Official poster for Damages

Scripted series · FX

Damages

7.5IMDb240 votesWorth your time
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2007 – 20125 seasons · 59 episodesTV-MAEnded
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The Nutevio profile

TV DNA

How Damages actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.

Signature profile

Damages reads strongest on Tension, Character Depth and Cliffhanger Intensity.

TensionDefining9.0

The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.

Character DepthVery strong8.2

How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.

Cliffhanger IntensityVery strong8.0

How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.

SerializedVery strong7.0

How much each hour depends on the one before it.

BingeabilityStrong6.9

How hard it is to stop after one episode.

Emotional WeightStrong6.7

How much the series is designed to affect you.

SpectacleLight3.5

Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.

World BuildingLight3.5

The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.

HumourLight2.5

How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.

The story

What it's about

Damages is an American legal thriller television series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler. The plot revolves around the brilliant, ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes and her protégée, recent law school graduate Ellen Parsons. Each season features a major case that Hewes and her firm take on, while also examining a chapter of the complicated relationship between Ellen and Patty. The first two seasons center around the law firm Hewes & Associates. Later seasons center more on Patty and Ellen's relationship as Ellen begins to distance herself from Hewes & Associates and begins an independent career.

The run

Seasons

5 seasons · 59 episodes.

  • Official poster for Specials

    Season 0 · Complete

    Specials

    200885 episodes

  • Official poster for Season 1

    Season 1 · Complete

    Season 1

    200713 episodes

    7.8IMDb

    Most of the season follows two different timelines. The primary timeline begins with Ellen Parsons' recruitment by Patty Hewes to "Hewes & Associates" and follows proceedings of a class action lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher by his former employees, whom Patty represents. The initial episodes follow Patty's attempts to capture potential witness Gregory Malina through Katie Connor. The arc further details Malina's involvement with Frobisher's lawyer Ray Fiske and the pressure Patty brings to bear on Fiske on Malina's subsequent death. The narrative includes multiple flashforwards of the alternative timeline, set approximately six months after Ellen's appointment, until both timelines converge in the penultimate episode of the season. The alternative timeline details the attack on Ellen, her arrest for the murder of her fiancé David Connor, and the subsequent murder investigation.

    Best episode · S01E12 There's No 'We' Anymore

  • Official poster for Season 2

    Season 2 · Complete

    Season 2

    200913 episodes

    7.9IMDb

    The second season, like the first, follows two different timelines. The primary timeline follows Patty, Ellen, and Tom as the firm goes up against an energy company who have engaged in unethical practices. A former lover of Patty's, Daniel Purcell, brings the matter to her attention, but then inexplicably backs out, leaving Patty up against UNR CEO Walter Kendrick and his fierce lawyer Claire Maddox. Meanwhile, Ellen works with the FBI to bring down Patty, while also seeking revenge on Arthur Frobisher for his presumed role in her fiance's death. Ellen is unaware that Patty is suspicious of her, and that Frobisher's criminal connections appear to extend to her new friend Wes. A second timeline takes place six months later, when Ellen meets with an unknown person in a hotel room, and subsequently appears to shoot them.

    Best episode · S02E13 Trust Me

  • Official poster for Season 3

    Season 3 · Complete

    Season 3

    201013 episodes

    7.3IMDb

    Set a year after season two, Patty's focus now rests on Louis Tobin, the patriarch of a wealthy family, who has just confessed to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history. The government has tasked Hewes and Shayes with finding the Tobins' hidden money and uncovering any evidence that other family members had knowledge of the fraud. Ellen Parsons has taken a job at the New York District Attorney's office, but she finds herself being pulled further and further back into Patty's orbit. Tom, who had invested with Tobin, has lost 70% of his net worth, as have numerous others he helped invest. He struggles to keep his involvement from interfering with the case and secret from Patty.

    Best episode · S03E13 The Next One's Gonna Go in Your Throat

  • Official poster for Season 4

    Season 4 · Complete

    Season 4

    201110 episodes

    6.8IMDb

    The fourth season takes place two years after the Tobin case. Ellen has moved on with her life. Now an attorney at her old mentor's firm, she's content with her cases and colleagues. Deep down, however, she wants a bigger challenge. When she discovers her friend has been through a traumatic experience while working for High Star, a private security firm hired by the U.S. government to carry out special missions in Afghanistan, she suspects foul play and asks Patty for help. Patty knows that trying a case against High Star can make Ellen's career. Or ruin it. It was inspired by recent events and controversies surrounding Blackwater Security Consulting.

    Best episode · S04E10 Failure Is Lonely

  • Official poster for Season 5

    Season 5 · Complete

    Season 5

    201210 episodes

    7.7IMDb

    In the final season of Damages, Patty and Ellen are pitted against one another in two separate cases. The first involves a wrongful-death suit brought against Channing McClaren, the founder of a whistleblowing web site, who's implicated in the death of a trader for an investment firm. In the other case, Ellen is called as a witness to testify against Patty in the custody battle with Patty's son, Michael.

    Best episode · S05E10 But You Don't Do That Anymore

Where the series peaks

Best Episodes

The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

Still from But You Don't Do That Anymore

S05E10

But You Don't Do That Anymore

9.0IMDb5 votes

Series Finale: While looking to use Michael Hewes' custody hearing to bring down Patty (Glenn Close), Ellen (Rose Byrne) is double-crossed by a key witness in the McClaren trial.

12 Sept 201250 min
Still from Trust Me

S02E13

Trust Me

8.5IMDb8 votes

Patty goes to extremes to win her case against UNR, as Ellen's season long quest for revenge builds to an explosive conclusion.

1 Apr 200962 min
Still from Hey! Mr. Pibb!

S02E04

Hey! Mr. Pibb!

8.4IMDb8 votes

Patty works to clear Daniel in his wife's murder; Ellen and Tom go to West Virginia to gather vital information in the case against Ultima National Resources.

28 Jan 200950 min
Still from There's No 'We' Anymore

S01E12

There's No 'We' Anymore

8.3IMDb10 votes

Patty finally posts bail for Ellen as Frobisher learns about a tape made by Gregory Malina that could ruin him.

16 Oct 200750 min
Still from I Hate These People

S01E11

I Hate These People

8.3IMDb10 votes

Patty offers Ellen her job back, however, Ellen declines but volunteers to keep helping Patty with the Frobisher case. Lila is back, and bringing more havoc into David and Ellen's lives. Patty uses the newly acquired evidence to blackmail Ray, and offers him an ultimatum.

9 Oct 200750 min
Still from Look What He Dug Up This Time

S02E12

Look What He Dug Up This Time

8.2IMDb8 votes

Ellen convinces the FBI to radically change their approach in the investigation. Meanwhile, Daniel Purcell reenters Patty's life and becomes critical to her case against UNR.

25 Mar 200950 min

Recently aired

Latest Episodes

Still from I'm Afraid of What I'll Find

S05E08

I'm Afraid of What I'll Find

8.0IMDb3 votes
29 Aug 201250 min
Still from I Need to Win

S05E06

I Need to Win

7.7IMDb3 votes
15 Aug 201250 min
Still from There's Something Wrong with Me

S05E05

There's Something Wrong with Me

7.3IMDb3 votes
8 Aug 201250 min

The craft

Key Crew

Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.

Executive production

Direction

Cinematography

Music

Where to watch

Streaming

Availability verified against regional listings.

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