[DMG] Burn it, shred it, I don't care

TV Programme: Damages
Season: 2
Episode: 2
Date I watched this episode: 15/01/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.

Well, I've not watched anything since the last episode of Damages. Quite predictable really. Nevertheless I had hoped to get a few episodes watched as I've just started a new job, but alas, long hours have been required even in my first week!! Anyway, here's hoping for the week ahead!!

Despite last week's disappointment, I was still pretty excited about this episode. And my final response was "good good!" In other words, I think Damages has rolled back to form, and I can extend at least some forgiveness for the season premiere which had, shall we say, certain "issues".

It didn't start well, I must admit. The scene with Daniel's (yes, I'm starting to learn the names now) diabetes was horrible, very overacted, overkill in general, and Danny almost became a parody of himself in that moment. Later on, the scene where the police are asking Danny who might have been after him had a flashback to the scene where the "problem-solver" guy (the guy from Ultima, haven't learnt his name yet though...) threatens Danny by the lake. This was overdone, the scene didn't need to be in there, it could have been in "previously on" at the very most, and it just ruins the subtlety of this whole show. Equally the fact that Ellen ends up sleeping with Wes is just too cliche for this show, a guy who she has animosity with at the start and then he grows on her...I was actually impressed in an episode of One Tree Hill where they made a conscious effort not to do that (Peyton and Chris Keller, this was further referenced in the special features) and Damages let me down a bit here.

While here is where the story really got "meaty", I still don't feel like the story has gotten going yet. We're two episodes in out of thirteen and there hasn't been any real legal stuff yet. No subpoenas or meetings with a judge (aside from Maddox's meeting with the judge, which I actually thought was quite a good scene. I notice that she dresses better to see the judge than to see "problem-fixer guy", where she was wearing practically nothing). I must admit that I was pretty surprised to see the infant mortality case dropped, although I don't think we've seen the last of it. Surely there must be some link between Julia Hewes's death and the case, which has not even been touched on as yet.

This episode more than made up for all the bad stuff by the re-introduction of what I like to call "WTF moments". ("WTF" stands for "what the flip" for the uninitiated, everyone else should know what it means ;)). These are basically the reason why I watch this show, and were plentiful in season 1. Let's have a look at the ones in this episode:

• What on earth is Wes up to? He seems to have a collection of newspaper cuttings, possibly dating back to before he even met Ellen. I doubt he's working for the "other side" though, I think he just wants to kill Frobisher for some reason...
• Okay, Tom Shayes is not whiter than white as evidenced strongly in this episode, but he does have a certain amount of integrity as seen before. So to go and help Ellen with acquiring a gun, he must have a VERY good reason, or else it is some kind of setup (more likely). I did like the fact that he and Ellen sow the seeds for a better working partnership in this episode, you can just see by Ellen's body language how uncomfortable she is about tripping Tom up, and this was well done, and subtle.
  
• If someone could explain to me what the heck the last scene is about, I'd feel a bit less confused. Surely Danny can't be burning the files, as he doesn't even have them?! Was that lady in the car actually Claire Maddox - am I just being insanely thick?
• The eternal question on everyone's lips - who is in room 1910? A lot of forum posts I've read have said "Wes", but for me, that's just too easy, like thinking that Lila was the killer in the last season. We know for a fact that Wes was around on the day Ellen pulled the trigger, and that he has some sort of ulterior motive, but I'm thinking that this is all a bit of a red herring. My guess at this stage would be Danny Purcell. Perhaps he will do something very bad, and Ellen will learn to take out her revenge on him, rather than Frobisher.

Another type of moment which I live for on this show is the "aaaaaaah" moment, the moment of realisation. In this episode it was where Patty revealed her true motives for wanting to leak the information on the files. Initially I thought it was a stupid move but actually this was very cleverly written.

So:
WTF meter: 3
AAH meter: 1

There are a few weird things at the moment. First of all, I'm not clear what Michael's role is. He was in one scene in this episode, apparently serving no real purpose. There was also no mention of the charity or Sam Arsenault in this episode, and I wonder if they are ever returning. It seemed a bit of a shame given how hard Patty fought in the premiere, not to follow that up at all in episode 2.

A couple of things seem missing. One is the other associates at Hewes's firm. People like Andrew and Felicia were supporting, background cast in season one who didn't serve a real purpose, but you do miss them now they're gone, and the firm feels almost like just Patty, Tom, Ellen and Pete. Also, apparently Katie Connor is meant to be in this season (?!) but she hasn't been spotted yet, and I can't see how she could be worked in.

I think Glenn's acting was much better in this episode than the last, and for that I am glad. In the last episode she seemed to be trying too hard, and also giving a rather "sweet innocent girl" facade. I'm glad to see her return to form. Also the little anecdotes about the FBI guy's having a marriage breakup is pretty appropriate. In fact, I think these characters should be developed more - sometimes a character can ruin a show through complete lack of character development - I'm thinking Enterprise's "Travis Mayweather".

So this ep was called "Burn it, shred it, I don't care" - and to be honest, I should have picked up what it was referring to from last week's episode. Next one is called "I know you pig", so might be interesting to think (and continue this on a week-to-week basis) who says this quote, and who do they say it to? I am guessing: Danny speaking to Mr. Problem-Fixer Guy. Just because of Danny's known bad temper. But I'm quite prepared to be wrong.

In summary, this ep was quite a return to form - but still has a few issues with the characters which would need to be ironed out before I could rate this season as highly as the last.