In this season of Damages, both Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) are out to bring down the Tobin family, perpetrators of the largest Ponzi scheme in financial history.  Hewes is working for the Tobin’s victims, trying to maneuver her way through a tangled web of deceit in order to find the hidden billions of dollars that was stolen from them.  Parsons, on the other hand, works with the district attorney’s office, looking for evidence the will put the ruthless family behind bars for life.

The Tobins (Len Cariou, Lily Tomlin, Campbell Scott) and their shady attorney (Martin Short) will stop at nothing, including murder, to protect their secret fortune and their freedom.

Storylines from previous seasons are also revisited and, for the most part, concluded, including one dealing with Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) and another about Patty Hewes’ estranged son, although that one is likely to be revisited in a future season.

CRITIQUE

Damages is perhaps the most riveting series on television (broadcast or cable) today.  The performances are flawless, the writing is impeccable and the direction is watertight.

Such perfection is not easy to achieve, particularly when your series deals with two timelines, separated by months, that do not blend together until the season finale. 

There are 13 episodes in this 3 DVD set and, by the time that the credits roll on the final segment, all loose ends have been tied up and all mysteries have been explained.

That’s the way all TV series seasons should conclude, with no cliffhangers and all major storylines resolved.

I am not going to be a spoiler and go into any story details here, but suffice to say that the season contains many shocking plot twists, including the death of one of the leading characters.  [That’s not really a spoiler because you learn the identity of the deceased at the end of the first episode, but not the how or the why.]

Despite their troubled history, Patty Hewes and Ellen Parsons continue to “use” each other, and both find “ghosts” from their pasts creeping into their lives.

Keith Carradine, Wallace Shawn, Dominic Chianese, Timothy Olyphant, Craig Bierko and Michael Nouri play key roles in this excellent third season, which I watched in three days.

THE VIDEO

The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is broadcast sharp.  There are no noticeable flaws.

THE AUDIO

The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is excellent.

THE EXTRAS

Cast and Crew Commentaries on select episodes.

Episode Introductions by the producers.

Deleted Scenes, none of which add anything significant to the overall story.

“Behind the Scenes” featurette

Season One & Two Recap

“Season Three Post Mortum” featurette

Gag Reel

FINAL THOUGHT

This is another great season of a first-rate series.