Damages
I shouldn’t be enjoying Damages as much as I am—the often exposition and recap-heavy dialogue, the characters’ willingness to resort to murder, the quick payoffs from readily-comprehensible schemes that are supposed to be fiendishly clever. Shot on video and edited with less elan, the show would be little better than a soap opera. (Although: Wallace Shawn! As a paraphilic jailed financier!)
What makes it work, I think, are the faces. The soapy dialogue propels the show from one concerned face to another. The close-ups are terrific, long enough for intentions to register in the silences. Rose Byrne looking concerned, feigning innocence; Campbell Scott looking pursued; and above all Glenn Close. Age, makeup or lighting have made her eyes stand out more than in her bunny boiling days, like turquoise. And Martin Short’s mobile face makes him a supple villain.
Yes, I am entertained. But does it satisfy? I think I’d feel more filled by a show about nothing.
