Damages: The Complete Third Season

The made-for-cable series Damages has consistently offered viewers a different perspective, one in which the drama lies not in courtroom fireworks but rather in the hardball negotiations and behind-the-scenes extra-legal maneuvering. The third season (the last to air on the FX network, with the fourth appearing exclusively on DirecTV) pits morally murky hardball attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) against a Bernie Madoff–like figure named Louis Tobin (Len Cariou), with Patty's former protégé/nemesis Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) now a wary ally in the DA's office. Campbell Scott leads the guest cast this season as Tobin's estranged son, Joe, whose anger and desperation push him into becoming an after-the-fact accomplice. And Martin Short impresses in a rare dramatic role as Tobin's shark of an attorney, Leonard Winstone. A solid mix of legal thriller and high-stakes melodrama, the third season's complex, densely written narrative arc jumps between parallel plotlines in jarring flashbacks/flashforwards (which tease us with the murder of a major character), slowly bringing the two threads together in the final episodes. A muscular portrait of corporate malfeasance, corrupt executives, and legal shenanigans, Damages brings more to the table than the simple “justice served” themes of too many TV legal dramas. Compiling all 13 episodes from 2010, DVD extras include select episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)