Damages, the latest FX original drama premiering tonight at 10pm, is exactly what the network needs - a great show.  In the past year, the cable channel has unleashed a series of mediocre shows, Dirt and The Riches, that did well enough to warrant second seasons, but neither of which is up to the channel's bar of excellence.

Starring Oscar nominee Glenn Close, Damages is more like the network's landmark series, The Shield, which Close herself starred in during its fourth season.  It's a legal drama that focuses more on the characters involved than the big trials that drive all other law shows.  In fact, the pilot episode doesn't include a single scene set inside a courthouse.

What it does feature is an excellent cast with a gripping, intense story that promises to unfold slowly but surely as the season progresses.  The episode opens with Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) fleeing an apartment building, covered in blood.  She gets taken into a police interrogation room, and from there the show flashes back six months.  The rest of the episode, and presumably the season, will provide clues as to what exactly happened.

In the past, Ellen is recruited to join the prestigious law practice of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), a ruthless, ball-busting litigator who always gets what she wants.  Close is a natural, a confident woman who can stand up to anyone and intimidate even the greatest of men.  In many ways, she's channeling the legal version of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada, only without the charm.

Hewes is targeting a CEO named Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), who recently was acquitted when the federal government tried to prosecute him for embezzlement.  Hewes represents the employees and vows to get them their money back, though she seems more obsessed with taking down the powerful businessman.  The show expertly illustrates the impending battle with recurring shots of dogs fighting at the park and a loud, violent ATV accident.  Hewes and Frobisher are preparing for war.

Where the plot goes from there is for you to discover.  One of the many joys of the pilot episode is seeing how convoluted the plot is, and trying to unwrap it.  Characters are not what they seem, alliances shift, and there are more intriguing twists than in any pilot episode since Alias first premiered in 2001.

The cast is uniformly outstanding.  Danson, who's made a career in sitcoms like Cheers and Becker, is ruthless and frightening, a strong villain capable of doing anything to preserve his way of life.  The two titans also have their own right-hand men.  For Frobisher, that's Ray Fiske, played by brilliant character actor Zeljko Ivanek, one of those guys who you instantly recognize, just not by name.  Hewes has Tom Shayes (The O.C. star Tate Donovan), who provides plenty of warnings to Ellen about the perils of working for Patty.

FX hits the mark with this show, and it can easily propel the network to the point of rivaling HBO, now on a downswing without The Sopranos to push all other cable channels around.  The wickedly intricate plot is the perfect companion to the caustic wit of Rescue Me, the sensational antics of Nip/Tuck and the thrilling, heart-punding ferocity of The Shield.

For hardcore TV devotees, this may sound like sacrilege, but the style and writing are somewhat reminiscent of HBO's The Wire, often named by critics as the single best show on TV.  Take, for instance, the closing scene of tonight's pilot episode of Damages: a character throws something into the water.  A simpler show would provide some explanation, maybe cut to a flashback of the object to give some context.  Not Damages, this show expects you to think and digest the information, playing out its implications in your head.  The significance of such a small event is huge when you start to unravel the spool and realize it means the actions and motivations of characters are all deeper than we first thought.  Understanding what the object is and who is throwing it into the water is just the tip of the iceberg.

This is not an easy show to watch.  It's not Law & Order where you can turn off your brain and enjoy yourself.  Signing up for Damages means you're willing to become invested in the characters, the plot and the outcome.  On the major networks, this may be problematic as they will often cancel intensely serialized shows before their mysteries have been unlocked (see: Drive, The Nine).  Luckily, cable networks like FX don't waste your time, so the audience knows it will be getting the full season.  And if the pilot is any indication, oh what a season it will be.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image fourtesy of FX)