TCA: New mysteries abound in FX's 'Damages'

Oh, “Damages” fans, where do we begin?

There were so many tantalizing tidbits from today’s panel with the producers and cast of the critically acclaimed FX series, which returns for its second season in January 2009.

In no particular order of importance:

• Arthur Frobisher is back –- and alive? There were conflicting reports on his status. FX President John Landgraf said Ted Danson’s character –- who was shot in last season’s finale -- will return for several more episodes.

“He’s not terribly healthy at the moment, but as you now know, he did survive,” Landgraf said.

But Todd A. Kessler, one of the show's three creators, said Danson’s return “doesn’t necessarily mean that Arthur Frobisher has survived.”

Hmmm…

• Marcia Gay Harden is coming aboard as a high-profile attorney for a company that appears mixed up in some kind of wrongdoing

• William Hurt plays a mysterious character who has a past with Patty Hewes and turns to her for help with a legal problem.

• Rose Byrne’s character, Ellen Parsons, is working as an informant for the feds, helping them with an investigation into Patty. She’s also in grief counseling, where she meets another shadowy character played by Timothy Olyphant, and bonds with him over being a victim of trauma.

“We all wanted to approach Ellen in a different way to make her more of a warrior,” Byrne said. “This season she’s made of steel a little bit more, which is really interesting to play.”

As for Patty, she’s “suffering through post-traumatic stress syndrome” herself after ordering a hit on Ellen, Glenn Close said.

Close called working on the show “a great creative adventure.”

“I think we are pioneering a true art form,” she added. “Personally, it’s like living a novel.”

Hurt said that when he was contemplating joining the cast, he sat down to watch last season’s episodes and “couldn’t turn them off.”

“I watched until 5 o’clock in the morning,” he said.

While he was wary of the relentless pace of making television, Hurt said Close’s performance convinced him that it would be worth it.

“I could see she had made really strong, powerful, thematic choices as a character,” he said. “So I thought, ‘OK, maybe the format has been busted.’”

Executive producer Daniel Zelman said that they aim to make the program’s signature flash-forward scenes “slightly less complex,” but will still utilize time-jumping in the storytelling.

“The flash forward is more like a genre element to us,” Zelman said, adding that it “creates a thriller element to the show.”

Production on the season premiere is complete and the cast has started shooting the second episode, but the writers have not yet finished all 13 scripts for the season.

Spinning out the narrative while the show is in production “creates a great energy for us and a strain at times in our lives,” Kessler said.

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Submit a question for the Envelope Screening Series 'Damages' panel

Hi there, fans of "Damages" --

On Thursday, I'm moderating a panel discussion of this twisty FX show for the Envelope Emmy Screening Series 2008. On the panel will be Glenn Close and Ted Danson, as well as the show's creators, Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman.

And I'd love your help!

Do you have any questions about the series that you would want answered? I can't guarantee that the creators or the actors will reveal any mysteries, but we can try. In rewatching the show's first season, for instance, I wondered again why Patty Hewes (Close) hates Arthur Frobisher (Danson) so much. And what's the story of Julia Hewes, the gravestone Patty visits during her darkest hour? Is Patty's son Michael just a teen-aged creep, or is there something more sinister there?

Submit a question here in the comments area, or e-mail me at Kate.Aurthur@latimes.com.

P.S. Find Patty Hewes!

P.P.S. Trust no one.

-- Kate Aurthur

Here's the schedule for upcoming Envelope Emmy Screening Series panels.

Coming back for more 'Damages'

“Damages” has gotten a reprieve.

Despite the legal thriller’s middling ratings, FX announced today that it has ordered two more 13-episode seasons of the Glenn Close drama. Network executives agonized over whether to renew the series, which drew plaudits from critics and attracted a loyal fan base. But with the show’s first-run episodes attracting just 2.5 million viewers, including 1.1 million in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, the prospects for its return were on shaky ground.

In the end, FX concluded it was worth the gamble. Executives have said that they hope to drive more viewers to the program through DVD sales and award nominations.

Close, actress Rose Byrne and actor Tate Donovan have signed on to be series regulars in Season 2. Production is scheduled to begin early next year but would probably be delayed if the writers strike continues.

--Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

'Damages': Now you don't owe me nothin'!

That, folks, was a season (series?) finale. No Journey, no cut to black, no stupid Meadow trying and failing to parallel park.

After last week's episode, I was crabby that "Damages" seemingly took the easy way out, with assorted henchmen being responsible for David's murder and the attack on Ellen.

But here's the thing: Assorted henchmen were responsible for those crimes -- but silly me, I underestimated Patty's deep, deep need to win, no matter what the obstacles.

'Damages': Its future is still in question

“Damages” may not have drawn the hordes of viewers FX had hoped for when it launched the legal psychodrama this summer, but stars Glenn Close and Ted Danson said today that the low ratings haven’t eroded the satisfaction they’ve gotten from the series.

“It’s one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had,” Danson said during a conference call with reporters to tout the season finale, which airs Oct. 23.

Playing corporate chieftain Arthur Frobisher, who is locked in a bloody litigation fight with Close’s steely attorney, Patty Hewes, “has reinvigorated my desire to act,” he added.

As for Close, “I have not put myself through the ringer worrying about numbers,” she said. “I do know we’ve created something to be really, really proud of, and it would have an exciting future if we get that chance.”

That remains to be seen. As producers make the final edits on the last episode, FX executives are pondering whether to bring the show back for another season.

John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, sounded anguished at the thought of canceling the complex thriller, but he said the growing number of viewers using DVRs to watch programming has put pressure on the network’s business model.

“I would say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Landgraf said. “There are still some things that could derail the renewal of the show. As magnificent as the show is creatively, it has struggled somewhat” in the ratings.

'Damages': I blame Quentin Tarantino

That's it?  Really?  If it is, it's all the fault of "Pulp Fiction."

Tarantino's 1994 flick started a barrage of out-of-sequence, intertwined, multiple-character storytelling that still hasn't abated.  Sometimes it serves the story well -- I'd argue it did in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" in 2000 -- and sometimes it serves to jazz up an otherwise mundane plot.

With Tuesday night's episode of "Damages," I'm starting to fear that the technique was used in this show for the latter.  Sure, it was fascinating to anticipate how all the various time-jumping strands would coalesce, and in the most recent episode they did.  But it resolved into a collective "Wha?"

'Damages': It's a shame about Ray

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

'Damages': Is it endangered?

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

'Damages': An homage to David Lynch?

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

'Damages': No, really, whodunnit?

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.