In the ever-evolving landscape of fandom, there are simply some things that should not have happened. In Retcon This!, we examine some of the more questionable aspects of our beloved geek properties.

I’ve been planning on doing an “Outside the Longbox” about Damages awhile ago but somehow it fell through. The idea came back to me when it was announced that the finale to Season 3 will also be the end of the show, as some sorts of angry post to the ignorance of TV viewers, but eventually realized: “What’s the point?” Couple of weeks after it was taken of the air, I’ve decided to return to Damages and instead wish for the cancellation to be… well, if you read this column you already know the point of it.

In summer 2007 cable network FX aired this new legal thriller/drama. Glenn Close was just off a recurring role as Captain Monica Rawling in the fourth season of The Shield, which gained her many praises and award nominations. Now, she had the leading role as Patty Hewes, a veteran head of a law firm, who’s an expert in compensation, big money suits (therefor the name of the show, with its more than one meaning as revealed throughout the series). Her most loyal associate is Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan) who shows some conscience that will cause him pain over time. An even loyal figure in Patty’s organization and life is Uncle Pete (Tom Aldredge), a supposed relative that was alongside Patty since her childhood and does the dirty work (really dirty) for her. The first seasons begins when Ellen Parsons* (Rose Byrne), freshly out of law school, is hired by Patty as a new associate. She joins the firm right in the middle of big case, a united suit against eccentric and egocentric industrialist Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), who stole money from his workers and was involved in inside trading.

My description doesn’t do the show any justice. It’s not just another show and I can think about maybe two scenes that occur in courtroom in three seasons, everything on the show happens behind the curtains. One of the greatest aspects of Damages since the first second was showing the viewers the end and than focusing on the past/present as we see how everything develops and unfolds to these moments we already know about. For example, the opening scene is of Ellen, still an unknown character, stumbling outside a fancy building with blood all over her, crying and shocked. She rushes someplace else, apparently her own apartment, where she finds a young man beaten to death in the bathtub. Soon the viewer will know it’s Ellen fiancé David, as the story steps back six months earlier as she begins working for Patty Hewes.

The show was created by veteran producers/writers Daniel Zelman, Glenn Kessler and Todd A. Kessler. The latter was a producer/writer on The Sopranos, where his brother Glenn once played an FBI agent at the beginning of Season 3**. Glenn Kessler also had a central recurring role in Season 2 of Damages, but I won’t spoil it. They brought with them many writers and directors not unfamiliar with HBO and FX shows, mostly from The Sopranos, like Allen Coulter and Dan Attias. There are several guest appearances from HBO alumni, such as the aforementioned Tom Aldredge (mostly known as Carmela Soprano’s father), Dominic Chianese (Junior Soprano), John Doman and Clarke Peters (both are very well known to fans of The Wire). There are other great actors to grace the show, like Željko Ivanek (who won an Emmy for his role, and probably was on every third American TV show between 2007 to 2009), Martin Short (it was refreshing to see him not doing a comical character), Darrell Hammond (it was frightening to see him not doing a comical character***), Campbell Scott, Lily Tomlin, William Hurt and Kevin Corrigan.

The biggest problem, despite everything I’ve mentioned, was Rose Byrne’s acting. While I think she’s beautiful and attractive, putting her in a leading role alongside such an artist as Glenn Close and the other fine actors, it paints her in pale colors. But that’s the only problem, really.

Anyway, Damages was canceled so what now? There are rumors that DirecTV stroke a deal with FX, in which it’ll finance and air a fourth season that will later air on FX. But that’s just a rumor and I don’t take it seriously for the time being. If and when someone decides to bring Damages back on the air, I doubt they’ll be able to do more than one or two more seasons. Season 3 ended in an interesting way that surely lined the characters of Patty and Ellen next to each other, for the best or the worst. I don’t see a point in drastically changing the plot if it returns, and I highly doubt they will.

I do wonder if Zelman and the Kesslers had any plans beyond Season 3, because the cancellation came from the network due to low ratings****. It needs to have another chance to wrap up properly and give us more of Glenn Close on TV. I bet they can auction all the Emmy and Golden Globes awards the show (and Close) received and finance a whole 9-10 episodes season. I’m sure Glenn Close will find work, hopefully on television again, but there’s a chance she’ll be tempted to do 666 Dalmatians: Cruella’s Cruel Revenge and Rose Byrne will show up as a zombie in 28 Galactic Years Later.

* I don’t know if this was an elaborate reference to Alan Parsons by the creators.
** I know that only because I’ve recently finished watching that season on DVD, not because I have a phenomenal memory.
*** Seriously, he will kill you in your sleep. And then rape your teddy bear.
**** I don’t want to knock on other successful shows, like American Idol and Glee (hey, I watch that one too), but looks like there’s not much of place for quality TV. We have Mad Men and Breaking Bad on one side, and Dexter on another one. How many slots for such drama shows there are? Heck, even HBO went from The Wire and Deadwood to True Blood…

Tomer Soiker’s most cunning act was peeing in a pool and then lie when asked if he did so. Patty Hewes had a potential witness’s dog being poisoned to death to push her into cooperating. Patty: 1,000,000; Tomer: -500.
tsoiker@panelsonpages.com