Damages

Damages
Format	Legal drama
Created by	Todd A. Kessler Glenn Kessler Daniel Zelman
Starring	Glenn Close Rose Byrne Željko Ivanek Noah Bean Tate Donovan Anastasia Griffith Marcia Gay Harden Timothy Olyphant Ted Danson William Hurt
Opening theme	"When I Am Through with You" by The V.L.A.
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Todd A. Kessler Glenn Kessler Daniel Zelman
Location(s)	New York City, New York
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Production company(s)	Sony Pictures TV
Broadcast
Original channel	FX
Picture format	480i, 576i (TV) 480p (DVD) 1080i (FX HD; BBC HD) 1080p (Blu-Ray)
Audio format	DD 5.1 (DVD, HDTV) Dolby TrueHD (Blu-Ray) Stereo Surround (TV)
Original run	July 24, 2007 – present
Status	Returning Series
External links
Official website

Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler (collectively known as KZK). It is broadcast in the United States on the cable network FX and is produced by the creators' own production company, KZK Productions. It premiered on July 24, 2007. The show's second season premiered on January 7, 2009. The show has been renewed for a third season which will premiere Jan. 25 at 10/9c.^[1]

The series revolves around the brilliant yet ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), her protégée Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) and the law firm Hewes runs in New York City. The debut season finds Hewes attempting to win a class-action lawsuit against the former CEO of a corporation (Ted Danson) on behalf of his former workers. The second season revolves around Patty's relationship with a man from her past (William Hurt) and how she is thrown into a new cutthroat case against a big energy company, while Ellen seeks revenge against Patty.

Damages has received critical acclaim and numerous television awards, including a Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards for its first season. The show is noted for its nonlinear narrative, frequent use of plot twists, technical merit, season-long storylines and the acting ability of its cast.

Production

Conception

Creators Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman devised the series as relationship between a mentor and a protégée; two women in powerful positions. Although the initial story idea did not have the series set in the legal arena, the creators chose it because they felt the legal world included women who commanded power and influence.^[2] The conception was inspired by the creators' interaction with their superiors along with their experiences in the entertainment industry.^[3] The series steers away from usual legal dramas, where storyline is set inside the courtroom and instead describes the characters' lives and interactions outside the courtroom and the behind-the-scenes power maneuvering and manipulation.^[3] About the characters of the show Zelman notes, "We don't look at any of the characters as good or bad or anything like that. What really motivated us to write about this world, first and foremost, was our interest in power dynamics, the dynamics of power in society."^[4]

Writing

The series was designed with the main character, Patty Hewes, tackling one case per season.^[5] The first season of the series focuses on a class-action lawsuit against the fraudulent multi-billionaire CEO of a defunct company. The plot was inspired by various corporate scandals and characters involved in them,^[6] most notably from the 2001 scandal surrounding Enron.^[7] The second season deals with the energy industry and related environment issues. The story is influenced by recent and ongoing environmental cases in the United States in the mining industry.^[8] The writers were guided by environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who shared his experience in the field with various corporations and CEOs.^[9]

The series uses nonlinear narrative while employing flashforwards, foreshadowing and red herring narration techniques. This approach has given the writers flexibility in storytelling.^[10] The narrative handles multiple plot lines and has loose ends. Zelman explains, "We know where we’re going. We have tent-pole moments that we’re building to all the way through to the end, and it’s very clear to us where we want to end up. [However], we want to leave room for improvisation..."^[6] While the two different time-frames format was initially intended for the first season, in preparation for the second season the producers felt that the nonlinear format had become a signature of the series and decided to continue it for the second season.^[11] With the serialized format of the show decreasing the viewership,^[10] Todd Kessler contended that the second season would contain stand-alone storylines to make the show more accessible.^[12]

Casting

When creators Kesslers and Zelman pitched the show to executives at FX, network president John Landgraf suggested that they should consider Glenn Close for the main character Patty Hewes.^[13] Close who had earlier worked on FX's The Shield and had conveyed to the network officials that she would be interested to be cast as a lead in another show, so long as the show was set in New York City.^[14] After a three-hour meeting with the creators, Close accepted the role, impressed particularly by the powerful persona of the character "as the head of her own law firm [...] in a male-dominated world."^[6] In preparation for the role, Close met with several female attorneys in New York, including Mary Jo White, Lorna Scofield and Patricia Hynes.^[13] The creators chose Ted Danson for the part of Arthur Frobisher, a corrupt billionaire CEO, because of his role in the 1979 film The Onion Field.^[14] Danson was immediately attracted to the project after he learned that Close would be playing the lead role.^[15] As part of preparation Danson studied the collapse of Enron by watching documentaries such as The Smartest Guys in the Room and meeting CEOs of various Fortune 500 corporations.^[16] The producers also suggested that Danson consult Close's acting coach Harold Guskin. Danson was initially hesitant to this suggestion, but found the consultation extremely helpful.^[17]

Cast members Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan, portraying Ellen Parsons and Tom Shayes respectively, secured their parts through auditions. Byrne had been unavailable the first time she was approached because she was shooting the film 28 Weeks Later, but was able to audition later when the part had not yet been cast.^[7] Both Byrne and Donovan prepared for their roles by consulting lawyers and attending court trials.^[18] According to producers, the characters of Ellen's fiancé David Connor and his sister Katie were the hardest to cast.^[2] Noah Bean, who got the role of David, said he "gave an awful first audition," but managed to get the part when he was given a second chance while waiting for an elevator.^[2] When British actor Anastasia Griffith auditioned for the part of Katie Connor, the producers were hesitant to have a British actor play an American, especially since they already had an Australian (Byrne) playing an American. However Griffith convinced the producers by speaking in an American accent throughout their follow-up meeting.^[19] At the time of casting, Griffith's role was intended for only for three episodes, but was extended after the producers realized the success of the character.^[3]

Plot synopsis

Season One

The show begins at what appears to be the end. A young woman, Ellen Parsons, is found running through the streets half naked and covered in blood. Investigation by the police reveals that her fiancé, David, has been bludgeoned to death in their apartment, and Ellen is quickly arrested.

The scene shifts to six months earlier when Ellen, a newly minted lawyer, is being courted for prestigious jobs. She turns down an offer to work with the defense attorney Hollis Nye in favor of working for notorious lawyer Patty Hewes. When Nye finds out about this, he warns Ellen that working for Patty will change her.

Ellen soon becomes engrossed in the major case which Patty's firm, Hewes and Associates, is pursuing. Hewes and Associates has been retained in a class action suit by the former employees of billionaire Arthur Frobisher. In a case reminiscent of Enron, Frobisher is accused of insider trading and lying to his employees about the health of his company even as he unloaded his stock, depriving his employees of their life savings.

Early on in the series Patty shows that she is willing to go to extreme, even unethical and illegal, lengths to win her case. One such instance is when she has the pet dog of a reluctant witness killed in a manner which makes it look as if Frobisher is responsible. This action emboldens the witness to testify against Frobisher.

As the season progresses Ellen becomes more and more involved in the case, and in Patty's shady dealings. Part of this is due to Ellen's personal connections to the case. Her fiancé's sister turns out to be an important witness in the case. For most of the season Ellen skirts the edge of what is unethical, but eventually comes to cross that line.

As Ellen becomes more and more devoted to the case, her relationship with her fiancé becomes strained. The situation is not helped when Patty betrays his sister. Eventually Ellen and David tire of Patty and Ellen publicly leaves Hewes and Associates. However, she still has an interest in the case and soon becomes embroiled in it again.

Throughout the first season, the series plays with time. The narrative switches back and forth between a traditional linear narrative of events happening in "the past" and a more temporally disjointed narrative of events happening in "the present." The main plot focus of these flashes was the murder of Ellen's fiancé David and the apparent attack on Ellen that same day when she was staying at Patty's apartment. The flashes served to increase speculation among viewers since the audience was privy to information about the future which the characters were not. Until the final episode, speculation over the identity of the murderer switched between a whole host of characters including Ellen, Patty, Frobisher, and a stalker whom David acquired.

By the end of the first season the main narrative of the show has "caught up" with the flash forwards and most of the questions raised by them are resolved. The murder charges against Ellen are dropped, the identities of David's murderer and Ellen's attacker are revealed (at least to the audience), and the Frobisher case is resolved with Frobisher giving up the bulk of his fortune to the employees. He is later shot and left for dead by a vengeful former employee.

Season Two

Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan and Ted Danson return as regulars for the second season of Damages. Season One recurring star Anastasia Griffith is now a regular. William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant and Marcia Gay Harden also join the cast.

Season 2 begins with once naive young attorney, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) talking to someone off-screen. Suddenly, she pulls a gun into frame and pulls the trigger twice.

Six months earlier, a mysterious scientist named Daniel Purcell (William Hurt) sends documents to Patty (Glenn Close) following her victory over Arthur Frobisher. Purcell asks for Patty's help, saying he's being threatened, but she refuses. The following night, Daniel's wife Christine (Paige Turco), turns up dead and a guilty Patty reluctantly decides to help him. As the case of the murder rolls on, Patty begins to realize that there is a major conspiracy going on between Daniel's scientific firm and major energy corporation Ultima National Resources. They continue to make headway as the case rolls on, as over time the supposed killer of Daniel's wife is arrested and the corporation's environmental hazards are being exposed. When Patty is moments away from bringing UNR down, Daniel turns on her and defends the corporation. We later realize that Daniel was working for UNR the whole time and he indirectly murdered his wife. CEO of UNR Walter Kendrick (John Doman), meanwhile, is revealed to be merging with another corporation for reasons far more complicated, bizarre and secretive than meets the eye. When Patty catches this, she decides to use a plaintiff against UNR to stop what could happen, and she's able to convince Frobisher (Ted Danson) to do it to regain his image. Kendrick's attorney Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden), meanwhile, had an affair with Daniel Purcell (to no one else's knowledge) and isn't aware of Walter's involvement, if any, in Christine's murder.

The mystery of the murder later comes to a close, when it is discovered that Daniel choked his wife when she threatened to tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ about UNR's contamination. He thought he'd killed her, but she was still alive when the Deacon (Darrell Hammond) arrives at the house. Walter Kendrick tells him to finish the job, and he does just that, leaving Purcell thinking he'd murdered his wife. Still thinking he'd done it and evidence beginning to show itself, Purcell breaks and heads to the Police Department, confessing he killed Christine Purcell.

Ellen, meanwhile, is still under the impression that Patty tried to have her killed, and is working with the FBI to bring her down. In reality though, we discover it was possible that it was Uncle Pete that commissioned her attempted murder. In grief counseling, she meets and befriends a mysterious loner named Wes Krulik (Timothy Olyphant), and begins to confide in him. However, Wes is secretly working with Rick Messer, the police detective that murdered David Connor and that had been and still is working for Frobisher. He also has a shrine of newspaper articles on Arthur Frobisher, articles of David's murder, and articles from Ellen's arrest, as well as a large variety of guns and other weapons. As the season closes, Wes refuses to follow Detective Messer's order to kill Ellen, as Ellen has begun to suspect police involvement. As Messer tries to lure Ellen into a trap, Wes executes Messer in the season finale.

When Katie (Anastasia Griffith) re-enters Ellen's life, she begins to bring up old conflicts and new issues, as she recognizes a cop that was the man that tried to kill her. After telling Ellen—who, even with Patty's help, got nowhere on the issue—Katie went to the police and filed a report against him. This led to an argument between the two, with Katie claiming that if Ellen had never met Patty, David would still be alive. Katie doesn't understand Ellen's reasoning for going back to Patty, which Ellen says are reasons she wouldn't understand. When Messer thinks the cop's cover has been blown, he shoots and kills him.

Frobisher returns as a plaintiff against UNR for Patty in an effort to 'get his name back'. This creates an opportunity for Ellen though, as she can find new information and eventually links Frobisher to Detective Messer's agency. Wes recovers this information and lets Messer know, and he threatens Frobisher with his life and pulls out of the case. Messer's problems continue though, as Wes begins to develop affection for Ellen, and wonders if he can trust him. When he tells Wes to take Ellen out, he refuses, but when he brings up his past, Wes has no choice but to comply.

Walter Kendrick, meanwhile, initiates a merger which is discovered to be a major energy scheme to make more money. His partner, Dave Pell (Clarke Peters), has much more desire than Kendrick though, as he has a relationship with Phil (Michael Nouri), Patty's husband, and makes him a tempting offer in government. Phil accepts, but he is revealed to be having an affair, and when it is leaked to the press, Patty kicks him out of the house and he is no longer in consideration. Pell also has been talking to the FBI for information on Patty, and when Agent Werner's cover is blown to Agent Harrison, Pell executes Harrison.

Kendrick's illegal activity continues, and when Claire attacks Patty Hewes and Patty mentions Fin Garrity, a major energy trader secretly being used by Walter and Dave, she begins to realize she is being used in a major conspiracy, and asks for the assistance of Daniel. Claire lets the idea of power get the best of her, realizing she could head up UNR. A suspicious Kendrick catches her having sexual relations with Daniel. Kendrick uses this to get Claire thrown out of UNR, and she immediately goes to Patty saying 'I want you to destroy him'. She also tells her that she can trust Daniel Purcell. Following this, Patty uses Purcell to crack energy codes, and he is successful, giving Patty enough evidence to testify against UNR in court.

Tate Donovan returns as Patty's partner Tom Shayes. After he is given the infant mortality case, which the FBI wanted Patty to take to bring her down, the witness asked Tom for some money to hold her over until the trial or she would go to another attorney. He was about to hand over the money until Patty heard about the bribe and convinced Tom to join her in the case against UNR. While chasing a lead to find out more information on Finn Garrity, Tom is propositioned by a call girl. It is unknown whether Tom gave in to her advances. Despite being named partner to Patty, he is still left in the dark when it comes to certain issues regarding the case. Tom's wife just had a baby boy this season.

Patty realizes that victory in the UNR case relies on the GPS code from Walter Kendrick's Cadillac to be entered into evidence. Because the car was stolen to retrieve the codes, it can not be entered into evidence. To fix this, Patty puts Ellen up to the task of bribing the judge. But Patty soon takes back the request and gives the job to Tom. After Ellen and Agent Werner were planning to use this to bring down Patty, they target Tom and take him into custody, citing his almost-bribe with Agent Hawkins in the infant mortality case as the reason, while he is on his way to the hospital where his wife is giving birth. Ellen convinces Tom to wear a wire and he goes back to Patty and turns down the job of bribing the judge, and urging Patty not to do so either. Angry, Patty fires Tom for letting her down.

In the season finale, Ellen convinces Patty to bribe the judge after the judge makes it clear that in the current state of the case, he will not allow the evidence of the stolen SUV (a subtle hint to Patty's firm that he needs a payoff). Ellen feels she has Patty setup and arranges with Agent Werner to monitor the payoff. Meanwhile Patty confronts Finn Garrity, the energy trader involved with UNR. This sets off a chain reaction between Garrity, Kendrick, and Patty and which causes Garrity to seek out Patty as she is taking the bribe to hand over to Ellen at Ellen's hotel room. In the run-up to the final confrontation between Patty and Ellen alluded to in flash forwards all season, Patty makes a deal with Pell. Pell will call off the FBI and reveals Ellen to be the insider working for the Feds. Patty gets Pell to hand over the data that UNR is using toxic chemicals. In return Patty will drop the energy trading angle of the case. She also sets up Ellen as the fall guy for bribing the judge. Ellen, meanwhile, works a deal with Tom, procuring a handgun in the process, after Wes refuses to get her one.

Ellen confronts Patty about her actions from season 1. She has evidence from Uncle Pete's wife that she feels is proof Patty set her up to be killed. However, when she hands the evidence to Patty, the folder is shown to hold only a message that the Feds are watching, not the evidence of Patty's involvement with Ellen's attempted murder. Ellen fires 2 shots at Patty, but instead of aiming for Patty, she aims at the camera installed by the FBI. She then gets Patty's confession that she indeed was responsible for setting up Ellen to be murdered. Satisfied with the confession, Ellen leaves with the bribe for the judge. Patty leaves after Ellen, but is shown to be bleeding. Patty is found in the elevator by Agent Werner, who assumes Ellen shot Patty and leaves to pursue Ellen. Wes, who was monitoring Ellen from across the hall also finds Patty (right after Agent Werner leaves) and gets her to the hospital. It is revealed that Patty was stabbed by Finn Garrity on the elevator before her confrontation with Ellen. When Ellen bribes the judge, Agent Werner has her and the Judge arrested for bribery. As they leave, Federal Marshals (led by Tom's sister) arrest Agent Werner for corruption. Tom reveals to Ellen that Patty, apparently had discovered the FBI scheme and worked with him to record the conversation with Pell. This leads to both Kendrick and Pell getting arrested. The season ends one month later with Patty recovering at home, Tom returning to Patty's firm, and Ellen with a new unrevealed job offer (and out of touch with Hewes and Associates). However, Patty states she feels that Ellen will be in contact with them soon.

Cast

Season One

• Glenn Close (Patty Hewes)
• Rose Byrne (Ellen Parsons)
• Željko Ivanek (Ray Fiske)
• Noah Bean (David Connor)
• Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes)
• Ted Danson (Arthur Frobisher)

Season Two

• Glenn Close (Patty Hewes)
• Rose Byrne (Ellen Parsons)
• Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes)
• Anastasia Griffith (Katie Connor)
• Marcia Gay Harden (Claire Maddox)
• Timothy Olyphant (Wes Krulik)
• Ted Danson (Arthur Frobisher)^[20]
• William Hurt (Daniel Purcell)

Season Three

The following have been confirmed to be starring in season three:

• Glenn Close (Patty Hewes, regular)
• Rose Byrne (Ellen Parsons, regular)
• Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes, regular)
• Ted Danson (Arthur Frobisher, TBA)^[21]
• Campbell Scott (Joseph Tobin Jr, regular)^[22]
• Lily Tomlin (Marilyn Tobin, special guest star)^[23]
• Martin Short (Role TBA, regular)^[23]
• Keith Carradine (Role TBA, special guest star)^[24]
• Reiko Aylesworth (Ms. Tobin (wife of Joseph Tobin), supporting)^[25]
• Sarah Wynter (Role TBA, supporting)^[26]

Characters

Home video release

The first season of Damages is available for purchase in Region 1 in both DVD and Blu-ray formats as of January 29, 2008.

The first season was released in Australia (Region 4) on the 19th of December 2007, however this version contains no special features.^[27] A Blu-ray version is also available, which was released on the 18th of August 2009.^[28]

The second season will be released in Australia (Region 4) on the 25th of November 2009.^[29]

Damages is also available for purchase on the iTunes Store, and all episodes that have currently aired are available. The first season can also be streamed for free in the US on Crackle.

International broadcasts

Reception

The first season of Damages received positive reviews from critics^[30] with the series ranking in the top ten lists of several critics, including Robert Lloyd (Los Angeles Times), Alessandra Stanley (The New York Times) and Robert Abele (LA Weekly) among others.^[31] The return of the series for its second season was also met with critical acclaim.^[32]

Awards/nominations

Damages was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2008 Primetime Emmy Awards. Co-creators Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman were nominated for writing and Allen Coulter for directing the pilot episode. Glenn Close received the nomination for her lead role, with co-stars Ted Danson and Željko Ivanek nominated for their supporting roles.^[33] Close and Ivanek won in their respective categories,^[34] with the series also receiving the Emmy for best casting.^[35] The series earned four nominations at the 65th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Television Series, Close for Best Actress and Byrne and Danson for their supporting roles. Close won the award in her category.^[36]

For its acclaimed second season, Glenn Close received her second nomination for Best Lead Drama Actress Emmy. Ted Danson also received another nomination, for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Rose Byrne, earned her first Emmy nomination, and William Hurt, was nominated as a supporting actor in a drama. The series again was nominated for direction, and the series itself was nominated again for best drama. On September 20 2009, the show won its fourth Emmy Award when Glenn Close won the Best Actress in a Drama Series Emmy.

Ratings

The series premiere on July 24, 2007 drew 3.7 million viewers, with total of 5.1 million viewers including re-airing on the same night,^[37][38] becoming the most watched cable television program for the night.^[39] The viewership however declined over the first season, partially due the story's serialized approach, with the season finale drawing 1.4 million viewers.^[40] Regardless of its critical acclaim, Damages seriously suffered in its second season ratings. Season Two premiered with only 1.7 million viewers watching, even with the momentum that was built following its Golden Globe and Emmy wins. Despite the show's low ratings, FX has picked up and secured the program for a third season. John Landgraf hopes the show will continue on the air following its third season; after taking into account the encore presentations and "extraordinary" DVR numbers, the ratings appear to be quite good.^[41]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Damages (TV series)

• Official site at FX Network
• Damages Official DVD Site at Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Damages blog at Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Damages at the Internet Movie Database
• Damages at TV.com