Do a Little Damage

True story: Damages might be my favorite drama series of ALL time.

And if you aren't watching it, you are missing out.

Yes, it's a bold statement. Sorry Lost fans (and I'm one too). This is not your average legal drama. I just can't understand.. why aren't any of my friends watching this show? I ask them...they say no...and ask what it's about. It's just brilliant, nailbiting, edge of your seat drama, is what it is. The third season of this series premiered a few weeks ago on FX and it's everything you want a drama to be. I am obsessed with this show. Each season is amazing, but that first season?! OH. MY. GOD. I really think it's the best season of a show ever. Okay, you get it. I like it. It premiered in the summer of 2007 and I was hooked from the opening sequence:

Ellen Parsons (played by Aussie Rose Byrne), a young enthusiastic lawyer, walks out of her apartment building in broad daylight covered in the blood of her fiance' David and she is immediately arrested, interrogated...blamed for this murder. Are you intrigued? Just a little bit?

Flashback to 6 months prior and you'll meet Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), a brilliant yet ruthless litigator who will stop at nothing to win a case. Patty hires protege' Ellen Parsons at her firm, Hewes & Associates, and she is immediately thrust into a class-action suit against billionaire Arthur Frobisher (played by Ted Danson). This role is not your Cheers' Sam Malone. Danson plays a coke-snorting, prostitute-loving sleazebag accused of insider trading and cheating his employees of their life savings. Yep, Ted Danson is a bad guy. And it's awesome.

Now, Glenn Close first scared the crap out of us as Alex Forrest in the thriller Fatal Attraction back in the 80's. Let me tell you, Alex Forrest has nothing on Patty Hewes. She's not exactly boiling a rabbit in this series, but close. Murder is not out of the question for Patty. Anything to gain a witness. This is what I love about this show: The "good guy" (Patty) can be more corrupt than the "bad guy" (Frobisher). And Hewes and Frobisher go back and forth with every evil move. Patty is willing to go to extreme, going unethical and illegal lengths to win her case. There is always an ulterior motive behind every action. No one can be trusted. No character is spared. There are flashbacks. You blink and there is a plot twist. It's the quickest hour of television. I literally can't fast forward fast enough through the commercials. Patty Hewes is the best female character to grace television. She is the ultimate ice queen.

So how does this Frobisher case link up to the murder of Ellen's fiance'?? Well, I told you Patty is capable of just about anything. But to really know this story, you have to watch. Sorry, no spoilers here! It's just too much to tell. So I'll treat it like I was giving a 6th grade book report ( "If you want to know what happens next, you have to read the book"). In this case, "If you want to know what happens, go to Netflix and put this series in your Queue". Seriously, do it. Don't be lazy. Each season is a quick 13 episodes. Start it on a Friday night, Patty Hewes will be a part of your life by Sunday.

And that's just the first season. The second season revolves around Patty's relationship with a man from her past (William Hurt) and how she is thrown into a new cutthroat case against a big energy company, while Ellen seeks revenge against Patty. The third and current season introduces a new story that's timely where a Bernie Madoff-like character, Louis Tobin, has swindled millions of dollars from thousands of victims and Patty is hired by the government to represent the people who lost their money in Tobin's Ponzi scheme.

If you aren't intrigued yet, check out thist cast: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Ted Danson, Tate Donovan, William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant, Marcia Gay Harden, Martin Short, Peter Facinellii , Zeljinko Ivanek (Emmy winner for this role), a very creepy Darrell Hammond, Campbell Scott, and Lily Tomlin. Some list, huh? Here you have two Oscar winners (Gay Harden and Hurt), a 5-time Oscar nominee and Two-time Emmy winner (Close for playing Patty), the guy from Singles (Scott), the guy from Twilight (Facinelli, Jenni Garth's adorable husband), and three famous comedians (Short, Hammond, andTomlin) two of which are SNL alums. And the comedians play the bad guys. It's just exceptional casting to go along with incredible storytelling.

Still not convinced? When you do finally watch Damages, pour yourself a glass of red wine... Patty Hewes-style. I swear, a glass of Merlot or Cabernet has never looked so good on television. This is when Patty ponders her best schemes. Sitting on her couch listening to classical music in her New York apartment sipping on a glass of Merlot. It just looks so cozy. She just makes it look so good and makes you want to do it too. So do it. Have a drink with Patty. I think it's a perfectly good reason to watch a show.

So set your Netflix for seasons 1 and 2, then catch up and coze up with some vino on Monday nights at 10pm on FX. Trust me.