Our Exclusive Review of ‘Damages’ Season 3 Premiere

Rose Byrne

Moody and dark and — I’m so addicted to this show, guys!

Do you know who recommended the TV show Damages to me? Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. …I suppose I should mention that it was merely something they both tweeted about at some point, and they’re not actually close-personal-friends of mine. Which is fine. I have a busy, fulfilling life! Which now involves having an obsession with the TV show Damages on FX.

Rather than do things normally (since I totally hate doing things normally) I dived right in with the first two episodes of season 3 sent to me by FX. I figured I might like the show. I didn’t figure that I would LOVE the show. But the good news is that there are two seasons for me to watch on DVD while I keep watching season 3. (Damages season 2 was released on DVD this January!)

Martin Short

For those unfamiliar with the show, it stars Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan. (Check Damages on IMDB for a full listing.) Season 3 will see Martin Short and Campbell Scott has new regulars, while Lily Tomlin and Keith Carradine will be guest stars.

The first episode of Damages season 3 is titled “Your Secrets are Safe”. Even if secrets are safe, just how safe is everyone else? I feel pleasantly uneasy just watching this show. As we start the season, Patty has been appointed to recover assets that were lost in a Ponzi scheme created by Louis Tobin (think: Bernie Madoff). All of those investors who lost everything would like money back. So Patty is on the hunt to see what secrets this Tobin family is keeping – including if they’re hiding any money.

Meanwhile, Ellen is working for the DA’s office (having not spoken to Patty for close to a year). The DA’s office will also be working on the Tobin case. We get to know the Tobin family, which includes Lily Tomlin as Mrs. Marilyn Tobin, and Campbell Scott as loyal-son-with-a-conscious, Joe Tobin. The family attorney is Leonard Winstone, as played by the calmly unnerving Martin Short. Short plays this character as someone you’d desperately want to trust, but you know you probably shouldn’t.

A car crash that involves Patty will become a major point of interest as an arc for probably the entire season. There’s also a suspicious guy (who refers to himself as a “sort of an architect”) hanging

Glenn Close

around Patty. He seems harmless, but he has some sort of agenda. Architects always do. And then there’s a homeless man who might not have an agenda, but he certainly has some answers.

The end of the episode will shed light on why Tom Shayes is so vitally important this season. Will he finally be getting his big reward after all of his hard work? Yes, No, sorta, maybe.

Damages season 3 premiere episode of “Your Secrets are Safe with Me” airs January 25th, 2010 on FX. I highly recommend tuning in to watch, even if you’re a newbie to the show. This is TV done spectacularly right.

Image courtesy of  Timothy White / FX.