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This cunningly sophisticated legal thriller offers up more dirty tricks and surprise twists than a White House scandal.

Billionaire Arthur Frobisher pulled an Enron, and now attorney mediator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) wants to make him pay. Hewes represents the 5,000 employees screwed by Frobisher in a stock scandal that rocked Wall Street. She hires a young protégée, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) to help with the case- a big leap for a junior associate.

What unfolds is an obsessively wicked season of incredible twists, double, triple and even quadruple crosses, dirty tricks, betrayals, innocent victims, good guys who are bad, and bad guys are aren’t quite so bad.

I was hooked from the first second until the last frame of the season finale. My final thought? Holy S#$%!! I watch so many of these shows, and read books of similar genres, that it is typically easy for me to spot the formula and predict the end. Not so with Damages. Just when I thought I had it, I got slammed with some new, seemingly innocuous detail set to blow the whole series wide open.

Patty Hewes is Fatal Attraction meets Shark, with a sociopathic personality hidden beneath the veneer of a caring attorney who appears to champion the underdog who gets screwed by Corporate America. Only Glenn Close could bring this character to the screen so incredibly. She has this ability to give a cold, flinty look, yet give the impression that there is so much more going on behind those windows to a black soul she coats with a sunny smile in mixed company. There is excellent chemistry between Close and Rose Byrne, who expertly portrays the brilliant, yet small-town naïve Ellen Parsons. It is interesting to watch the progression of the character that starts off with good intentions, but soon finds herself believing in justice, not the law.

The format of the story is what keeps viewers guessing. It’s like the writer penned everything in chronological order on note cards, then threw those cards in the air and put them together helter skelter, only organizing until the very end. Every episode offers up flash forward in an orange, retro-like tint. Once the past and present collide, editors fade the colors together and bring us into Ellen’s current world in the season finale. From that point on, the orange-tinted film turns to flashbacks. 

This is not a long-term series, but I can definitely see it successfully taking viewers through three seasons. Next season starts soon on FX. I’ll be waiting to see what new secrets are in store.

The three-disc set includes several extras, including cast and crew commentaries. Two featurettes – “Willful Acts” and “Trust No One” – are MUST WATCHES for fans, but do not watch them unless you’ve finished the series. They include plot spoilers. There is also an interactive guide to class action lawsuits that is interesting and informative.

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