Damages: The Complete Second Season

Still Great - But not as riveting as Season 1
Season 1 was taut 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.

Sometimes Less Is More
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...

Moral relativism
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...

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