Geofferson

Yeah, loved the intro. Solid premiere tonight to set things in motion. This show continues to have the best supporting cast on TV.

skatefan20

It's back
I'm happy (and sad ) for Tom! And better wardrobe for Ellen to hide that small frame.

Yup! That montage had been up on the FX website for a few weeks, but I enjoyed it so much more in HD.

Love the similarities between this episode and the pilot concerning the flash-forwards. Nice setup with the main case, with the highlight for me being the Patty/Ellen reunion.

So Ellen had nothing to do with the two goons and the baseball bats??

ETA: Watched the premiere a 2nd time and forgot about Ellen's brief chat with Tom...so that answered my question.

And for the item found at the car crash...a big clue, or just another nod to Season 1?

MrX

Good start to the season.

Poor Tom.

Close and Martin Short should have clauses in their contracts that prohibit up-close shots, yikes!

RichC2

Yeah Martin Short is looking oooolllddd... may be intentional.

bootsy

Short especially in that daytime scene outside and Close it seems like she looks slightly different in almost every scene. Maybe it's the makeup, lighting.

Overall I enjoyed it for my first show. I look forward to watching the first two seasons.

whotony

I've never seen the show but have recently fallen in love with Rose Byrne after seeing "Knowing" and "Adam" so i'll try to watch season three.

Also she was on Fallon the other night (looked fabulous) and he had a licking contest for a few audience members, then when Byrne came out she asked Fallon if he had anything she could lick.
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I haven't seen Glen Close in awhile, when did she become this....

DJariya

That was probably one of the best opening montages I have ever seen. Good start to the new season.

They managed to assemble another impressive supporting cast.

Len Cariou
Campbell Scott
Lily Tomlin
Reiko Aylesworth
Martin Short

I really like the new story arcs that they have set up for this season. The Bernie Madoff-type story arc with Cariou's character has potential. Also, the little murder mystery with who killed Tom Shayes and why was Ellen's bag at the scene? Looks like they only added Short and Campbell as series regulars this season, which is good because I think last season's large cast hurt the show with too many subplots.

Ellen and Patty were surprisingly really cordial with one another considering how things ended last season.

conscience

That's actually Len Cariou.

A really good start to the season but the other two seasons had great starts, too. That upcoming episode montage was amazing.

DJariya

Oops my bad, thanks. I've seen Len on a number of things as well and he's a solid supporting actor.

macnorton

I was really impressed with this episode and the central mystery really had some bite to it*. A lot fo it was spelled out for us, but I have a feeling it may be a smoke and mirror tricks about.

*If you have read some of my complaints about network TV, it is that they (networks/writers) refuse to take a major risk like what was done in this episode. That took some balls, nice job.

Geofferson

Tom Noonan is great in this show as well as the detective. He was in a couple episodes from season 2 -- glad they kept him around.

conscience

Exactly! IIRC, besides a few choice words, there was nothing in this episode that couldn't be played on network television. It isn't like it was Nip/Tuck or something with three-ways or whatever.

What do you expect, though - the majority of the highly rated dramatic shows on network television are nothing like Damages. And Damages isn't exactly killing the ratings on F/X either.

mraw

In watching the opening montage, I never realized how bloody this show was, and I've seen every episode. Lily Tomlin looked the best I've ever seen her. Over on ew, people seem shocked that but we all know that anything goes on this show. I still can't understand for the life of me why Patty and Tom are so obsessed with Ellen. She isn't all that special IMO. Edit: Ellen's probably Patty's long-lost daughter. I know it's stupid, but I'll claim it just in case. There are no boundaries for Damages.

RichC2

Pfft, Dog shit!

macnorton

Agreed. There used to be a fine line of what would be on cable (nudity, vulgarity and various other "serious" topics) and what would not be on network TV. Today, it has now become what isn't on cable (CRAP!) is on network TV. Are there a few diamonds in the rough, yes, but the majority is crap (or re-hashes of a decent formula). So if network TV wants to play ball, watch this episode and they can catch my drift.

Nth Power

Cool to see Martin Short and Lily Tomlin. I haven't seen them in anything recently. I think it's the first time I've seen Short in a straight role. He was pretty good.

sleepyhead55

Great opening montage as I had forgotten how much blood has been spilled on this show. I liked a bunch of the new cast members. Martin Short was equally slimy and a little funny at the same time. I think why Patty is so obsessed with Ellen is because she sees a lot of herself with Ellen. Interesting dualing subplots this year. The conflict that Joe has is going to be interesting to see how he resolves it.

RichC2

Network TV is required to grab the viewer from the get go or it will be off the air in a few weeks anymore. A dramatic serial that isn't laden with visual effects isn't going to pull them in, so that relegates them to channels like FX.

That said, I'm glad we get at least 3 seasons of this fantastic show. I'm assuming from Cadillac's continued sponsorship that the ratings favor the older, richer crowd.

macnorton

True, but decent writing helps some of those shows (House springs to mind). But they settle in and it is the same thing from week to week. It gets a smidge stale after a while. Cable is willing to take the risk, ratings not withstanding.

RichC2

The funny thing about House is it was an "on the bubble" show (drawing about 6m viewers a week) until it had the chance to follow Idol.

Apparently everything needs help in some form these days

Groucho

How long until Keith Carradine gets shot?

bootsy

I am definitely with you on this. I don't even watch network TV shows anymore. I stopped after Season 3 of 24 and now watch shows on HBO, Showtime, or FX. There is so much more they can do and show.

I also noticed that there were no commercials for this episode. I love it like that. Is that the way it always is for Damages or was that a one time thing?

RichC2

It was just this episode, the first ep of each season has run a full 60 minutes I believe.

macnorton

Usually FX has no commercials for big time premiers, season finales or mid-season "special" episodes. However this is not always the case.

bootsy

Yeah that's kind of what I thought. I don't know of any show on a network that doesn't have commercials. I thought it was unusual and great to see that for once.