What I’m Watching: Damages

Damages: Season 3, Episode 3 “Flight’s at 11:08” (B+)

If I hadn’t accidentally read about it before I watched the episode, I would have been quite surprised by the lack of any flashes to six months in the future. There doesn’t seem to be much reason for the change besides trying something new (read the TV Guide piece), and I think it’s fantastic. I was never a big fan of that part of the show, and I do think this is one of the strongest episodes the show has done yet. It’s great that they actually stick with their three major threads, and I think they’re all interesting. Ellen had one of her most legitimate storylines thus far, going home to visit her family and trying to comfort her sister until she realizes that she hasn’t been completely honest with her. That was Miriam Shor (“Swingtown”) as Ellen’s sister, who did such a great job that I almost didn’t recognize her from when she played a conservative 1960s housewife a couple of summers ago. Back to the case at hand, watching Joe as he spirals further and further downward, telling Danielle she’s okay to fly after the doctor says she might die and just completely panicking in the situation, was incredibly compelling. The revelation that he and Danielle apparently had an affair is all the more shocking and makes everything much more serious. Joe’s really getting in over his head, but it’s good that he doesn’t try to run from the police and instead just says that she has to go to the hospital. He’s not a criminal by nature, and therefore he will ultimately do the right thing. His lawyer, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. It’s awesome to see him out on a date at first and how he handles that, and then to have him sweep in to take control of the situation with impressive finesse and calm. Martin Short deserves an Emmy for his work, and I do hope he gets some recognition since the wrong players (William Hurt and Rose Byrne) have been getting nominated over the infinitely more deserving ones (Marcia Gay Harden and Timothy Olyphant). Patty’s operative preparedness in this episode is also quite stunning in a good way, and her confrontation with Leonard at the airport was fantastic. Really, get rid of the flash-forward device altogether; it makes for a much tighter episode and we already have enough information about what to expect in the future to proceed forward accordingly.