitions. And, frankly, Bill Henrickson himself gives me the creeps. I think that's supposed to be the point of the character, that Bill Paxton is giving an uncompromising performance, and that Bill has to be written this way to make the stories of the wives -- the heart of the show, and the reason I keep checking in despite my dislike of the rest of it -- work, but I wish that could be accomplished in smaller increments of screen time.

All that said, the latest episode was really quite something, absolutely living up to the "Kingdom Come" title. The Roman vs. Hollis action happened largely off-stage, and Roman even took a few bullets at the episode's end. (Though, of course, the direction made note of the fact that he was shot in three potentially non-fatal spots; much as I'm in a hurry to be rid of him, I suspect the writers will stick ol' Roman in a coma for a while and then bring him back in a big way in season three.) Bill grappled with the wives on the issues of free time, adding a fourth wife, and the impact that living the principle is having on their children. (Jeanne Tripplehorn in the scene where Barb hears her son's thoughts on polygamy? Amazing.) When the series moves away from the political gamesmanship and sticks to the nuts and bolts of trying to fit this lifestyle into a modern American life, it can be pretty great. Now that I'm home and at the same point in my viewing as the rest of the audience, I'm going to make an effort to blog at least a few more times before the season's over.

I'm not completely caught up on "The Kill Point" -- the Spike screener I had in my luggage only featured the pilot, so I'll have to track down episode two with the DVR -- but I really liked what I saw, and not just because there are so many "Wire" actors in the cast. (So far, I've got four: Michael Hyatt (Brianna Barksdale) as the SWAT commander, Michael K .Williams (Omar) as the sniper and J.D. Williams (Bodie) and Leo Fitzpatrick (Johnny) as two of the robbers.)

Bank hostage dramas are one of those genres (like underdog sports movies and "12 Angry Men" rip-offs) I'm a sucker for, so much so that I laughed when I realized the father and son in the bank are named Sabian. (Not sure if it's an intentional hat-tip, but Kevin Spacey's character in "The Negotiator" was named Chris Sabian -- a name repeated by every character in that movie so many times that I have to assume it was in Spacey's contract.) There are certain obligatory tropes to the genre, and the pilot handled a bunch of them nicely: the breach gone bad, the push-pull between negotiator and hostage taker and, especially, the "Dog Day Afternoon" moment where the hostage taker gets the crowd and/or media on his side. I could do without Donnie Wahlberg's grammar fetish (I was fine with it as a quirk until he made an underling waste valuable time confirming the apostrophe thing), but unless there was a massive nosedive in episode two (no spoilers, please, though comments on quality are fine), I think I'm in this thing through the end.

Finally, "The Bronx Is Burning" lapped me last night. I had seen the first three episodes before press tour, but while episode four was airing last night, I was in the actual Bronx watching every player but A-Rod hit a home run. Fortunately, the massive mail pile included episode four, so I watched it a few minutes ago. Same basic opinions -- the Son of Sam stuff feels totally extraneous, the mix of actors and archival footage is clumsy, and Turturro's really good -- with one caveat: while I was enjoying Platt's Steinbrenner in the first few episodes, he's starting to feel a little too cartoony, even for Boss '77. Also, I'd have to check my copy of the book (or my tattered copy of Steve Jacobsen's "The Best Team Money Can Buy"), but I don't recall Lou and Thurman's pep talk with Steinbrenner taking place on the night of the Blackout, or that Billy drunkenly interrupted it. (I could be wrong on the latter point, I admit.)

UPDATE: Whoops. Almost forgot that episode two of "Damages" (which I saw a few weeks ago) was on last night. Thoughts?

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Damages: The devil is in the details

Today's column previews FX's new drama "Damages," which I wanted to like more than I did:

The new FX legal drama "Damages" offers two superb performances by old pros Glenn Close and Ted Danson. It has a knotty, ripped-from-the- headlines thriller plot that evokes the best of John Grisham. And it has the moral ambiguity and style we've come to expect from the home of "The Shield" and "Rescue Me."

One thing it doesn't have: a compelling main character. It's a doughnut show: lots of sweet, satisfying goodness around the edges, nothing in the middle.

To read the full thing, click here. Click here to read the full post