COMMENTARY
A-listers on ‘Damages’ gladly work cheap
The FX series “Damages” is loaded with all kinds of intriguing mysteries, but the one that I couldn’t get out of my mind while watching the captivating first three episodes of the second season had nothing to do with the plot.
The biggest mystery to me is where the heck do the producers get all the money to pay so many big name stars for a basic cable series, which has its second season premiere at 10 tonight?
You’ll have to wait until the end of this column for the answer.
Glenn Close, who won an Emmy playing the tough-as-nails, manipulative legal shark, Patty Hewes, at the center of the series, is joined this time around by old “Big Chill” pal William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant (“Deadwood”) and Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden.
Australian native Rose Byrne is back as the show’s co-lead as Ellen Parsons, a protege of Patty’s who hasn’t overcome the pain from dealing with the murder of her fiance and discovering Patty put a hit out on her last season. Ellen has lost her naivete, has become an FBI informant to bring down her mentor and appears to have discovered some violent tendencies.
Ted Danson is back as billionaire Arthur Frobisher, who appeared to be left for dead in the season finale after Patty destroyed him in the courtroom and his lawyer committed suicide. Since the series is known to play with time — especially by using flashforwards — I won’t say if Frobisher is alive or seen in flashbacks. But the answer comes relatively quickly.
The cast also includes old pros Tate Donovan, Michael Nouri, Philip Bosco, Mario Van Peebles and James Naughton.
The show is not only actor heavy, it also is extremely plot heavy, loaded with surprising twists dealing with revenge, forgiveness, deceit, politics and questionable legal and moral ethics.
“Damages” is a legalistic version of “24,” full of fast-moving, improbable moments and relationships that are so entertaining that they overcome one’s tendency to scream “come on, that’s ridiculous.” Like Jack Bauer of “24,” Patty also believes in situational ethics.
The first three episodes, which deal with Patty’s latest attempt to make millions while fighting bad rich guys and corporations, play out like a turn-the- page novel. They are more entertaining than almost all holiday movies and practically as clever as the best movie I saw in 2008, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Best of all, it shouldn’t be too difficult to catch up if you’ve missed the first season, which ended with “Damages” getting an Emmy nomination as best drama, Close winning an Emmy and Zeljko Ivanek winning an Emmy for playing Frobisher’s attorney.
The early episodes need time to develop the new characters, led by Daniel Purcell, a hot-tempered scientist played by Hurt who re-enters Patty’s life after a decadelong absence because his life is threatened by a giant corporation harboring a deadly environmental secret. It is hard to immediately tell if and when Purcell is telling the truth, which is true about practically every character in “Damages.” The motivations of Olyphant’s mysterious character, Wes Krulik, also are unclear after he meets Ellen in a grief counseling session. Harden doesn’t appear until next week as attorney Claire Maddox, who has complicated allegiances.
Generally, first impressions of characters can be meaningless in the intricately plotted series, with details about their lives parceled out slowly in stylishly filmed, surprising moments. Watching “Damages” is a little like playing chess — viewers have to think a few steps ahead.
Back to the mystery at the top of this column. Last July in Los Angeles, I asked the show’s co-creators, Todd A. Kessler and Glenn Kessler, how they could afford the A list cast.
“No one on our show really gets paid what they would get paid on a network,” said Glenn Kessler.
“Our show is probably 40 percent less expensive than network TV,” said Todd A. Kessler.
How do they get the actors then? “It is an incredible thing for us to have this cast,” said Todd Kessler. “They have responded to the show and they have movies they are doing that we are scheduling around. We are thrilled and honored to be working with them, so we’re kind of bending over backward schedule-wise to do things they are committed to or come up and allow them to do our show for less than they would do other series.”
Kessler said Olyphant had three movies coming out when the series was being shot and Hurt had four movies to shoot around.
“It is less sleep for us, but a great advantage in having them,” said Todd Kessler.
Olyphant confirmed that he isn’t exactly getting rich from “Damages.”
“I’ve never worked [full-time] for a network show but I’m sure there’s more money there,” said Olyphant.
Then why is he doing “Damages”? “It’s a great job,” said Olyphant. Rating: 4 stars out of 4
Boredom is real
The CW premieres a new horror reality series, “13: Fear is Real,” at 8 tonight on WNLO.
Of course, all reality shows are a horror, if you ask me.
This one co-produced by Sam Raimi (“Spider-Man,” “The Evil Dead,”) puts 13 young people in a cabin in the woods and tries to scare them while playing mind games. The hour premiere, which appeared to copy stylistic elements of “The Blair Witch Project,” didn’t have any interesting personalities. Quite frankly, “Fear” really bored me to tears. 1 star
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