Damages on FX - Page 2

Re: Damages on FX

Wasn't much feeling it for the first 2/3 of the finale, but loved the last 1/3 which sets up season 2 very well. Overall, a really good season, and quite a ride.

Re: Damages on FX

I agree for the most part...at least the first half seemed ho-hum and I was a bit disappointed after such a great season. But the last third was great. Although I have no idea why Patty would want to have Ellen killed. Did I miss something? And what was the deal with her stillborn baby? Seemed out there and pointless to even bring up, unless it strings to next season.

Re: Damages on FX

Of course, we don't know that Patty did try to have Ellen killed. Certainly Ellen believes that, and the way they edited the flashback suggested that Patty was thinking about the evil that her henchment were doing, but if there's one thing we should have learned from this show it is that appearances can be very deceptive.



It suggests that there may be something more to Patty's relationship with Ellen than pure exploitation. Ellen is about the same age now that Patty's dead daughter would have been had she lived. In the meantime Patty's had a son who is, to put it mildly, a disappointment. In some ways Ellen is child, specifically the daughter, that Patty always dreamed of having

Er, "allusion", not allegory. Re: Fiske telling Frobisher about the divorce:

1) Frobisher is not the kind of guy you hold out on. He would have wanted to know the minute Fiske found out and Fiske knew that. Telling him later would have just pissed Frobisher off more.

2) Fiske probably thought that once he hit Frobisher with that bombshell he could get Frobisher to agree to postpone the deposition, which Fiske wanted to do anyway, for various reasons.

3) Fiske had no way to anticipate what Patty did, because he had no reason to believe that she knew anything about the divorce filing. The information wasn't publc yet. In fact, Patty only knew because Frobisher's wife's attorney broke (or at least bent) the rules by telling her.

I loved the whole season, all the way through. Of course the first part was comparatively "slow". It is simply in the nature of such shows to start off slowly as they set up the mystery, introduce the characters and begin to tell the story. For that matter the first part of most novels are "slow" when compared to the endings - ditto the first three acts of a TV drama or the first two acts of a movie. That's just how the arc of any story runs - the last part is always the fastest because it takes advantage of all the momentum that was slowly built up earlier in the story.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

They need to air a marathon but splice it altogether in chronological order, all the various scenes.

Re: Damages on FX

Ah yeah...I always get those two confused.

Even given that, I still disagree with it. As Frobisher's lawyer, every decision Fiske makes he has to have his client's best interest in mind. In this case he didn't. Although perhaps with what we learned about Fiske since that happened he did it to sabotage the case.

Not sure if this was directed at me, but I merely said the beginning of the FINALE was kind of slow. I'd actually disagree in this case about the setup in the beginning being slow. In fact, I'd say the first 4-5 episodes of this show were by far the most exciting. It hit it's slow period somewhere in the middle, and then picked up again.

Re: Damages on FX

Because Ellen regretted blackmailing Fiske. If her conscience got to her, she might go to the police and admit what she and Patty did which could have ended up with Patty arrested.

Re: Damages on FX

I don't buy that at all.

Re: Damages on FX

I don't buy it, either. Ellen had no proof of any of it (Patty had the file on Fiske, Ellen didn't.) It would be the word of a newly-minted law school graduate against one of the most successful attorneys in the city (and one of the most politically connected.) No way Patty gets arrested based on that, and even if she did the D.A. would never try to prosecute such a sure loser.

Also Ellen would have had to admit both to participating in the blackmail herself and to tampering with evidence and probably obstruction of justice in stealing the information off the SEC guy's dead body and wiping down his car to obliterate her fingerprints. Even if she got a plea deal on the criminal charges, she might be facing jail time and she could certainly kiss her legal career good-bye.

I think it might have been something else entirely - I think Patty may have been expecting an attempt on her own life. She somehow knew a hired hitman had orders to break into her home on that weekend and kill the woman he found there. So she arranged for Ellen to be that woman while she was somewhere else, thinking that this would buy her a few days before the mistake was discovered. That would also tie in to Patty's visit to her daughter's grave for the first time in 30-odd years. If Patty were somehow responsible for her daughter's death (drugs, drinking, maybe they were in a car accident and tried and failed to save the baby) it would make emotional sense for her to go to the grave after arranging for her surrogate daughter to be sacrificed.

It is even possible that the whole attack on Ellen/Patty had nothing at all to do with the Frobisher case, and is connected to yet-unrevealed events we'll be dealing with in season two.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

The pertinent question isn't what actually happened, it's why Ellen would think Patty might have had her killed. Ellen isn't necessarily rational about it, nor is she aware of anything else that might be going on with Patty that might have spurred the attack.

Re: Damages on FX

Patty was the only one who knew that Ellen would be staying at her apartment - and she seems to have carefully arranged for all the usual occupants of the apartment to be absent. At this point Ellen is probably convinced that Patty is perfectly capable of murder - and she may not be convinced the David's death was necessarily the work of Frobisher rather than Patty. The whole thing is very murky.

But Ellen could consider this scenario: Ellen turns up dead after supposedly receiving a damning piece of evidence that proves Frobisher is guilty. In the PR war that's got to be devastating to Frobisher, and one more reason for him to throw in the towel. From Patty's point of view such a thing would both tie off a loose end and eliminate a potetial liability and weaken Frobisher's already shaky resolve. A win-win. Not sayiing this is how Patty would see things, but it might be how Ellen imagines Patty's calculations might turn out.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

That assumes Ellen actually turns up. Considering the police never found the body of the attacker that Ellen killed, Patty was more than capable of making Ellen permanently disappear.

EDIT- Wait, I think you are saying that Patty sets Ellen up to die to further incriminate Frobisher? That's a lot more far fetched than my scenario IMO. Especially since, at the time that Patty allegedly targets Ellen, they are pretty much home free on the case anyway with the information on Fiske and Moore. Even without the videotape they've got a great case. Also, I can't imagine that Patty could insinuate to the court that Frobisher was responsible for Ellen's death without Frobisher being convicted of that first.

Re: Damages on FX

Not really. With Fiske dead Patty can no longer blackmail him into tanking Frobisher's case, and at the point where Ellen is nearly killed, nobody knows about the videotope left by Gregory. (Except Frobisher, and he's not talking.)


She would only have to insinuate it in the press to pollute the jury pool. Voir Dire be damned, both Frobisher and his new lawyers would have known that a bell like that cannot be unrung. Besides, it would be that much more bad publicity that he didn't need. His one friend and real supporter was dead, the law firm was pushing him to settle, his wife was leaving him, a jury trial was - at best - a crapshoot. Don't forget, Patty's goal was victory for her clients on her terms, not necessarily victory in a courtroom. Anything that got Frobisher to settle at a number she thought right was a victory - Ellen's murder, the Molina tape, either was good.

Again - this is only a theory about why Ellen could have believed the Patty tried to have her killed, not necessarliy a theory about what Patty was actually up to.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

Yeah, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I just don't see it. The show (through flashbacks) makes it clear that Ellen thinks Patty made the decision when Ellen said that she regretted what they had done to Fiske which leads me to believe that Ellen thinks it was the lynchpin that triggered Patty. If Patty wanted to off Ellen to help the case then her regret over Fisked shouldn't have mattered at all.

Re: Damages on FX

Plus, isn't one of the episodes named "Do you regret what we have done" (or something along those lines)?

I thought it was obvious that from Ellen's POV, it was Patty who positioned Ellen to be in Patty's apartment, and then we finally understand all those scenes of anguish of Patty on the beach when she realized that she put the hit on Ellen and would have to live with it, and combine that with the still-birth day of her own daughter 35 years ago, it was almost too much for her to bear.

Re: Damages on FX

Who is the actor who played the SEC guy Moore? I have searched this on IMDB but they do not list his character in the episode cast section, at least not yet.

Re: Damages on FX

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0726200/

I remember him from "Animal House".

Re: Damages on FX

So that's why, they only listed as "Executive" not the characters name.

Thanks, and it was Sopranos I remembered him from. I thought so, but I thought he was one of the mob guys.

Re: Damages on FX

Peter Reigert is a terrific character actor, better known for comedy than drama, so it was fun to watch him playing a heavy. Two of my favorite Reigert performances are in Crossing Delancey (opposite Amy Irving) and as the police detective in The Mask. ("Those pyjamas are a crime...")

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

Anyone know when the next season of Damages starts?

Re: Damages on FX

Not quite: Ellen being fresh out of law school would be about 26, Patty's daughter would have been 35. But I do agree that Patty may have come to seen Ellen as the daughter she wanted and didn't have, in sharp contrast to her disappointing son.

As for what Julia Hewes is about? My guess is somehow Frobisher was involved, maybe even that infamous Arlington accident involved Patty as well, but no one knows (which I agree is odd, but still possible -- maybe she was sideswiped on the way, when braking hard Patty hit the steering wheel and her baby was injured in vitro). Note that 1972 is 35 years ago, same as the Arlington accident. The cemetery is a long-ish drive from New York, I know Arlington is on the outskirts of DC and if I'm not mistaken it is possible to drive from NY to DC in half a day?

Which would tie in to Frobisher's repeated questioning Patty "why do you hate me so much?"

And isn't it ironic that Ellen's nominal reason for staying with Hewes & Associates no longer holds anyway, since (I assume) Frobisher is lying dead on "his land" and even if Ellen ties him to David's murder, it's all over anyway?

Re: Damages on FX

i just caught up all the way from the pilot through the end in the last few days@night and WOW!!!! it's a "page-turner" or "disc-flipper" whatever the phrase is. totally awesome acting, writing, everything =D.

makes best use of flash backward, forward, present than lost .

i know they re-ordered 26 eps but doesn't glen close have a ton of movie opportunities she'd rather do? maybe she'll die in the next coupla seasons making room for the rest of the fine actors.

re: ray, i knew he had a 'repressed feelings' for greg the moment i heard about the connection between the two anad frob didn't know about it .

Re: Damages on FX

I'm right there with you, JediFonger, except I still have 3 more episodes to go (11-13). Those will get polished off today, though. Very enjoyable, and something I've only watched due to the comments in this thread back when the show was originally airing.

Re: Damages on FX

it gets better and better and better every single episode you watch, quite rare these days.

but i do agree w/the makers of 24, it is definitely the GOLDEN age of television. there's never been so many awesome TV series on at the same time as right now. the best work is now done on TV instead of film.

Re: Damages on FX

I just finished watching season 1 on DVD, and now that I finally got FX on my satellite dish, I can and look forward to follow season 2 on FX.

Enjoyed the series very much. As YiFeng would say, it is indeed a disc-flipper. When assuming it's going to be one thing, it ends up being another, which is what makes it so great. Enjoyed seeing Danson as the villain.

Never really thought of Julia Hewes and Arlington connection, but I guess that is for future seasons.

Re: Damages on FX

I haven't seen any of the first season since it aired, but I had the impression the cemetary was in either Long Island or New England. OTOH you are right that NY to DC is no more than a longish drive, much less than half a day. At about 240 miles the trip takes 4 or 5 hours depending on traffic, weather, and how heavy a foot you have. You could make the round-trip in half a day if you have the stamina for all that driving, or someone to share it with.

I'm looking forward to the return of the show.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Damages on FX

Quite an impressive cast lined up for season two. In addition to the returns of Close, Danson and Tate Donovan, they've added William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden & Timothy Olyphant.

Re: Damages on FX

I assume the cemetery is outside of NY state, since it showed Patty driving and passing a "you are leaving New York State" sign, or something like that. Too bad I can't check since I already mailed off the DVD.

Re: Damages on FX

i'd love to get takes from fans of this series who are also fans of lost. i really really luved their use of flash backwards and forward and finally convergence in that one single scene. it was totally brilliant. we haven't seen even lost pulling somn like that.