DAMAGES - 2x01 “I Lied, Too” - Episode Review
Ellen’s Got A Gun, The Party’s Just Begun …
Plot Summary: Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) starts her undercover work with the FBI to bring her mentor and would-be-killer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) to justice, while dealing with her unfulfilled revenge fantasies in therapy; disgraced millionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) recovers in the hospital after his near-fatal shooting; Patty Hewes attempts to create a philanthropic foundation out of guilt for causing Ray Fiske’s suicide last year; one of Patty’s old friends (William Hurt) comes to her for help in a corporate whistle blower case.
After last season’s often cracking and unpredictable plot twists, this premiere seemed a bit obvious in places - maybe because so much of it was devoted to cleaning up the nuts and bolts of the S1 finale’s loose ends (that’s a burden most season openers struggle with, until the new season’s story kicks in around episode 2 or 3).
I guessed one or two of the dialogue lines ahead of time, and felt Patty’s end run around Sam Arsenault was pretty transparent. (I could have swore that actor was MAD MEN’s John Slattery). In addition, I’m pretty sure Patty suspects Ellen is up to no good (I’m got my eye on you Uncle Pete!), and that’s why she didn’t confess at the restaurant.
My two initial queries were answered right away - they are doing a bi-linear structure again this year, and the Zelvko cameo actually worked pretty well. In my book, basically any scenes involving back-from-the-dead characters “talking” to living ones have to be measured up to the ones in SIX FEET UNDER; and this one measure up pretty well. Speaking of, there was an amusing SFU-esque fantasy of Ellen that had her blowing away Frobisher that made me chuckle.
And on that note, it was somewhat discomforting to see Frobisher humanized this much, although he doesn’t seemed to have learned much from last year. Having been in many an uncomfortable medical situation, I sympathize, but he lost me when he made his blatant plea for sympathy (“Put the tubes back in”). I also found it interesting that he refused to identify his shooter (the Janitor from Season 1) to the police. Got your own revenge plot stewing there, Arthur?
I like the new cast members so far, William Hurt is always a treat to watch, and Oly-Fantastic (see THREE EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH if you don’t get that reference) seems genuinely sympathetic and suspicious at the same time. I noted that Anastasia Griffith (Ellen’s cokehead almost-sister-in-law) is among the main cast members, but she was AWOL this week, as was Marcia Gay Harden.
Finally, as to whom Ellen is capping in the flashforwards, I’m with one of the TWOP posters who said it was the policeman/assassin from Season One (the guy who killed her fiancée David). She’s clearly set up as a darker, more revenge minded character this season, and it should be interesting to see her make that transition into Mini-Hewes. The show’s creators say that the identity of Ellen's victim will be a mystery until the end of the season. Good for them, bad for us.
Reminder to self: what was that song they played?
Episode grade: B-
(I’m switching to letter grades this year to offer a wider range of responses. I asses episodes on two levels: as a standalone episode of entertainment, and how it fits in to a narrative / measures up to a show’s established standards as a whole).