We can thank the basic cable drama explosion for one thing: charismatic female movie stars chewing the scenery on a weekly basis. Sometimes flipping through the channels feels like a trip to the multiplex circa 1985. Count me among those who think that's a very good thing. Last year's freshman FX series Damages puts Glenn Close in a role that combines the creepy craziness of Fatal Attraction with the maniac boss angle of her season on The Shield. Throw in Ted Danson playing against type as a villainous mogul, and I'm there every week. Sure, Rose Byrne was a bit of a cipher, but it's almost a given that the central actor in a show with such towering character roles can't do much more than lead the audience from plot point to plot point.
The big question with these season-long overarching plot dramas is whether they can hook us for the next big story. At the end of last season, the government had recruited Ellen to go back into Patty Hewes' firm to try to take her down. And just like last season, this one begins with a flash forward six months, with Ellen threatening someone with a gun and asking for the truth. How do we get from Patty on Regis & Kelly talking about the anti-hunger charity she's set up with the Frobisher money and bringing Ellen on from the wings for applause, to Ellen in front of a bank of projectors, drinking and brandishing a derringer? Well, that's what we'll be exploring over the weeks to come. (But whaddya bet it's not Patty Ellen's talking to?)
Damages brings on ringer William Hurt to hulk around Season Two as a mysterious figure from Patty Hewes' past who contacts her for legal help. Hurt, as always, is a delight, a bundle of quirks and bizarre line readings that makes him seem completely unpredictable, whether he's sweeping papers off a desk or threatening an intruder with a fireplace poker. He's blowing the whistle on shady dealings by an energy company he's consulting for. But Ellen has another big case, handcrafted for her by the FBI as bait, that she wants Patty to snap up.
And we also haven't seen the last of Arthur Frobisher (yay!), whom Ellen finishes off with a shotgun in her fantasies. To no avail; Frobisher is recuperating from the bullet that his disgruntled employee pumped into his stomach. He has more problems than just his wounds and surgeries, though. Simple care from an orderly reduces him to tears. "I'm the most hated man in America, and you're being nice to me," he sobs. Frobisher was a fascinating villain last year precisely because he wasn't fully villainous — the scenes with his family were some of the most riveting of the show. Now we find out that his wife has left him and taken the kids, and he's weak, crippled, and consumed with self-pity.