Damages on Netflix

Have you ever watched the TV series Damages?  I’ve been watching it on Netflix.  Usually I watch two episodes a day.  It’s a legal drama, set in New York.  The principal characters are two female lawyers, but the series also features opposing lawyers, investigators, reporters, business owners, the police, and government agents.  It does have some similarities to the series The Good Wife, but it has distinct differences as well.

In Damages, everybody can be crooked, although some people are more crooked than others.  Everybody lies.  Some are treacherous.  We can’t tell if the statement somebody made is the truth or a lie.  Everybody has hidden motives for what they say or do.  Almost everybody gives in to coersion, changing their testimony as a result.  One of the attractions of this series is the interplay of various characters as they respond to unexpected events.

It does have spurts of violence.  Many characters are attacked.  Some are killed outright.  Some recover from the attacks.  Some of them want retribution, but some never change their ways.

Dreams are prominent in this TV series.  Characters sometimes have conversations with dead people.  Sometimes bizarre events turn out to be dreams, although it may take several episodes before this is revealed.

Mysteries are piled on mysteries.  The narrative jumps around in time, sometimes forwards and sometimes backwards.  We only see glimpses of critical clues, with more being shown in subsequent episodes.  The last episode of a season is the only one that tells you what really happened.

I find this show compelling.  I’m drawn into the mystery.  I keep wondering what will happen next.  Most of the time, it’s a surprise to me, something that I never expected.  I have one more season to go on Netflix.

 

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