Customer Reviews

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Season 1 was taught and terrifying magic. Season 2 tries to mix in a major new storyline while still carrying forward the lethal fallout from last season's Arthur Frobisher case. Although teasing and confusing the viewer are part of the stylistic tone of this production, things got a little muddy with too many characters in mid-season. Still, the Season Finale was so brilliant, it more than paid off its mid-season markers. Meanhile, the acting of the major characters - Rose Byrne deserves more credit, IMHO - continues to shine.

The first season of "Damages" was brilliant.

The second season was very good as well. But, it seems to be missing something.

Upon reflection, I believe the missing ingredient was villians who were just as compelling as the "heroes."

In Season 1, the series benefitted greatly from Ted Danson's portrayal of the wayward billionaire Arthur Frobisher. Danson's Frobisher was equal parts "average joe made good" and inaccessible, plutocratic jerk; the rare character who you find yourself both repulsed by and rooting for. (This combination made him a yin to Patty Hewes's yang.)

There are no "villians" who the viewers can identify with in the 2nd season. The primary antagonist in this installment was an industrialist who would not acknowledge the illegal dumping of hazardous waste because he would "have his company taken away from him" if he did. There's nothing nuanced, complicated or vaguely sympathetic about that.

Glenn Close once again turns in an Emmy-worthy performance as a "Race Horse Haynes" -esque class-action litigator, Patty Hewes. She's worth the price of the dvd set by herself.

This season kept my attention and was entertaining from beginning to end. But, the first season was virtually perfect and thus, this season which certainly fell short of that, suffers in comparison.

I am not a TV addict. I only watch news (CNN, BBC, DWTV) and football (the real one, not the USaberration). But there are always exceptions... Like now, I am stuck at home with a cold, have to cancel a trip to avoid swine flu quarantine.
What does one do with mountains of windfall time, when one is not fit for serious pursuits? Either one reads pulp fiction, or Hegel (just joking), or one watches TV show DVDs.
This is how I ended up investing hours, that I could have used more productively, with Damages, Season 2. I never watched Season 1, which is supposed to be better, more coherent, more compact. (Watching DVDs when sick has social advantages over reading; one can more easily share the activity.)

My conclusion: if you have to waste your time, this series is not the worst of all options!
What do you get? You get a high society crime soap, focused on a female lawyer, Glenn Close, with unclear morality. You get a beautiful young colleague and co-worker of hers, a Queen Rania look alike, who bears grudges and conspires against her boss. You get the worlds of class action suits, of big capital bosses and their hobbies, of financial manipulations, of environmental crime, of corruption and betrayal... And it is highly complex and complicated and you are forgiven if you sometimes lose track of who did what when and where.

It is good on suspense. It is intriguing on the level of motivation. Some people are easy to understand, they want money and power. Our heroines here, and also some of the men, eg the William Hurt character, are harder to read.
And hardest is the moral evaluation: it is doubly vexing. Not only don't we know the facts, so we can't justly judge, but we are also shown things in differing and conflicting lights, which is of course designed to confuse us. What has actually happened and why? Who are the good guys and who the bad ones? Which moral code counts more in case of a clash?

First class entertainment with brilliant actors. Deduction of one star due to the excessive flipping about with time lines.

Not very often are the 2nd seasons better then the 1st, but in this case it was. This was like a good book that you can't put down. It had me wanting to watch more from the 1st episode. The twists and turns that the story takes and the characters are fantastic! I can not wait to watch the 3rd season! If you have never watched Damages before I would HIGHLY recommend it!

I worked in the television industry for 20 years as a creative executive. Damages is the best series produced in the past decade, and maybe one of the top 10 series of all time. I am shocked that FX did not pick it up for another season. What a loss.

My husband and I absolutely love this show. I purchased all three seasons and have #4 on order. Very little on TV this summer and this show was better than any I have seen in a long time. Glenn Close and Rose Byrne are excellent. Hope this show stays around forever. Love it!!

A great series that I was sad to see was only on direct tv this year. Love this show.

The acting, the plot, the story line and surprises--it has it all! This is an amazing series, much better than you would expect. Can't wait for the third season.

Excellent series. Watched over several nights. Could not wait until the next night to see more. Was disappointed when finished. Can't wait until the next season.

This second season kept me up until sunrise. This is the best show around these days and while I was wondering where they could go after Season 1, the whole of Season 2 just rocked my socks off. "Ellen is kinda hot", in the words of Patty's son. In Season 2, we get to watch her transform from innocent into borderline "femme fatale", and there's something that borders on the architypical or legendary in her expression of the persona - beautiful, melancholy, deadly. I was surprised they could follow up so strong after such a very good first season. Patty has become more sympathetic and you find you are actually rooting for her much of the time. She still packs her usual punch though, and when least expected. Conversely, she takes a few herself.

Rose Byrne and Glenn Close were just fantastic and all the villains were great. So many different characters. I love the set locations on this show. They have a very authentic feeling and they are used without ostentation to great effect. Interestingly and beautifully shot, seamless fast paced action, tight dialogue and plot are what you get with Damages Season 2. Just excellent.