"Trust No One"
Damages is legal thriller as psychological warfare. Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) is a high-powered attorney who destroys everyone in her path—opponents, clients, employees, family. The show's premise is simple: Patty takes on cases, uses any means necessary, and leaves destruction in her wake. The complexity comes from the telling.
Each season interweaves multiple timelines. We see the beginning of a case, the end of a case (often with someone dead or ruined), and the middle where everything goes wrong. The structure forces viewers to piece together what happened, why, and who's responsible. Red herrings abound. Nothing is what it seems.
The first season focuses on Patty's prosecution of Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), a billionaire CEO whose company's employees lost everything in a pension scam. Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is Patty's new associate—bright, ambitious, initially idealistic. Six months later, Ellen is in police custody, blood on her hands. What happened in between is the season's puzzle.
Glenn Close is mesmerizing. Patty Hewes is a monster—manipulative, ruthless, possibly sociopathic—but Close makes her watchable, even sympathetic in moments. She's not villainous for pleasure; she's effective. The system rewards people like Patty. The show asks whether that effectiveness is worth the cost.
Later seasons bring new cases—energy corruption, military contractors, Wall Street fraud—but the core dynamic remains: Patty versus everyone, Ellen caught in the crossfire. The show invented the "kill your darlings" approach to storytelling before Game of Thrones made it famous. No one is safe.
Characters & Acting (9): Glenn Close's Patty Hewes is one of television's great performances—controlled, terrifying, occasionally vulnerable.
Narrative Drive (9): The dual-timeline structure creates constant suspense. Every scene matters because we know something bad is coming.
Conceptual Density (8): Corporate corruption, legal ethics, manipulation tactics—the show is smart about how power actually works.
"Pilot" (S1E1) — Patty hires Ellen. Frobisher's case begins. Six months later, someone's dead.
"Because I Know Patty" (S1E13) — Season one finale. All timelines converge. The truth.
"But You Don't Do That Anymore" (S5E10) — Series finale. Patty and Ellen's endgame.
US: Hulu, Amazon Prime
UK: Amazon Prime