Damages - Series 2 - Complete Details

cleverly crafted,compelling

Damages more closely resembles the paranoid political thrillers of the seventies than a court room drama. It commands your attention from the outset, maintaining a slick pace and deftly weaving various plot threads to satisfying conclusions.

The story challenges both the viewers' and the characters' values and morals as the various protagonists battle corrupting influences, overt and otherwise. They must decide how alike their respective opponent they must become to achieve what they perceive to be a fair outcome.

Picking up the thread from series one we have Ellen, in league with the FBI, struggling to insinuate herself into Pattys' personal and work life. Patty herself is challenged to what could be breaking point by her next big case against a polluting corporation helmed by a character whose influence seems to extend to places far beyond even her reach. To add to her woes a further story strand revolves around a man she had a relationship with in the past, embroiled in murder and intrigue.

We are drip fed telling pieces of the puzzle with flashbacks and forwards which gradually reveal the true nature of events and motives; keeping us guessing to the end. No event or action is without purpose or consequence. Even for the most jaded of viewers there are plot twists which are genuinely jaw dropping.

Negative reviews of series 1 suggest a lack of sympathetic characters but in among the sharks there are those who do the right thing! David, we know from the outset had come to a sticky end but it is only at the very end of the series that we know for sure that he had acted honourably throughout. He had not had an affair or been disloyal to his fiance, Ellen, and had died under torture to secure the secrets and safety of his sister and Ellen. Series two may well hold equal surprises but you have to stick with it to the end. Doing so is not a challenge and I'm glad to have discovered it on DVD rather than weekly bites on TV. It is frighteningly easy to watch the whole series in one go!

[Highly rated reviewer]

More twists than a corkscrew

Damages is great - and you won't catch me saying that about other American TV products (perhaps SOAP!)

Addictive, mesmerising plots, skillfully worked to maximise intrigue to the point of mystification, keep you hooked. You quickly learn that whatever you think you know, or have just seen, will hardly ever turn out to be true.

About a ruthless lawyer (excellent Glenn Close) and her firm's plotting and skullduggery, including murder, to bring down their equally ruthless adversaries, a billionaire entrepreneur and a power company's CEO.

The plots are great but it is the interplay of characters - who are they REALLY, and what part do they play in the grand design - that holds your attention.

If you want to watch either series do not jump in at the middle or you won't have a clue, and even then I'd recommend starting with series one as it does have some overlap in series two.

Will there be a series three, it does not look likely, but one can always hope.