Strength of Conviction: An Advance Review of Season Four of Damages

"If you have to ask the question, you already have your answer." - Patty Hewes Serpentine legal thriller Damages returns for a twisty fourth season of backstabbing and betrayal, though if you don't have DirecTV, you'll have to wait until the inevitable DVD release to check in with Glenn Close's Patty Hewes and Rose Byrne's Ellen Parsons. The show, which aired its first three seasons on FX, moves over to the satellite platform's The Audience Network (formerly called The 101 Network) for an exclusive run. (That's right, exclusive. You're not going to see it anywhere else.) Given its nature, Damages is one of those tense, labyrinthine dramas that's nearly impossible to discuss without spoiling the plot in some fashion, making it really, really difficult to review in advance. The first two episodes of Season Four ("There's Only One Way to Try a Case" and "I've Done Way Too Much for This Girl"), which I watched a few weeks ago, require little knowledge of the previous three seasons, but--as always--avid viewers are rewarded for their patience and attention. (Minor spoilers follow.) In this case, the central mystery revolves around High Star, a Blackwater-style private military contractor in Afghanistan, and the wrongful death lawsuit against the company and its founder, Howard T. Erickson, played with pitch perfection by John Goodman. But there are, once again, personal stakes for Ellen and Patty as well, as Ellen--now working for Hollis Nye's former firm--attempts to...

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