Spoilers. Season 2 has yet to grip me like season 1 had by this stage; it's more a case of trying to summon enthusiasm to pull you through each episode. The storyline is relatively straight-forward on the surface (multi-billion dollar energy company's putting profits ahead of public health), but the uncertainty over whistleblower Daniel's (William Hurt) loyalty, a subplot with avenger Ellen (Rose Byrne) trying to ruin Patty (Glenn Close) with an FBI-backed sting, and the background noise of various subplots is making this season a bit too thick and unpalatable. I'm waiting for it to be teased apart.Still, the main story is unfolding at a decent lick, so perhaps things will sharpen into focus by mid-season. Here, Daniel becomes the prime suspect in his wife's murder (as Tom Noonan's detective says, why would the intruders not have stolen anything?), and Patty is having trouble convincing Daniel to give her all the facts, so she can properly represent and protect him. It seems that Daniel is hamstrung by having too many subsidiary secrets, all getting in the way of him fully disclosing information to help the cops find his wife's killer.
Daniel is also having second thoughts about involving Patty in this case -- apparently unable to trust her motives for agreeing to help. Is she doing it to protect his family, or just to bask in the prestige of the case? It's an element of mistrust informed by their history together -- a shared past investigated by Ellen, who discovers Daniel was an expert witness in two of Patty's old cases, and effectively threw one to hand Patty an easy victory. The reason? As I predicted last week, Daniel's the biological father of Patty's teenage son Michael (Zachary Booth) and wanted to help Patty's fledgling business succeed, to provide financial security for his child.
A criticism sometimes leveled at Damages is that the acting talent obscures a rather flimsy, silly narrative. I'm not sure that's fair, but I agree that this season's developments would be rather dull without the bravura performances of its awards-laden cast. Hurt is particularly excellent, although I hope we're not going to be kept guessing over Daniel's true motives for much longer. His relationship with corporate lawyer Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden) might not be quite as insidious as last week's teaser alluded, but it seems that Claire herself is definitely a trickster -- having an affair with Daniel, appearing to be his trusted friend/lover, but secretly cleaning up his messes and working against him by getting his toxicity report back in Ultima National Resource's hands.
A new element of the mystery is also introduced here, with a reporter called Josh (Matthew Davis) snooping around West Virginia looking for evidence of contaminated water (that may have killed a local farmer's pig.) Josh is later discovered stealing a water sample and beaten up by Ultima henchmen.
This episode also included a few callbacks to season 1, with the return of Ellen's affable legal mentor Hollis Nye (Philip Bosco) to fill her in on Daniel and Patty's past, then Katie Connor (Anastasia Griffith) makes an appearance, apparently still good friends with her dead brother's fiancé and hoping to meet with Ellen socially. Hopefully, both actors (but particularly Griffiths) will be given full roles to play this season, and these aren't just fan-pleasing cameo's.
Overall, "I Knew Your Pig" thickened an already substantial plot, which may or may not meet with your approval so early in the season. It can be difficult t to keep all the story elements fresh in your memory for a week between episodes, which leads me to believe Damages is best suited to box-set viewings, a la The Wire. Still, at least it's not boring, and the final scene -- apparently showing Christine's killer pawning her stolen ruby ring -- at least seems to prove that prime suspect Daniel is telling the truth about something. But, then again, with Damages you never quite know, as the audience are constantly on the edge of a rug about to be pulled.
1 March 2009
BBC1, 10.10pm
Writers: Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman
Director: Constantin Makris
Cast: Glenn Close (Patty), Rose Byrne (Ellen), Tate Donovan (Tom), Marcia Gay Harden (Claire Maddox), William Hurt (Daniel Purcell), Zachary Booth (Michael Hewes), Glenn Kessler (Agent Werner), Mario Van Peebles (Agent Harrison), Tom Noonan (Detective Victor Hardley), Paige Turco (Christine Purcell), John Doman (Walter Kendrick)
