Damages (FX) Episode 1
From the network that brings me my Denis Leary fix, comes a legal drama that makes Boston Legal look like a lightweight comedy. (oh wait, for the most part it is)  Glenn Close starring as a bitch of a lawyer. Glenn Close…in a TV show. Wow. I wasn’t sure how that one was going to play out but this is one serious show. Tate Donovan as her faithful sidekick isn’t hurting either.
The newest associate, Ellen (played by Rose Byrne) in Hewes and Associates is first seen running through the streets covered in blood and wearing panties and a trenchcoat. That’s how this show opens…. so, you can see this is no walk in the park and certainly no laugh track will be heard. As the episode goes on, you aren’t sure which side of the fence Glenn’s character, Patty Hewes, is on. You get the feeling that everyone around her has the unfortunate luck of becoming a casualty in the war. Deeper in, you get a better glimpse of what Patty is fighting against, and shock, it’s Ted Danson. Sam Malone in the flesh but instead of hound dog Sam,he’s a rather creepy guy named Arthur. Again, they have him riding that line throughout the episode, you aren’t sure if he’s the bad guy or not. I love that the characters aren’t set in stone, they grow, they move, they change. It certainly keeps this show moving and the plots fluid. They have 13 episodes planned right now, hopefully this one will keep up the pace and keep us watching. After the demise of my beloved Studio 60, I was beginning to think that there was no more ‘smart TV’.
