damages season (series?) finale

Robin was away on vacation last week, so I’m a week behind on TV watching, which explains why this is late. Not sure anyone cares, since I don’t know anyone who watches Damages, but then, I’ve been saying that since it started. In fact, I’ve ended each season wondering if the show would be renewed, and this time the prospects are dim. The finale didn’t play like a series finale, although it wasn’t a bad way to go out.

The finale managed to explain most of the inscrutable plot shenanigans of the season, but outside of adding a dazzling sheen, the plot is not the point of Damages. It’s just an excuse to give us the scheming Patty Hewes, one of the great characters, with Glenn Close playing it just right, never quite chewing the scenery, but always suggesting complexity. Over the course of three seasons, we’ve learned time and again that Patty will go to great lengths to achieve her goals … that she is often fighting for the underprivileged is less important than that she is extremely ambitious and she gets what she wants, always at a great price to herself. This time, we learn that when she was leaving law school and preparing for her career, she had to decide between that career and the smalltown life she was looking at thanks to being pregnant and close to term. We don’t know just how intentional her actions were … we know that she feels guilt … her doctor tells her to spend the last weeks in bed, she instead goes on a long walk and miscarries. This is a woman who in essence killed her baby in order to have a career … and it’s not out of character for her as we’ve come to know her. Once she gets around to having a kid, she’s such a bad mother than her son tries to kill her, so it’s not like a good family life is in the cards for her. Still, in the last scene, when Ellen Parsons notes that Patty has accomplished everything she wanted and asks if it was worth it … Patty’s face is impassive, she hides behind her shades, and that’s how Damages ends. If she had said yes, it would have made sense … if she had said no, it would have made sense … that she said nothing made the most sense of all.

And, as I’ve said in the past, it’s always worth noting: this woman was the central character in the show. There is a long history of anti-heroes in TV who are bad at the core, but who for whatever reason keep an audience riveted to the screen. They are usually men: Tony Soprano and Vic Mackey come to mind. Patty Hewes claimed that ground for women, and I wonder if that explains why Damages was never very popular … maybe people don’t want women with balls. It’s also possible that the maze-like plots and jumbled structure of the show threw people off. Maybe people just didn’t want to watch a show where pretty much every character was troubled at best and, more often, just scummy. Me? When we started to whittle down all the shows on the DVR, I wanted to watch Damages first. I loved the show.

Comments

[Steve Hammond]

If Robin was on vacation last week, what were you doing instead of watching tv??

[Steven Rubio]

That's between me and Pablo Sandoval ...

[Steve Hammond]

Yes, I still remember you telling me in 1989 that the invoice for your World Series tickets had arrived and you were going to cover it with your student loan payment!

Different year, same result!

[Jonathan]

We loved Damages up here at Chez Berri. Carrie is obsessed with Justified, so it gets demoted to 2nd on the weekly downloads but we've been watching religiously and both felt this season was as good as ever. Not sure what they'll do for a 4th, but then I couldn't imagine a 2nd season after the first and they pulled that off well. You might be right about the anti-hero thing, but it could also be the affect of the show. It winds us tight. The best analogy I can think of is that it's the dramatic equivalent of a cringe-comedy (like The Office, which Carrie can't stand to watch).

[Steven Rubio]

That's a good one (The Office of dramas). It's looking very much like there will be no fourth season. I'll miss it, although we've been enjoying Justified, too (and liked seeing Sheriff Bullock's cameo in last night's Damages).