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| Will justice prevail? The fifth and final season of DAMAGES arrives on UK DVD. All images: SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT. |
DAMAGES: THE FINAL SEASON - DVD SET
Starring Glenn Close and Rose Byrne. With Ryan Phillippe.
Released by SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Reviewed by Scott Weller
The vultures are circling the Big Apple once more, most notably high above the offices of superbitch attorney Patty Hewes, immersed in what could be the final case of her career against her once protégé and now rival, Ellen Parsons, as dark proceedings forge ahead within the all-deciding, highly-charged ten episode, fifth and final season of SONY/DIRECT TV’s acclaimed hit series, DAMAGES, now available in the UK on exclusive three-disc DVD.
Once more, and as she has done for the past four seasons, Glenn Close, easily one of America’s finest actresses, commands the screen and our attentions as Patty Hewes- the glint of power, and the thirst for more power, in her eyes, her steely determination providing the kind of stare that could freeze men's souls quicker than Medusa. Intelligent and capable she may be, but Patty’s also as vain, self-obsessed and biting as ever, as her neuroses, guilt and loneliness form the past few years continue to catch up with her via waking nightmares that could match the best horror movies.
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| Their fates intertwined? Ellen (Rose Byrne) and Patty (Glenn Close). |
Meanwhile, after the violent events of previous season and the revelations emerging from the High Star private security firm that would rock the American government, young Ellen Parsons (played this final season with a more steel-like quality by the charming, wisp-like Rose Byrne) has gotten her life together as a lawyer, beginning an on the rise legal business and cementing a relationship with the solider she previously helped to save from death, Chris Sanchez (Chris Messina). But the legacy of her former boss and nemesis remains, continuing to exert its unfriendly influence on Ellen. On the mighty cusp of revealing all about Patty and her often cruel and below the belt dealings to a court of justice, a new situation comes into play that sees them lock horns for one final, possibly cataclysmic encounter, guaranteed to send viewers into shattering new levels of drama and intrigue.
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| The whistleblower: Jenna Elfman as the doomed Naomi Walling. |
As ever, keeping the series current and interesting within the always well conceived dramatic friction of its two leads, this new theatre of blood enters the continuing evolution and dangers of the world of cyberhacking, and a Julian Assange/ WikiLeaks type figure in the form of the shadowy and hard to pin down Channing McClaren (an effective performance from Ryan Phillippe)- the outside story antagonist drawn into the pairs legal firing line accused of causing the apparent suicide of a top businesswoman, whistleblower and former lover, Naomi Walling (Jenna Elfman), heavily linked to an insider trading scam within a top banking firm. Seeing through the heavy mist of secrets and lies, Ellen smells a conspiracy that must be exposed in defending McClaren, whilst Patty sees similar but blunter opportunities as a prosecutor- the chance to get even with her now rival protégé and win kudos at a time when she is being considered for a position in the Chief Justice system.
Laying down the ultimate gauntlet, the final intellectual battle, for Ellen Parson, her former apprentice and protégé, to go against her, Patti, is keen to use her once more as a punching bag for all her neuroses, and with her experience at screwing people over and getting away with it, thinks that she has all the aces- that her rival won't be able to adequately defend McClaren.
And so it begins- a new season, a new and intricate web of murder, intrigue and wickedly edited flashbacks and flashforwards begin, all on the eve of another of the series key and brewing sub-plots linked to the mother of all custody battles by Patty for control of her granddaughter Catherine’s destiny away from her father, and Patty’s embittered brood, Michael (Zachary Booth).
The ultimate opportunist viper of her profession, Hewes remains an enigma to the end, crossing the tightrope lines of good and evil with intelligence, devilish bite and relish by Miss Close. A new dawn possibly beckons for both Patty and Ellen, but will both of them come out of this personally and professionally intact? Will Patty’s personal, often jealous vendetta get in the way of everything?
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| Patty with the accused: Channing McClaren (Ryan Phillippe). |
With a shocking and disturbing end of episode one conclusion promising much to come in the three months of storytelling ahead, which seemingly signposts a terrible fate for one of our characters, we the audience partake in the perfect bookend to the first season, as one unresolved plot line from the launcher resurfaces to provide timely closure, alongside the return of several key supporting cast members from that year. A big improvement over the slightly smaller scale and intimate Season Four, which ultimately proved ever so slightly disappointing, family ties are even more prevalent this time around as the writers slowly but surely begin to peel back the layers to the finale, within a case where there's seemingly no facts and everything's up in the air, and it’s all just the tip of an iceberg as to what happens next…
Prime guest star Ryan Philippe makes the most of giving beleaguered McClaren a seemingly arrogant and self-centred air about him, but is there more to him than we think? Getting away from years of comedy antics in THE MUMMY movies, Scots actor John Hannah makes a welcome comeback to serious drama here as Phillippe's creepy but seemingly loyal journalist liaison and business partner, Rutger Simon, whilst the final member of their company triad is Australian actress Gillian Alexy as equally faithful business partner and on and off lover to McClaren, Gitta Novack.
Other fine UK support to the series comes from actress Janet McTeer, who make makes for a welcome presence from Episode Two onwards, as Kate Franklin, an old associate of Patty’s now joined forces with prodigal “daughter” Ellen against her in legal battle. But this is DAMAGES we’re talking about, so expect a certain shading of grey here! Finally, there’s ALIAS’s Victor Garber, M. Emmett Walsh and William Sadler, the latter putting on his best Russian accent, all of whom play important parts in the story which I can’t yet reveal. Keeping continuity, Judd Hirsch returns as Patty’s crusty friend and now sidekick investigator, Bill Herndon, having been a highlight of the previous season
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| What does the finale have in store for Ellen? |
By the series midway point Ellen may have found a chink in Patty’s armour that might make all the difference to her career, but she also has some domestic demons to face linked to her parents (Debra Monk and Gordon Clapp) and the sudden involvement of Chris into McClaren’s world.
Episode Seven interestingly shows some time for the main duo to reflect on their actions, personal demons and tragedies- the strange but compulsively fascinating relationship between Patty and Ellen that would challenge even Sigmund Freud- before the final three episodes rush to the series highly anticipated wrap-up, whose final revelations and resolutions, in the series best traditions, are not always what they seem and will leave you either satisfied or infuriated. Having so much to cram in the final episode, which is around fifteen minutes longer than the norm, a lot of building subplots end quickly or don’t quite seem fully resolved, but it's the final destinies of heroine and anti-heroine that ultimately prove paramount.
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| Back home. The always hard to read Patty considers the past and the present. |
To my mind, creators/writers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman bring it all to a generally satisfying conclusion, and there are some surprises on that final road trip, though perhaps they could have taken the series onto a much darker path than what we ultimately end up with…
As its final lingering, impressively played shot buries itself into viewers minds for a long time to come, there’s enough in this final trip to the gates of legal hell to make it both an overall satisfying viewing experience and the right form of closure to a remarkably well made and always engrossing TV series.
Sadly, on the extras side of the release, there’s no final thoughts on the show or its characters from the cast and crew- no audio commentaries or behind the scenes featurettes at all on these all-important episodes, which is a major lost opportunity, but there is a nice selection of deleted scenes and some fun outtakes.
KOOL TV rating (Overall episodes): 4 out of 5
