Quick Take: Damages, "Drive It Through Hardcore"
A speed bump in an otherwise speedy season.
Review: Damages, "Drive It Through Hardcore"
(S0309) We open in the fast forward with Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan) giving his notice of resignation to Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Meanwhile, back in present times, the hunt for Carol Tobin (Ana Reeder) and her connect to the missing/stolen Tobin fortune continues. Carol's in hiding, and not dealing with it all that well.
Overall, this felt like one of the more disjointed and overly dense episodes of Damages we've seen in a while. There's the Tobin family saga, Carol depressed and in hiding, machinations between Tom and Patty, Leonard Winstone's (Martin Short) role in all of the above, machinations with Ellen (Rose Byrne) and her druggie sister Deniece (Debra Monk), machinations with Ellen and Patty, machinations with Patty and her father-to-be son Michael (Zachary Booth) how the death of Danielle Marchetti (Madchen Amic) factors, the mysterious architect Julian Decker (Keith Carradine), and on and on. And that doesn't even touch on the eventual death of Tom, Ellen's purse, the hobo dude and his shopping cart, Patty's car getting smashed up… it's a lot to keep hold of on a Monday night, you know?
No doubt momentum and suspense will uptick several notches as we get closer to the season finale, but this was the first time in a while that I wasn't exceptionally interested in what was going on.
Other thoughts on "Drive It Through Hardcore':
I'm not sure I buy Craig Bierko, who plays Terry Brooke, as an A List actor on this show. Nothing against his acting chops: he just doesn't have the "look" and feel that a Matt Damon or George Clooney would have pitching something like The Whirlwind Initiative.
The scene in which Leonard Winstone (Martin Short) saves Carol Tobin from potential suicide in the bathtub is dark and intense.
It should not get lost in the shuffle that Lily Tomlin is pretty darned terrific as Marilyn Tobin, the matriarch of the disgraced Tobin brood.
Nice to see Keith Carradine, who played FBI agent Frank Lundy on Dexter, here on Damages. He's got a great presence about him.
I don't care that much that the new Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) storyline is yet another unfitted piece in a crazy puzzle, because Danson is so much fun to watch here as a former a-hole tycoon who has "seen the light."
The payoff when Patty annihilates Frobisher in front of his Hollywood pals is brutal and wonderful and glorious in the sense that that could never and would never happen in the real world.
Patty smashing up her condo wall in frustration over her relationship with her son is also nasty fun.
The horse I like to refer to as Pie-O-My (a little Sopranos dream sequence reference) shows up in Patty's dreams again, through the broken hole in her wall. Where's Uncle Junior/Mr. Zedeck (Dominc Chianese) when we need him most?
Things started to come together a little bit by the end of the episode, but it was perhaps the weakest episode of the season.
Recap: Damages, "Drive It Through Hardcore"
Patty tracks down Carol Tobin and forces her to reveal the truth about Thanksgiving. Ellen's family life is turned upside down. Frobisher begins to make his movie.
From Around the Web: Damages, "Drive It Through Hardcore"
Joe on the Tube: Hardcore is how Patty Hewes(Glen Close) played it in this episode. She gets to Carol Tobin and convinces her she won’t tell the ADA about Carol’s part in Danielle Marchetti’s death. (My advice, Carol, watch your back!) Through Carol, Patty confirms Tessa Marchetti has indeed been lying all along.
TV Squad: Carol Tobin is one messed up chick, and who can blame her? Her family's a mess, she's got the blood of her father's mistress on her hands, and now she's got Patty and Tom breathing down her neck. Who wants to bet that Carol doesn't make it through the season alive?
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Eric is the publisher and revered leader of TV Geek Army… at least in his own mind. TV Geek Army is a place for serious TV reviews and news for serious fans of great television. Contact: eric-[at]-tvgeekarmy.com
