||SPOILERS|| So, so close to the finishing line... and, while the story has gelled in my mind and I have a decent handle on most of the characters, I'm still finding this storyline pretty bland. It's just not exciting to see a legal drama tackle a conspiracy involving stocks and shares, even if they have decided to stir in some unfinished business from season 1. I'm still holding out for a strong finish, but I'm not convinced we'll get it...As usual for my quickie Damages reviews, some thoughts on the big developments:
- Kendrick offers $50 million to settle the lawsuit, but Patty rejects it. I was also surprised to see that Patty knows her husband is being courted to become Energy Secretary! Maybe I missed something, but I thought her hubbie was being underhanded these past weeks, but maybe he wasn't? Why is Patty okay with her husband being employed by "the enemy"? There was also an amusing distraction with her son bringing a date to dinner -- a mature woman who owns an art gallery (although we were led to believe his girlfriend was a green-haired bohemian with piercings for awhile.)
- Ellen struggles to cope with her situation and turns to Wes, but he's been instructed to kill her. As I thought, Wes is more interested in finding a reason to assure Messer that Ellen doesn't pose a threat. The flashfoward to Ellen shooting Patty was also returned to, but now showing Agent Werner watching events from a surveillance van. Ellen's line "I lied" appears to be directed at Werner, before she shoots Patty, who somehow manages to make it to the corridor elevator with her gunshot wound. Did she incapacitate Ellen? I like the echo to season 1, too, where it was Ellen getting into an elevator covered in blood.
- Claire realises that Daniel doctored the UNR reports. I was also intrigued to see that Claire really isn't a villain, and will possibly have a hand in UNR's downfall now she realizes Kendrick has been lying to her. I also liked the scene between Claire and her father, who laments the fact his daughter hasn't provided him with grandchildren. A really nice, well-acted scene.
- Agent Harrison learns that Agent Werner is being paid to bring down Patty and, when Harrison asks to be cut in on the deal, he's given a fatal drug overdose. And his killer was none other than Dave; who appears to be the season's all-purpose villain who has been manipulating events in every corner of the storyline! Not sure I really buy into that, but... we'll see how much sense it makes by the finale.
This was actually a pretty strong episode, as it should be now we're close to the end. Things are coming together quite well, but I really hope Damages will learn some lessons from this season when planning season 3 -- primarily, audiences don't care about stocks and shares. There's no sense of victimization, so there's little to keep us engaged with the story. Compare and contrast with season 1 -- which was all about people losing their jobs, a fiance's murder, a young woman's corruption, etc. Oh, and Tate Donovan redeemed himself as director, after the awfulness of "I Agree, It Wasn't Funny."
19 April 2009
BBC1, 10.20pm
Writers: Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler & Daniel Zelman
Director: Tate Donovan
